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Move over, school bake sales and neighborhood lemonade stands: Redwood City’s Ethan Vitus is running his own homemade food brand while still an elementary school student.
For Ethan, a love of making breakfast has led to an adventure in entrepreneurship that includes a recent expansion to a local market. The 9-year-old “kidpreneur” and North Star Academy student has been producing and selling Ethan’s Granola for the past year and is now also stocking it at Dehoff’s Market.
Ethan was already a big fan of granola (because it’s sweet and crunchy, he said) when, as a 7-year-old, he found a make-your-own granola recipe in a cookbook at the Clifford School library. The cookbook, Ethan said, didn’t dictate what ingredients to use, but rather offered guidance on ratios and preparation tips, leaving the flavor choices open. Eventually, he came up with a winning recipe of his own.
He honed in on his favorite mix-ins – cranberries, blueberries and walnuts – perfected the sweetness level by experimenting with maple syrup, added in pumpkin seeds and coconut flakes and spiced things up with cinnamon and cardamom. That zesty burst of flavors and textures is what sets his granola apart from the crowd.
“It’s a lot more than just oats,” his mom Michelle Vitus said.
After plenty of taste testing and giving granola to friends and teachers, “everyone loved it so much I wanted to become a granola business,” Ethan said in a recent interview.
At home, Ethan was becoming quite the breakfast chef, preparing waffles, pancakes and French toast, Michelle said, and had also expressed interest in starting a company. At the time, he hadn’t found a particular passion for sports or other hobbies, so she was happy to encourage him in his cooking and business pursuit, seeing the granola experiment as a perfect convergence of his interests.
“I viewed it as an extracurricular activity. It gave him a chance to build confidence, resilience and follow-through,” she said.
Ethan and Michelle went through food handler’s training and obtained a cottage food operations permit from San Mateo County, which allows them to sell directly to consumers. They’ve since leveled up with a Class B permit to sell products in stores as well.
In addition to his original granola blend, Ethan’s Granola also offers a special dark cherry and chocolate flavor with pecans and a hint of vanilla around the winter holidays. He’s interested in coming up with more varieties in the future and has contemplated expanding production to include granola bars.
“All of the baking we do together,” Michelle noted, but it’s Ethan’s project first and foremost. “From posting on Nextdoor to sending customer emails, he’s involved every step of the way.”
He launched his business by sharing his background and product on social media and word began to spread – a slow process that built over time thanks to rave reviews and recommendations from those who ordered.
“He’s had so much community support and that’s really meant a lot to him,” Michelle said. “The Redwood City/San Carlos community has been amazing to him.”
Michelle estimated it takes about two hours and 45 minutes to produce each “kid-made, with love” batch, which involves prep time, cooking, stirring and an hour of cooling. A 12-ounce bag costs $11 via the Ethan’s Granola website, while a four-pack is $40.
He’s participated in some pop-up market events and decided this year it was time to expand.
“I reached out to (Dehoff’s Market president) Chris Dehoff for advice and gave him a free bag of granola,” Ethan said of how he connected with the venerable local market.
Dehoff responded right away, inviting him for a meeting. Ethan headed to the office to meet with Dehoff who, after sharing some wisdom on how the process works and how other local vendors had found success, told him, “‘I would like to be your first grocery store,'” Michelle recalled.
“He had a list of questions ready for me about what I thought it would take to get a product launched and to make it successful, and what we were looking for when we looked for new items,” Dehoff said of his initial meeting with Ethan. “He took wonderful notes on our conversation. It was very impressive how he approached that first meeting.”
Ethan’s Granola has been on the shelves at the market for a few weeks (priced at $10.99 per bag) and had an official launch – with Ethan serving samples – in the store May 30.
“Right when you open the bag you can see the quality of it,” Dehoff said of the product. “It’s the perfect degree of sweetness; it’s just a winning recipe he created.”
Dehoff’s has long been supportive of local independent businesses and stocks other Peninsula brands, including products from Emerald Hills Cafe & Roastery, Caramella Dolci Toffee, Palo Alto Baking Co., La Honda Winery, Alpha Acid Brewing Company and Devil’s Canyon Brewing Company.
“We love to get local items that aren’t everywhere,” Dehoff said.
Dehoff was also impressed with how many fans the brand had already accumulated thanks to savvy social media marketing and responsive customer service. “He had a lot of people enjoying his granola already,” he said.
And while Dehoff’s is the first reseller, it may not be the last: Another local market has encouraged Ethan to come by, Michelle said. He’s also talked with a co-packer (a third-party company that handles packaging for brands) about what it might look like if production were to expand beyond what he can support on his own. And Ethan is thinking big. “Whole Foods!” he said, when asked about a future goal.
As a parent, Michelle sees the business as a great hands-on educational experience for her son.
“From my perspective, it’s an amazing learning opportunity for him to see that entrepreneurship is within reach,” she said.
And as for Ethan, he’s been thrilled to see folks ordering and helping spread the word.
“I like that people want to support me and buy my granola,” he said.
Ethan’s Granola, Instagram: ethansgranolaco.
Dehoff’s Market (formerly named Key Market), 1063 Upton St., Redwood City. Open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily; Instagram: @dehoffskeymarkets.
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