October 13, 2023
For a women-owned business in rural Indiana, working with the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) became a life-changing experience. Soccer moms Carol Podolak and Joy Thompkins sold homemade peanut butter as part of their kids’ team’s fundraiser to travel from Portage, Indiana, to Dallas, Texas, for a tournament in 2016. Customers wanted pretzel, blueberry and caramel peanut butter more than once a year, so Podolak and Thompkins started taking custom orders. And now, BNuts is present on store shelves around the world.
As the United Nations celebrates International Day of Rural Women on October 15, these two mothers embody the impact of rural women in the United States and around the world. Every day, FAS works with rural women farmers, like Podolak and Thompkins, to grow their businesses. “We met our first major export client at Sweets and Snacks Fair in Indiana. Our booth was funded by Food-Export Midwest and FAS,” Podolak said.
Additionally, BNutty uses FAS Market Access Program (MAP) to advertise and export its peanut butters through Food Export-Midwest. “The SAF and Food Export-Midwest helped us with grants, trade show stands and marketing materials, which allowed us to work with other countries – this made a big difference to us when we started learning how to export,” said Podolak said.
Podolak and Thompkins have also created new jobs and improved the work environment for their employees with their growing export capabilities. BNutty is a great example of how exports benefit American communities by growing small businesses and creating local job opportunities.
Teamwork and community building are what started Podolak and Thompkins’ business. Even though they became global women entrepreneurs with the help of FAS, they continue to give back to ensure the success of their small town. Thanks to the success of BNutty, the mom duo helped raise money to build an eight-field soccer complex in their hometown, host college showcases, and help fund SAT and college prep for high school students local.
BNutty’s dedication to building his community and business has been widely celebrated. This year alone, he won the Small-Business Association Indiana Exporter of the Year Award and was listed on the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies in the country, and is one of the Exporters of the Year by EXIM Bank. You could say the world is going crazy for BNutty peanut butter.
