Justin's Nut Butter Receives Loan from Whole Foods

"Justin's Nut Butter, a Boulder-based company that produces organic peanut butter in a variety of flavors, received a $25,000 micro loan from Whole Foods Market to expand its new line of squeeze packs - a portable pouch of the company's peanut butter.

The company's jarred peanut butter has been on Whole Foods' shelves for the past three years and is sold in six regions. Justin Gold, the company's founder and chief executive, was skeptical about whether his company would qualify for the loan.

"I had heard that they were doing a micro loan program for Rocky Mountain region and didn't think a company like mine would qualify, so I didn't take it seriously," Gold said. "I received a generic e-mail about it and made a phone call, and the timing was perfect for our company because I had just raised a little bit of capital and was able to put the loan right into our plan with payment schedules."

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