We recently connected with Marshall Rabil and have shared our conversation below.

Marshall, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

They focused on providing us with the best experiences and education that they could. They instilled a high moral code of what was right and wrong. They had strong work and personal ethics. They supported dreams. They were disciplined and had high expectations for us. They know that the details matter.

They were role models as community stewards, which is something I love about our brand. As a family owned business in a small town, we try to integrate our brand with our community and that’s something that was passed down through the three generations of family that came before me. We believe that we can be a business that our community supports and stands behind because we genuinely care and can make a difference through creative partnerships and initiatives.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hubbard Peanut Company, lovingly referred to as Hubs, is a third-generation, female and family-owned and operated peanut brand based in Sedley, VA. Respected as the country’s oldest specialty peanut brand, Hubs was founded in 1954 by Dot Hubbard using her cherished family recipe and peanuts from her father’s farm. Today the company sells nearly a dozen products with practical, hearty options such as their one-ounce Power Packs, addicting flavored peanuts meant for indulging, like their Honey Kissed and Brittle and one-of-a-kind varieties like their Single Origin Peanuts. Eco-friendly consumers can also take pride in munching on peanuts as they are a zero-waste nut; everything from the roots to the hulls is utilized! Peanuts also require less water and have the smallest carbon footprint of any nut, making them a wonderfully sustainable snack.

Hubs released the country’s first “Single Origin Peanut” line in 2020, sourcing peanuts solely from fourth-generation farmer Elisha Barnes’ “Pop Son Farm” in Branchville, VA, where his great-grandfather started as a sharecropper. This past March, Hubs released its fourth edition of this peanut, a one-of-a-kind, uniquely sweet and earthy variety of their peanuts so popular that they’ve previously sold out within 24 hours. Barnes is the only known U.S. farmer to produce peanuts using the antiquated (yet visually stunning) shocking method, which he chooses to do to preserve Virginia’s culture and history. Not only are they delicious, but they’re also directly fighting food insecurity within the local community. Proceeds from each can are donated to the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and Eastern Shore (the Foodbank), with each sale generating two meals for locals in need..

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

Being the manufacturer of our product and not just a sales and marketing team is one of the elements of our business that makes us the most proud and is a true differentiator. Our business is 70 years old, but my grandparents, Dot and HJ Hubbard, are not only the founders of our business, but they are the founders of the specialty peanut industry. This category has developed to represent our region across the country and dozens of businesses like ours sprouted from Dot and HJ’s vision. In fact, the American Peanut Council recognized Dot posthumously, for pioneering the gourmet peanut category.

Dot was a school teacher and HJ was the purchasing manager at the local paper mill. She started by hand picking the largest peanuts that she could find out of her father’s peanut fields and cooked them in a unique way. Instead of dry roasting them in the oven, she would soak them in hot water and then fry them in oil. She began giving her specialty peanuts to friends as gifts during the holidays, which created a demand. She quickly outgrew the basic fryer and HJ began working with a local engineer to develop a continuous blancher and cooker. This equipment allowed Hubs to scale and seventy years later, we are still using the same cook process that Dot pioneered on the same style of equipment that HJ designed. It’s our 5th generation, but we love that it is custom equipment. Being in manufacturing means having a production crew. Balancing our production needs with the seasonality of our business was always a challenge, but fortunately, we’ve grown to a point where we could bring on a full time production team and offer them benefits to be a part of our crew on a full time basis.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

We’ve always been proud of the quality of our product and word of mouth marketing has always been our strongest sales tool. Hubs is primarily a direct to consumer brand and a gift for many people during the holiday season. In order to diversify our business throughout the year, we have some strategic wholesale accounts around the country and even have a presence in regional grocery stores. One of our favorites is a story from our partner Wegmans. One day, we received a message from Wegmans’s corporate office in Rochester, New York. Danny Wegman was traveling with a friend, and the friend pulled out a can of Hubs Peanuts. After trying them, Danny said, “these are the peanuts that I want in our stores!”. Now, we are known as a “Danny brand” at Wegmans and we are proud that we are their “Foods You Feel Good About” private label brand. Fortunately, they’ve also brought some of our seasoned Hubs brand SKU’s in to their stores as well, which has been nice to have a stronger presence in stores throughout the northeast. Wegmans also requires that all of their brand suppliers go through a rigorous food safety program and the processes and procedures that we implemented have made us a stronger company and partner.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hubspeanuts.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hubspeanuts
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hubspeanuts/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marshall-rabil-83a24a15/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/hubspeanuts
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hubspeanuts