2Armadillos Snack Co., the D.C.-based artisan chickpea purveyor, has hired its first full-time employee. The company, which is based out of Union Kitchen and sold its first package of spiced garbanzos in August 2013, completed a successful
Kickstarter campaign in December and used the funds to hire an operations manager.
"Sofia [the new operations manager] has a masters in public health and a passion for helping people," says Jimmy Edgerton, who cofounder 2Armadillos with Greg Katz. The two were friends in college and both have dedicated interests in health; Katz is a medical resident in NYC and Edgerton is a certified nutrition consultant and personal trainer.
Edgerton and Katz's mission is to make a chickpea snack that is so crunchy and so tasty, it will replace chips and pretzels for the average snacker's "go-to" nosh. "We've put a lot of hard work into our chickpeas," Edgerton explains. "There are two national and one regional competitor, but no one has a crunch like we do."
2Armadillos' chickpeas are available in four varieties: cayenne, rosemary, cinnamon toast and tomato basil. The latter two were developed exclusively for the Kickstarter campaign and have only been released to the general public in the past few weeks. Of the initial two flavors, Edgerton says that rosemary is the more popular flavor: "It tastes like an educated beer nut."
Signs of growth abound at 2Armadillos. In addition to hiring an operations manager, the company promoted one employee to a full-time bakery manager. 2Armadillos has grown 25 percent over the last six months, and its snacks are available in 15 different locations across the region, including the new
Mrs. Green's Natural Market opening next week in Fairfax.
Edgerton says that expansion plans are in the works. "Our goals are to continue to grow 20 percent per month, to saturate [the] D.C. [market] and then expand to New York, Baltimore, Philly, San Francisco and L.A.," he explains.
"Then we have to try to bring down the cost." Currently, 2Armadillos' chickpeas retail for $1.75 per ounce. "We need to cut costs by 40 percent. Since our product is artisan and handmade, it's not as cheap as pretzels. Our goal is to get to a price point that anyone in D.C. is willing to buy."