Startup Dixie Grace’s Boiled Peanuts delivers on this demand by bringing a better-for-you version of the iconic Southern US food to “everyone, everywhere” with convenient heat-and-eat packaging that simplifies snacking with three flavors made with clean, simple ingredients.
Following the launch of the brand’s shelf stable, stand-up and microwavable pouches at the Winter Fancy Food Show, Founder Dixie Jackson says consumers can more easily enjoy the salty, briny taste of boiled peanuts without having to visit a gas station south of the Mason Dixon line – which is where she says she first discovered them.
The New York native explains she was on a road trip in South Carolina when she first tried a boiled peanut in a gas station and was so smitten that she ate them every day while she was in the state. She said she initially did not understand why more Americans did not eat boiled peanuts, until she realized how hard they were to find in other areas of the US and how the canned version fell short on flavor compared to those in the gas station.
She said she quickly realized the reason more Americans did not enjoy the unique flavor and texture of boiled peanuts is because the “delivery mechanism” of kettles in gas stations was not convenient.
She said she promptly called Cornell University to create the easy-to-open, heat-and-eat pouches that allow her boiled peanuts to be shelf stable for a year.
But just as important as the packaging is what is inside – flavorful, creamy peanuts that she described as a better-for-you product that is gluten-free, 100% vegan, non-GMO, low in saturated fat and high in magnesium, folic acid, fiber and other health benefits – including satiety, which is increasingly important in the current post weight-loss drug era.
‘Everybody’s mama’s recipe’: Creating craveable flavors for a diverse consumer set
While sharing samples of her boiled peanuts at a New York City farmers’ market, Jackson discovered boiled peanuts are not exclusively a Southern US delicacy – they are a canvas for global flavors enjoyed around the world. And as such, a wide set of consumers connect with the brand and there is significant runway for future flavor development.
“I set up a tent at a farmer’s market” and at one point “looked up and my line looked like the United Nations!” Jackson recalled. She said she discovered that boiled peanuts play a role in Indian, Chinese, Brazilian, African, Turkish, Vietnamese and Thai cuisines – just to name a few.
The wide regional appeal meant Jackson’s peanuts often triggered two responses – either nostalgia from someone who had tried it as part of their culture or “sheer and absolute discovery” when someone, like her in that South Carolina gas station, discovered and tried a boiled peanut for the first time.
To appeal to such a diverse consumer base and while respecting the authenticity of boiled peanuts, Jackson said she “researched everybody’s mama’s recipe and all their seasonings that they use, and how they cooked all their products from everybody that made a boil peanut. And I put everybody’s recipe and made it my recipe – our recipe. There’s a little bit of everybody in that pot, truly there is,” she said.
Flavors and colors in focus: From emerging consumer demand to new manufacturing strategies
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Clean ingredients, nostalgic flavors
While opportunity for flavor extensions is expansive, Jackson currently offers three options that address consumers’ cravings for salty, sweet and simple snacks.
“I use very simple, clean ingredients,” with the original recipe including only peanuts, salt, water and lemon, she said. She also makes a hot and spicy and a sweet option that leans on flavors of bourbon and brown sugar.
After launching her shelf-stable boiled peanuts at the Winter Fancy Food Show in Las Vegas at the start of 2025, Jackson said she is ready to expand her online and in-store distribution.
“It is time to get on a shelf. It is time to get in the store. It is time to sell online. It is just really time to launch the big idea,” she said.
She added that in business “you need one of three things to win. You need to either be smartest, fastest or first. So, I say, let’s do first: first in a grab-and-go bag” and first to recreate a nostalgic product with convenience so that “a peanut never tasted so good.”