Armedwith Pete’s food science degree from the Universityof Wisconsin-Madison, and Nancy’s 28 years ofexperience owning the New Glarus Bakery, the mother-son team began makingwholesome organic crackers in 2006. “My goal was to have a healthy, 100%organic cracker with high fiber, low sodium, low fat, and still retain thetextures and flavors I wanted,” Nancyexplains. “I wanted a product I could feel good about.”
Tomake their cracker a true Wisconsin product,the Potters have found as many of their ingredients as possible from localfarmers. Keewaydin Farms in Viola deliver vegetables and herbs like sweetpotatoes, onions and basil. The Potters buy their whole grain flour from GreatRiver Organic Milling, located on the upper Mississippi River in Fountain City,and all of the milk used in the crackers is from Sassy Cow Creamery, just northof the Potters’ location in Madison.
Whenthe cracker business was in its infancy, the products were sold solely atfarmers’ markets. It was there that Pete began experimenting with differentcracker flavors based on interesting ingredients the vendors were selling.“Once we had that concept,” Nancysays, “we were constantly looking for new flavors.” The Potters make nearly 30varieties of crackers, and they sell eight year round: classic white, veganclassic wheat, caraway rye, garlic and baby onion, hazelnut graham, six seed,toasted sesame and Washington Island flax.
Crackersplay a dynamic role in that they need to have a compelling flavor that canstand on its own, yet also have the subtlety to act as a vehicle for the foodshitching a ride, like cheese, pates and spreads.On their Web site, the Potters recommend pairing their crackers to complementcertain Wisconsin cheeses, like servingcaraway rye with Wisconsin Limburger or sweet graham crackers with goat milkcheese from Dreamfarm.
Peteruns his end of the business from Northern California,where he is earning his master's degree in business administration at UC-Davis.Here in Wisconsin,his mom manages the cracker company hands-on. Baking Potter’s Crackers requiresthree people: one to make the different batches of dough, one to sheet thedough and one to cut and bake it. Once the crackers are finished baking,they’re placed in large bins until part-time workers, usually students afterschool, package them in reclosable bags.
Inaddition to farmers’ markets, Potter’s Crackers can be found in local storeslike Grasch Foods, Sendik’s, Whole Foods, Outpost, and West Allis Cheese &Sausage Shoppe, as well as on Wisconsinmade.com. They also make an appearancein Williams-Sonoma’s seasonal catalog as part of the “Pastoral American CheeseCollection.” Nancy is eager to continue Potter’sCrackers’ reach into Illinois and Minnesota, but doesn’t plan on expanding beyond theMidwestall the more for us to enjoy our stellar Wisconsincheese.
100 S. Baldwin, Suite 303, Madison, Wis., 53703; (608) 663-5005;www.potterscrackers.com.
