By Darlene Brace
An award-winning business makes you forget everything you know about peanut butter.
Do you love peanut butter? Would like to find a healthier peanut butter that tastes great and would
interest you in exploring new flavors? If so, Whizz-n-Smash is just right for you!
About five years ago, Fredonia native, Dawn Murphy, was working in human services. She had been searching for a tasty and affordable “natural” nut butter, with no luck. Since she loves to cook, and on a whim, Dawn “whizzed up” a batch of peanut butter for herself, and she took some of it to work with her. Her coworkers thought it was delicious and were so impressed, that they encouraged her to start selling it.
Dawn started out by making and selling just a few jars on Facebook. One post selling a few jars of peanut butter turned into weekly posts offering the basics, as well as new blends like Monkey Butt, which is a blend of peanut butter, dried bananas, and semi-sweet chocolate.
project in Jamestown and at an outdoor pop-up event.
Now almost five years later, her business has evolved into a solid well-established business. Dawn now makes sixty-nine blends (flavors) of nut butters, and she produces around 250 pounds of nut butters per week. She gets some of her ingredients from Restaurant Depot as well as local stores like Aldi’s, and she purchases maple syrup and honey from local farms. Many of the nut butter blends include fruits, chocolates, maple syrup, and honey, that are included in flavors like Monkey Butt, Berry Nutty, Sunny Hunny, Fluffer Butt, Kitchen Sink, and Nutty AF! to name a few. One of her most popular blends is called Snap Crackle Whizz, which is a nut butter that includes Marshmallow Fluff, Rice Krispies, and semi-sweet chocolate. Sounds delish, right?
Whizz-n-Smash is completely a one-woman operation. On top of working full time helping others, she shops for ingredients and makes her nut butters herself in a commercial kitchen. She alone packages, labels, markets, and delivers to fourteen retail stores and small business locations in Chautauqua and Erie Counties. Also, you may find her products at area festivals and other events. In fact, Whizz-n-Smash is scheduled to be a vendor at the Panama Rocks Foliage Festival on October 5th and 6th.
The sixty-nine unique blends of butters Dawn makes are typically sold in eight-ounce jars. Dawn also has larger tubs for sale. The larger tubs are not in stock but are made to order and sold at a discounted rate.
Dawn is often found networking and collaborating with other local businesses. She enjoys giving back to the community whenever she can. She is a Gold Sponsor of a non-profit organization called The Glass Half Full, that organizes fundraising events to donate to people with cancer and other hardships. Dawn has donated her products to be sold, and the proceeds are donated to help others through The Glass Half Full. Each month, Dawn also donates to other non-profits and benefits for others as well.
If you have questions or want more information, you should definitely check out the Whizz-n-Smash page on Facebook. On this page, there’s a wealth of information and humorous posts, and it includes a complete list of flavors and a list of retail stores that sell her products. Direct orders can be placed via the Whizz-n-Smash Facebook page. You’ll also find recipes posted for making baked goods and other things using her products.
Just last week, Dawn found out that Whizz-n-Smash is now an award-winning business. The Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce has chosen Whizz-n-Smash as the 2024 award winner of the Emerging Business of the Year. This award will be presented at the Chamber’s award ceremony in October. Congratulations to Dawn and her Whizz-n-Smash business! Dawn is thankful and super excited about winning this award.
“Forget everything you know about peanut butter” is Whizz-n-Smash’s tagline. Her nut butters are all natural, so delicious, and the flavors are unique. Dawn stated, “The entire process brings me joy. It means everything to me when happy customers return and choose the Whizz, the best spread for your bread.”
Go to Whizz-n-Smash on Facebook and check out all the amazing blends of butters that Dawn makes. Soon you will be buying up jars of her nut butters and filling your cupboard with the unique and delicious