Their Nutty College Side Hustle Earned Over 6 Figures in Under 6 Months: 'Revenue Doubled Every Month' Pistakio co-founders Francine Voit and Nicola Buffo had no interest in 9-5 office jobs — so they became BIZ Experiencess.
By Amanda Breen Edited by Jessica Thomas
This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features 24-year-old Francine Voit, co-founder with Nicola Buffo of Portland, Oregon-based pistachio spread company Pistakio. Learn how they started and grew their business to more than six figures in just six months. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Pistakio. Nicola Buffo, left, and Francine Voit, right.
What was your day job or primary occupation when you started your side hustle?
Pistakio began as our senior project at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). We were full-time students and athletes on the tennis team when we first got the idea, and once we graduated, we moved to Portland to turn it into reality. When we started, we both took day jobs to pay the bills — Nico worked as a tennis coach, and I worked at a coffee shop.
When did you start your side hustle, and where did you find the inspiration for it?
Before attending art school, my partner, Nico, grew up in Italy, and I went to culinary school there. We immediately bonded over shared cultural values and our love and appreciation for pistachios. We saw it as one of the only nuts that was underappreciated in the market. At the time, we also saw tons of different nut butter and nut milks popping up all over, but for some reason, there was nothing that shined the spotlight on our favorite green nut! It took us by surprise because pistachios are super versatile and the only nut that is a complete protein…so why were people only eating pistachios as a snack?
Italians were already using pistachios in tons of sweet and savory dishes, and we wanted to fill a gap in the market that had a lot of potential. So, we took inspiration from how Italian cooking highlights simple ingredients to make them shine through. We had tried all the different pistachio creams and pesto, but we knew we wanted to elevate that concept when making it ourselves. Every sweet spread on the market was overly sweet, super thick and didn't taste enough like pistachios to us. When we began making it ourselves, we took inspiration from both Italian pistachio creams and the nut butters in the U.S. market. Every jar of Pistakio has a whopping 100 pistachios in it that you don't have to crack open!
Image Credit: Courtesy of Pistakio
What were some of the first steps you took to get your side hustle off the ground?
For a market research test back in college, we went to the farmers market with three prototypes of pistachio spreads. We had two savory ones, a sweet spread, and a banner that read "Pistakio, pistachios reimagined." That day, about 300 people were curious enough to try our products; every one of them loved it and pulled out their wallets to buy some from us. At the time, we only had prototypes, so we had to turn them away, but it was also a lightbulb moment that gave us the confidence to take this a step further — because we realized that there was a real demand for a product like ours.
A few months later, we returned to the farmers market with our finalized packaging and branding (done in another college class) and started selling our first product every week until graduation day.
Post-graduation, we moved across the country to launch Pistakio for real, and our mission was to reimagine pistachios as a pantry staple.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced while building your side hustle, and how did you navigate them?
We launched with little savings and little knowledge of the CPG world, so we faced a lot of hurdles in the beginning. One of them was launching an ecommerce business with a glass product that would have to be shipped. In the beginning, we had shipments breaking and jars arriving leaked or spilled in transit, so we made the tough decision to switch our packaging to avoid any more issues. It was difficult for us to decide on the switch because we were stubborn and scared of disappointing our customers, but in the end, it was the right decision for us to make because it aligned with our core values of making an approachable product.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Pistakio
How long did it take you to see consistent monthly revenue? How much did the side hustle earn?
It took a few months — being bootstrapped, we had to wait until we could properly launch, and we found ways of doing that by soft-launching locally in December 2023. We began selling in a few local stores and through our website (for local shipping only), where we had mini one-ounce jars of Pistakio for sale for 50 cents that we would hand deliver around Portland. Even if we weren't bringing in lots of revenue, we knew that was the way to go, as it allowed us to get into the hands of many people who started spreading the word. In the first few months, our revenue doubled every month, and since officially opening our ecommerce and launching nationwide in April 2024, we brought in over six figures in less than 6 months.
What does growth and revenue look like now?
We are seeing consistent growth, both through our ecommerce and retail accounts. We have a very high percentage of customers returning to purchase more and usually buying for friends, and all the stores we're in have also been reordering more and more frequently. We're still a small business and not investing in any form of paid advertising, but we're seeing word-of-mouth going a long way and people getting excited about our product, which we're super grateful for.
What do you enjoy most about this side hustle?
My favorite part about starting a business with my partner is combining our passions and interests to create something special. Since the beginning, we've functioned well as a team — when there was a bigger focus on marketing alone, for example, Nico would be the strategist, and I would execute. Also, coming out of college, no "job description" out there really spoke to us. We felt like the odd fish out because we were creatives but not the kind who sit at an office from 9-5. Pistakio allows us to use our creativity to fill more purpose in our lives, innovate with new products and create a community of pistachio lovers.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Pistakio
What's your advice for others hoping to start successful side hustles of their own?
Get out there and do it! Don't wait for the perfect moment — be smart with timing, but don't procrastinate. The beautiful thing about starting as a side hustle is that there's relatively no risk involved when you first get started. Getting started in college or while working another job can be tough to manage time, but it's also a great way to test the water before deciding if quitting your job is worth it. We wanted to wait on Pistakio until after graduating because I wanted it to be perfect before putting anything out there, but the best decision we made was getting started even when it wasn't perfect so we could make mistakes and learn from them while still being super small. Also, have fun! Starting a business can be draining, but when you look back at everything you've accomplished and done yourself, it can also make you proud.
This article is part of our ongoing Young BIZ Experiences® series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of being a young business owner.
