A North Haven producer of gourmet pumpkin seeds has raised a $450,000 equity investment, according to a filing Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Kathie’s Kitchen LLC, which was founded by Kathleen Pelliccio in her kitchen in 2004, sells various flavors of pumpkin seeds under the brand name SuperSeedz through retailers and its own website.
“I would rent space and produce everything myself, and about two years ago we started to explode,” Pelliccio said Thursday afternoon.
Pelliccio and her husband Joe Pelliccio run the company with just one other full-time employee. They use a contractor to package and produce the seeds.
The company is trying to raise as much as $600,000, according to the filing.
Joe Pelliccio said the company will use the funds for slotting fees at stores and to grow their distribution channels and target new customers, such as the military and airlines.
“We want to become Americas tastiest healthy snack,” he said.
SuperSeedz are already in 8,000 stores, including Shaw’s, Shop Rite, Stop & Shop, Whole Foods Market and Stew Leonard’s. The company is also preparing its first shipment for Costco.
The Pelliccios hope the new relationship with the warehouse club will also net them their first international sales in Japan and Mexico.
Kathie’s Kitchen is also preparing to roll out a one-ounce bag for convenience stores to add to the five-ounce and 18-ounce bags it currently sells.
