So many people ask us why we call our great tasting seeds GERBS! Well, in tradition amongst Conte men our older brother Barclay gave us the single nickname, GERBS, after numerous times finding us in the kitchen with our mother up to our elbows or knees in chocolate or cake batter.

For our family pumpkin seeds were always one of the best things about Halloween! When after we finished coring and carving our pumpkins our mother would gather all our seeds, simply sprinkle some salt & pepper on them and roast them in the oven. She seemed to always have them ready when we were ready to light our candle in our Jack O’ Lantern. Back then the whole family could hardly wait to let the seeds cool down before we were munching them down by the handful.

Well, several years ago we found ourselves in the kitchen again before our annual Halloween Party cooking up our favorite dishes of the holiday season and of course– PUMPKIN SEEDS! Throughout that party this particular year, as our friends commented on how much they loved our seeds as they gobbled them down, we immediately realized that we had come across something magical. This batch had just the right roasted almond color and toasty seasoned flavor that afterwards we all agreed that these seasonal treats would be a great snack food– ALL YEAR LONG! When the question came to what we would call our new snack treat, we both immediately answered in unison, GERBS!!!!

Following that special night, and receiving encouragement from family members and friends, we decided to start a new business endeavor, ultimately incorporating GERBS in July 2003. Since we knew very little about starting a small manufacturing business the first year and a half was spent ‘learning the ropes’, developing our flavor lines, designing our packaging, analyzing cost analysis procedures, as well as looking into production, manufacture, and marketing constraints to produce our gourmet seeds on a commercial level. Finally after painstakingly sampling numerous varieties with friends and family our MILD LINE was launched in January 2005! Following MILD, altering and adding too our unique and special seasoning concoction, we created A Little Spicy in 2006. Finally, we launched Lightly Salted in early 2007 after we experimented with a few other sample flavors that did not meet our high taste testing standards.

Now that we’re adults we are glad to have the chance to offer you the product of two boys’ love of cooking our entire line of great tasting pumpkin seeds. Our family’s top priorities are customer satisfaction and taste. We accomplish this by using only the finest all-natural ingredients to deliver you a delicious snack that’s both healthy and fun to eat. Gerbs are very high in fiber, packed with protein, and naturally low in carbohydrates. As well Gerbs are roasted and packaged in our facility which DOES NOT process peanuts, wheat, or tree nuts of any kind, keeping them naturally Gluten & Allergy Free.

So as you’re enjoying this roasted crunchy snack that we like to say ‘EATS LIKE POPCORN’, we hope it makes you smile thinking about your childhood, of Trick or Treating in your neighborhood with friends and family, carving a Jack-O-Lantern, and two little boys cooking with their mother in the kitchen, who learned to love a very odd nickname.

Sincerely,
Galen, Sennen and Barclay Conte