NOSH Butters — Local services in Cuyahoga Falls

I attempted working with NOSH Butters as a new co-packing facility for my small business after experiencing significant challenges with a different facility. While the owner was initially friendly and seemingly sympathetic to my situation, my experience was ultimately very disappointing and misleading.

After agreeing on pricing and planning test batches, I shipped my remaining materials to them from my previous facility. Prior to shipping, I clearly communicated that I had concerns, including the possibility of expired items or unknown quantities of items in the shipment, due to lack of trust in the previous facility. The owner replied and expressed no issue with this — if he had expressed concern, I could have rerouted or avoided sending the shipment altogether.

Despite my transparency, the day after they received the shipment, I received a cold and abrupt email stating they were terminating the partnership effective immediately due to some materials being expired, leaking, or opened (which only affected a few items on 1 out of the 5 total pallets). I am unsure if the leaking was due to damage in transit, or if it was already leaking at the time it was shipped, but regardless, it was entirely out of my control. I also received a $225 bill for “storage” even though my materials were there for less than one week total.

Though I made several sincere attempts, there was zero willingness on their end to discuss or troubleshoot what was, in my opinion, an easily solvable situation.

In hindsight I realized it was a blessing in disguise, as my site visit to their facility raised some serious food safety and hygiene concerns that I would have needed to address if we had moved forward working together. They were all fixable concerns that I was willing to work through with them, but concerns nonetheless.

The facility did not appear to have air conditioning and was extremely hot and humid during our visit (they mentioned having one small cooler but I did not personally see it). It felt like it was at least 85-90 degrees in the space, which seemed concerning for a food production/storage space. The owner was visibly sweating during our visit. We did not experience a hygiene protocol when we entered the production space during our visit — no hair nets or protective gear (though we did visit outside of production hours, so perhaps they have a protocol during active production) The production room smelled unpleasant and appeared poorly ventilated based on my observation of the temperature and smell. I observed empty boxes and other clutter scattered throughout both the storefront and production space.

In retrospect, it’s ironic that they had food safety concerns about my business, when their own facility raised several concerns from my observations. I have a lot of respect for small businesses attempting to produce food products as I know how challenging it is, but my experience with NOSH was unprofessional and unacceptable.

I would strongly advise any small business looking for a professional, reliable, and food-safe co-packing partner to look elsewhere.

EDITED TO ADD: They emailed me threatening legal action if I do not remove my review, claiming my review is defamatory, which it is not. I believe this was an intimidation tactic. This review solely reflects my personal experiences and observations, which are protected under U.S. law, and I will not allow my experience to be silenced.

EDITED AGAIN: I see the company keeps changing their response….

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