Before Bear Food was a brand, it was a way to pay for school. Its founder had stepped away from college basketball and needed tuition money, so he went back to a family tradition: selling Virginia peanuts. He cooked them by hand from family recipes, packed them in tins, and sold them as gifts. Corporate orders came first. Then the people who received them started asking where they could buy more.

The peanuts are still made that way, jumbo Virginias picked for size and cooked in small batches, salted as they cook or slow-glazed in butter and sugar until the coating turns to toffee. Each flavor gets its own gold label on a black tin, from Cajun Spiced to Sea Salt Truffle, alongside honey-toasted pecans and the Bear Mix, the house best seller. The company is family-run out of Matthews, North Carolina, and its fulfillment center employs and trains young adults with special needs, the founder's brother Miller among them.