Meet MELT: A Boise-Based Vegan Butter B-Corp
Photo Courtesy Jenny Bowler
Story by Lex Nelson
Photo Courtesy Ai Willis
Just off Bannock Street in downtown Boise a small office is sandwiched between Mad Swede Brew Hall and 10 Barrel Brewing Co. The smell of beer fills the air, but what’s happening inside doesn’t match the atmosphere. There, less than 10 people are working quietly to bring plant-based butter to Idaho and beyond.
“It’s exciting for us,” said Brittney Fischer, MELT Organic’s director of brand marketing. “We just want to create good stuff for people, especially in Boise, but they don't know [we’re here]. It’s like the biggest secret in Boise that we have our headquarters on Bannock Street!”
Photo Courtesy Ai Willis
MELT Organic opened in 2009 when founder Cygnia Rapp first set out to create a dairy-free butter-like spread that wouldn’t aggravate her family’s food allergies. In 2018, Meridian native Scott Fischer took over as CEO and reformulated MELT from the ingredients up.
“They removed the organic virgin coconut oil and replaced it with cold-pressed organic coconut oil. The cold-pressed is a lot less coconut-forward,” Brittney, who is also Scott’s daughter, explained.
Reducing that coconut flavor allowed the buttery notes of sunflower oil to come forward, changing the taste of the product. MELT’s revamped “butters” (including a regular spread, a probiotic spread, and both salted and unsalted sticks) are non-GMO, USDA Organic, OU Kosher, and Rainforest Alliance certified.
The company itself has also been a B-Corp since 2016 — a designation that requires businesses to “meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.” Its small team of eight fundraises for St. Luke’s, participates in Rake Up Boise, donates plant-based butter to local men’s and women’s shelters, and mentors future entrepreneurs worldwide through Boise State University’s overseas internship program.
MELT sells at Albertsons stores across Idaho and other outlets in the U.S. and Canada. The company currently is working to provide its butters to schools and source entirely US-based ingredients for its Caldwell factory. It’s also exploring a new frontier: plant-based cheese.
“Most plant-based cheese is made with potato starch and is just kind of weird-tasting,” Brittney said. “Cheese is really hard. … But in the midst of [research and development] with this product we ended up creating a spread, a chickpea-based spread, that tasted exactly like cream cheese. So we decided to pivot.”
This September, MELT’s queso picante and cool garlic herb plant-based “Spreadables” will hit stores. According to Brittney, a cream cheese and strawberry spread will soon follow.
To keep up with MELT’s new products, follow the company on Facebook.
