Our Story
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— Our Story —
That’s the big question right? Why are we here, doing what we’re doing? The simple answer is that we just really love food (specifically peanuts and candy) and we have an overwhelming urge to give people a taste of their childhood in what we can offer. The real answer is a whole lot longer than that though.
T. Porter’s was brainstormed in 2008, finally becoming a reality in 2018 due to some constant, probably annoying, urging from Terry & Helen’s three children to do something about this great idea. Both grew up in the area, Terry from Chumuckla and Helen from Berrydale, and both had always been around peanut farming in their youth. Terry’s father, Wastle Spears, along with his grandfather were two of the most prolific peanut farmers in Northwest Florida for years and pioneered the use of multiple new technologies in peanut farming as they became available, including the first mobile peanut picker in Santa Rosa County. Terry’s mother, Lillian Simmons-Spears, also grew up with parents in the peanut farming business and has passed down what is arguably the best boiled peanut recipe in the Southeast, which is responsible for Helen’s real love of peanuts after she joined the family.
Since Terry and Helen have been together they have always operated their own businesses, first with brick sales immediately after their first child arrived, then operating Five Flags Speedway for eight years when they had their second child in 1990. During their time at Five Flags they also operated an industrial space in Milton that they named Ashley Industrial Complex (after their first child), and upon leaving Five Flags they opened a printing business in Chumuckla and followed the trend of naming businesses after children with Trent’s Prints. A few years later their third child came along, possibly signaling that a third business would need to be started in the future to continue this tradition. In 2008 their oldest wanted to do something creative in the food industry and was tossing ideas around. Maybe baking? Food photography? How about candy? Yeah, why not candy. Recipes were quickly developed using those passed down from both sides of the family, and after about twenty (or so) batches our flagship product Old Fashioned Peanut Brittle was settled on. A whole lot still needed to be done, as anyone who has ever started a business is aware, but first we needed a name. We’re suckers for tradition (sometimes) so T.Porter’s was born, named after their third (and final) little one.
We’ve had some ups and downs, as any small business would, but we’re still here and still striving to offer Northwest Florida (and the rest of the world of course) the sweet taste of the south and the nostalgia of their childhood that they deserve.
Terry & Helen