LOCAL: Brands, Businesses + Entrepreneurs | #22 | Spiva Cooking
Kitsap is full of incredible brands, businesses and entrepreneurs who make shopping for unique items in Kitsap a fun adventure.
About Sam
What was your first job?
“My first job was as a cook at Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Arizona where I grew up. It is where I developed a passion for the culinary industry before deciding to attend The Culinary Institute of America in New York. That being said, I am incredibly excited to start my first business as l have always been an entrepreneur at heart.
When I was in second grade I started selling part of my lunch to the other kids at my lunch table. I did this until I had enough cash to buy all the pens, pencils, erasers, and school supplies at our school store. I would then sell the school supplies to other kids in my class at a profit when the store was closed in the middle of the day. I ran lemonade stands, sold baseball cards, and did odd jobs for neighbors. For a brief stint when my family lived in a house on a golf course I would forage the surrounding desert area for the surprising amount of expensive golf balls hooked or sliced off of the fairway. I would collect them and then post up at the tee box and sell them back to the golfers. The hustle is in my blood and the entrepreneurial mindset has always been a part of me.”
Where do you draw inspiration/creativity in your life?
“Whether it is connecting with my family and friends, reading a book, listening to a podcast, having a conversation, listening to our customers, or observing something around me, creativity and inspiration are all over the place. The key for me has been in learning to take inputs, think about and understand them, and contextualize them to our business or situation. In essence, creativity is about exposure. More thoughts, concepts, techniques, places, people, etc. that we are exposed to provide more frameworks in which to see life which results in more opportunity to execute creative ideas.”
About Spiva Cooking
How did the idea of starting Spiva Cooking begin?
“At the beginning of 2020, I was working as the Corporate Chef for a small ship cruise company. When the pandemic hit, it devastated the cruise ship, hospitality, and travel and tourism industries and I quickly ended up being one of the many who lost their jobs due to COVID. My personality doesn't allow me to sit still for long and I am always looking for ways to learn, grow, and achieve. I wanted to find a way to provide for my family and also to use this circumstance to create something positive and hopeful in the Kitsap community.
I started out trying to do a number of things. I was doing culinary consulting, virtual cooking classes, landscaping, cooking meals for family and friends, designing websites, and more. One day, I decided to make a batch of barbecue dry rub. I posted it on social media to see if any of my family and friends would be interested in buying some. Orders started flooding in and I had to go and get more ingredients to fulfill all the orders. In the first couple of days, I sold over 50 pounds of it and I knew I was on to something.”
The Genesis
Tell us the story of how Spiva Cooking came to fruition.
“With a bit of early success and the realization that Kitsap did not have a strong local spice presence, I decided to get certification from the WSDA and FDA to produce spices and spice blends for home cooks, retail stores, and restaurants/foodservice establishments. We launched right before Thanksgiving in 2020 and we have been seeing some exciting growth since then. We have added nearly 20 products to the online store and over a hundred bulk spices for wholesale to foodservice operations. We work with a few restaurants in Kitsap County for whole spices and custom blends and our products can also be found in 10 retail partner locations as well as in our online shop.”
Tell us what/who drives you to keep working hard towards your goals.
“My family, faith, and my community are all very important drivers for me to work incredibly hard towards my ambitious goals. I realized early on that the gap from the starting line to the finish line (or the vision I have for my business) is gigantic. Rather than allow that tremendous disparity to result in inaction I decided from Day 1 to fall more in love with the process of building the business rather than the final vision itself. My strategy is to get 1% better every day. A grand vision seems impossible, 1% seems clear, practical, and manageable. When you take small 1% actions daily and repeatedly that consistency pays off in huge improvement and growth over time.”
Love Kitsap
Tell us your fave local drink spot - coffee, tea, wine, tequila, whatever!
“My Favorite coffee spot in Kitsap is Caffe Cocina. Eric and his team are constantly serving up not only the best lattes but also really great hospitality.”
Tell us your fave local spot for a comfort meal - what do you always order?
“I am a huge fan of the fried chicken sandwich at Butcher & Baker Provisions. They are a great spot for elevated comfort food.
I also recently stumbled upon Kilroy's Pizza and the sausage pizza was phenomenal. James is cooking up some amazing pies using a ton of local ingredients and solid techniques.
Our kids are crazy about the sweets at Monica's Waterfront Bakery.”
Live Kitsap
Out-of-town guests are coming for the weekend. What is the most important thing you share with them about the Kitsap Peninsula? Where do you absolutely have to take them?
“We are fairly new to the area ourselves having just lived here for about 3 years. That being said, we love to give our out-of-town visitors the ferry experience when they come to visit. We enjoy getting them out to our favorite food spots such as Butcher & Baker Provisions, Khao Soi, and Caffe Cocina.
We also make sure to get out to several trails and beach parks across Kitsap. In the summer we love taking people to Illahee State Park and grilling up some amazing food by the water.”
Thrive in Kitsap
Where are your favorite places to get outside? What do you do when you go?
“I love cycling all around Kitsap County, it is such a beautiful place to explore. Our family loves to get out to all of the beaches and trails around Kitsap but our favorite thing to do in the summer is head out and explore the Olympic National Forest. The hiking, camping, wildlife, and scenery out there is perfect.”
our connections + friendships with local brands, businesses + entrepreneurs is something that makes living in kitsap truly unique. we aren’t just supporting a business, we’re building relationships.
read about more brands, businesses + entrepreneurs
Sam Eitzen, the co-founder of SnapBar, is a truly inspiring story of grit and perseverance as he grew his company through the pandemic.