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B y L i a m G o r m a n
ALLY VONER
Bear Butter creator / owner Jon Vella stands in front of his new location in Great Barrington with partner Jenn Kamienski .
Putting the Bear in Great Barrington
A PITTSFIELD SMOOTHIE ENTREPRENEUR OPENS A SECOND SHOP TO BOOST HIS ALMOND BUTTER BRAND
They call Bear Butter “ The Better
›› Butter ,” which isn ’ t just alliterative marketing bluster , according to creator / owner Jon Vella . “ When people try it , their faces just light up — they ’ re just , like , ‘ I need four jars !’ ”
How ’ s that for being passionate about your product ? And what exactly is Bear Butter ? It ’ s an almond butter with a host of “ superfoods ” to make it healthier and tastier . He blends some vegan proteins , cacao , hemp seed , flaxseed , coconut , and goji berries to give it its texture and added nutritional value . “ It ' s a bear of a butter ,” Vella says with a laugh .
Bear Butter has gone beyond the breakfast table and into dinner recipes . It ’ s been used in brussel sprouts , pad thai , peanut noodles , fluffer nutters . “ Eating it with apple slices or just right out of the jar seem to be the most frequent options I hear about ,” says Vella .
Tall , lanky and affable , 29-year-old Vella is hoping Bear Butter can help take his latest venture to the next level . Since 2018 , he has owned and operated The Spot , a popular juice , acai bowl and smoothie bar on Tyler Street in Pittsfield . He ’ s now trying to recreate that magic in Great Barrington , fueled by his “ better butter ,” calling the new location Bear Butter .
“ It ' ll be the same operation : smoothies , acai bowls , but we want to highlight Bear Butter ,” says Vella . “ So that ' ll be the brand . Most juice bars use the same ingredients , so that ' s where Bear Butter can differentiate us from the competition .”
A Mount Greylock graduate , Vella comes from a family of entrepreneurs . His sister is Jessica Rufo , who owns Dottie ’ s Coffee Lounge and Dorothy ’ s Estminet in Pittsfield , and his parents own The Brookhouse Sports Pub in Lanesborough . Vella has been an entrepreneur since he can remember . “ I was trying to sell gum in middle school ,” he jokes . “ I kind of always just wanted to be in business , to whatever degree . I didn ' t know what I was gonna do , but I knew I was gonna do something .” After high school , Vella bounced around a bit , studying landscape contracting at UMass until he realized it wasn ’ t his passion . He then went to Colorado , where his first taste of an acai bowl changed his life forever . “ I was , like , what are these things ? And I ate them every day for breakfast . And immediately I ’ m like I can bring this back east ,” remembers Vella .
With the help of his dad , Vella was able to get started at an old Subway Sandwich shop in Pittsfield . With the infrastructure already set up , he was able to get started almost immediately . Things went so well , he decided to give the same concept a shot just outside of Clearwater , Florida , during the winter months . That ’ s when he came across something called “ Energy Balls ”— an almond-based treat that was being served at a coffee shop in the same complex he ’ d opened his Clearwater operation .
“ After a while , I was , like , I can just make these myself . But they didn ' t hold the shape . They just melted when I put them in the container . But I thought , wow , this is still pretty good while I ate it with a spoon ,” laughs Vella .
It was at this point that Covid struck ,
104 // BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE Holiday May / June 2023 2024