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“I’m okay with giving away the recipe,” said Mary Molina. “There are so many granola recipes online and they’re all very similar. I have no trade secrets. Anyone can make it if they want to. The problem is, it’s very labor intensive and most people don’t have the time.”
The segment airs Monday, Dec. 10 at 1:30 p.m.
Molina estimates she works between 80 and 100 hours a week producing her five varieties of granola bars.
Molina set her alarm for 5:30 a.m. on the day the TV crew was due to arrive. At 7:30 she woke to find them already outside, walking around the property.
Though the segment will be only about 15 minutes, they filmed and interviewed all day. “They were still taking still shots at 7:15 in the evening and I had to leave to go to a coach’s meeting. When I came back, the house was spotless.
“I’d been walking around wiping up all week. In the end, it didn’t matter. The night before, I had nightmares, but when it actually happened I wasn’t very nervous. I’ve told my story so many times. And I talk so much anyway,” she said.
Lola Granola has grown exponentially in the year since its advent. “Last year, I had 14 vendors. Now I have 40,” Molina said. “I can’t meet the demands of all my customers. A lot of people want to stock the product, but I have to hold them off because I just don’t have the time.”
Before long, the kitchen-workshop will move out of the Molina household in Croton Falls and into an automated manufacturing facility. In the meantime, Molina has been in discussions with Whole Foods and other large distributors.
There is also new blueberry and almond flavor named after Molina’s nephew, Nathan.
For the time being, Lola Granola bars are sold at Croton Falls’ Hygrade and Who’s Cooking, and at the Country Farmer, Harvest Moon Farm & Orchard, the Swan Deli and Kingsley’s in North Salem. As for the future – who knows?
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