Tricia Stone started Steep Hill Foods in 2016 after making granola for presents. Her initial desire was to raise money for the high school biking team that she and her children started. The name has double meaning—Tricia lives on the top of the hill in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco, where she still bakes all of the granola, and for the hills that the mountain bike team climbs. Steep Hill Foods has grown, and now, four organic granolas are found in multiple small Bay Area artisanal food stores and cafes. Her now-grown kids have been involved from the beginning—one inspired her to start making granola, another designed the front label, and the third helps her bake during peak times. For Tricia, making and sharing the granola is an expression of love. Steep Hill Foods still gives a percentage of its profits to organizations that get kids outside in Northern California.
There are four distinct granolas: Perfect Nut, Coconut Ginger, Chai Pistachio and Almost Savory. They are all made with organic ingredients. The sole exception is Mead & Mead maple syrup because of its great taste, and a long family connection—Tricia’s husband worked on their farm in his teens.
Perfect Nut is the original granola. It is a nut-dense mix of oats, pecans, almonds, cashews, and coconuts, sprinkled with a mixture of dried cranberries, dried cherries and sultanas. It is sweetened with maple syrup and has a delightful sweet-salty taste.
Coconut Ginger is an unusual mixture of nuts and seeds—almonds, cashews and pepitas—plus coconut, candied ginger, dried mango and pineapple and lime zest. People eat it all different ways, but it’s especially good with tart dairy like plain yogurt and cottage cheese.
Chai Pistachio was inspired by Tricia’s younger daughter’s love for chai lattes. In addition to oats, pistachios, almonds and sesame seeds, it contains chai spices—cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and long pepper. Citrus fruits play a big role in this granola—lemon and orange zest go into the granola before baking and after baking. Tricia adds candied citrus—Meyer lemon, orange and kumquats depending on the season.
Almost Savory is Steep Hill’s newest addition. Tricia added it during the pandemic, and it has been popular right off the bat. It is sweetened with a small amount of maple syrup, letting you fully appreciate the mix of oats, almonds, pepitas, pistachios and pecans.
All granolas are made weekly in San Francisco, and are always fresh.