Hamptons Salt Company Created By Dad Trying to Give Kids Healthy Choices

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — Peter Pierce's Hamptons journey started the way many people’s do: He was working in New York City and renting share houses in the Hamptons throughout the 90s. Eventually he was able to buy his own home in Southampton and became a stay-at-home dad whose life changed while raising his two kids.

“I became concerned about the quality of the food my children were eating,” said Pierce, who discovered the salt he was giving his kids—and what's found in most processed foods — not only had iodine added to it, but a potentially unhealthy anti-clumping agent that was added in the production process. “Essentially I learned that something natural like salt was being made unnatural," he said.

The fact that Pierce felt that no one was doing a good enough job communicating the truth about what was in refined table salt inspired him to learn everything he could about the mineral and launch his own company, Hamptons Salt.

What started as a small business whose product was sold in a few local Hamptons stores, such as Round Swamp Market in East Hampton and Green Thumb in Southampton, has turned into 29 different varieties of Hamptons Salt sold in many more locations across the Hamptons and on the brand’s website.

The product has been seen recently on the East End: Last month he did a tasting at Williams-Sonoma in Bridgehampton Commons; a selection of his salts were included in Real Housewives of New York Jill Zarin’s gift bags for her annual summer Hamptons bash.

Pierce says all natural sea salt is better than refined salt. “Sea salt is all natural. It is unrefined and has naturally occurring minerals. It doesn’t have additives like iodine and potentially unhealthy anti-clumping agents.”

His goal is to raise awareness: "I challenge everyone to go to their pantries and dump their refined boxes of kosher and iodized table salts, and replace them with our all natural cooking and finishing salts.”

Hamptons Salt Company includes a line of raw salts from all over the world. “They vary in taste, mineral composition and size, based on where they come from. We also sell flavored salt, like the decadent Black Truffle or the super spicy Ghost Pepper,” he said.

The line also includes smoked salt, cooking salt and finishing salt, which Pierce suggests bringing along when dining out.

Pierce said being surrounded by the serenity of the Hamptons, where nothing beats “a morning bike ride through the village and an afternoon at the beach", has inspired his vision for his new business.

With his line gaining recognition, Pierce says he has many well-known customers, including top chefs who live in the Hamptons such as Katie Lee and Alex Guarnaschelli.

For more information, check out Hamptons Salt Facebook or hamptonssalt.com.