Besto founder says she has ‘pride’ that her nut-free pesto product is perishable

A New York City entrepreneur is on a mission to change the way Americans think about what’s in their refrigerator — and what shouldn’t be in their pantry.

“I’m proud that Besto is perishable,” said Kaureen Randhawa, founder of the nut-free pesto brand launching in summer 2024.

“It’s bad,” Randhawa, 27, told Fox News Digital. “It needs to be refrigerated because it’s a fresh ingredient product. … It’s cool that food goes bad. Food is fresh. It should go bad. It shouldn’t last for three hurricanes in my pantry.”

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Randhawa’s journey to becoming the boss of Besto began from childhood, out of necessity.

Diagnosed with a severe nut allergy while living in Florida, she grew up eating foods that many take for granted.

Kaureen Randhawa said she had a severe nut allergy since she was a baby – so her mother would make her a nut-free pesto. (Kaureen Randhawa)

“It’s an allergy I never got over,” she said, sharing that pesto — traditionally made from pine nuts — was always a no-no unless her mother made it from scratch.

This homemade workaround would later become the basis of his business.

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“My mother is an amazing cook,” Randhawa said. “She would make me a nut-free pesto.”

Years later, while studying at the University of Florida, Randhawa began experimenting with this recipe.

Randhawa has been experimenting with the recipe since she was at the University of Florida. (Kaureen Randhawa)

“I got really interested in my health and well-being in college,” she said, recalling how she tweaked the traditional recipe by adding apple cider vinegar and substituting spinach.

The result, she says, was “this healthier green sauce that tastes like pesto.”

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After graduating and moving to New York for a corporate job at Estée Lauder, Randhawa continued to make her pesto for everyday use at home and at work – until her friend’s husband, involved in the “Miami food scene,” called her. He had just tasted a jar she had left in their fridge during a visit.

His message to her was: “I think you’re right,” she recalls.

Randhawa founded Besto in 2024, initially selling nut-free pesto in parks during her lunch break. (Molly Zacher/The Creative Wind)

From there, Besto was born in her 506 square foot apartment.

Randhawa began fulfilling orders herself, sourcing ingredients from local stores and handing out jars in Manhattan parks during her lunch break.

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Today, Besto ships nationwide and is stocked in approximately 60 stores across 17 states, attracting not only allergy-conscious consumers but also health-conscious shoppers.

Pesto is mainly sold in health food stores. (Best)

Randhawa said she believes the brand’s rapid growth reflects a broader shift in how Americans approach food — one increasingly driven by transparency and ingredient knowledge.

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“Now when a consumer buys a product as simple as ketchup or mayonnaise, or if it’s pesto, we now read the labels because we see all the waste in it,” she said.

That mindset aligns with a growing movement toward cleaner, less processed foods — and the rejection of ultra-long shelf life as a selling point, she said, pointing to the “tons of shelf-stable pestos” at the grocery store.

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“But these pestos are not pestos I always wanted to buy,” she said.

“They don’t taste fresh.”

Randhawa is proud of the fact that the nut-free pesto brand she created has a shelf life. (Molly Zacher/The Wind Creative; Roots marketing agency)

While Besto started as a solution for people with nut allergies like hers, Randhawa said it’s “just a good-tasting pesto.”

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“If something tastes good, everyone would want to eat it,” she said.