Tri-Cities banana bread company reinvents bakery staple with bold recipes, big plans

A Tri-City entrepreneur is elevating banana bread, the humble afterthought for bananas turned brown.

Aubrieann Johnson, 32, is an unlikely savior for the overlooked bakery staple: She doesn’t like bananas.

But her young business, Aub’s Bananza Bread, with outlets in Pasco and Kennewick, is quickly becoming a go-to destination for Tri-Citians who like their banana bread plain, nutty, fruity, chocolaty or even fiery.

In spite of her distaste for bananas, banana bread found her. She was caring for a friend who had suffered a stroke. The daily routine included a visit to Starbucks for a slice of banana bread.

One day in February 2021, the coffee shop was out. Her patient rejected a substitution, asking Johnson to bake a loaf instead. She did.

Within weeks, she had developed her own recipe.

Baking is science

“To me, baking is science. I’ve always been a sciencey kid growing up,” she said.

Her homemade bread was a hit with friends and family. When her father called it good enough to sell, she saw an opportunity to start a business.

She got a Cottage Food permit and began producing banana bread in her father’s kitchen.

She began experimenting with flavor profiles and has developed 30 versions of banana bread. She’ll sell a cayenne-spiced banana bread at Pasco’s Fiery Food Festival on Sept. 9 at Peanuts Park.

Johnson takes inspiration from a variety of sources.

Her flavors are inspired by candies such as Reese’s, Almond Joy and Snickers. The lineup includes a triple chocolate Death By Chocolate and bread made with nuts, white chocolate/cranberry, pumpkin cheesecake, lemon, berries, and much more.

In a world where chocolate chips, nuts and raisins constitute “fancy,” she wants to reinvent banana bread as a luxury item that works as a breakfast staple, an afternoon pick-me-up or even dessert.

“I like to think of myself paving my own lane,” she said.

By June 2021, Aub’s had outgrown her father’s kitchen.

She leased kitchen time at Pasco Specialty Kitchen — the shared commercial space on South Fourth in downtown. She sold Aub’s through farmer’s markets and some businesses.

What it needed was a permanent spot and her timing was perfect.

The Public Market at Columbia River Warehouse opened in June 2022 in the former Welch’s juice plant in downtown Kennewick. The market offered stalls for lease to small businesses.

Johnson loved the location and the gritty warehouse environment. Aub’s was one of the original businesses. It soon outgrew its original stall and moved to a larger one.

Today, fans can buy Aub’s products at Stall 66 on market days and, as of June, at the walk-up window at Pasco Specialty Kitchen.

It is available for delivery or pickup through Tri-Cities Food Force. The business has a booth at the Pasco Farmers Market and participates in community events, including Fiery Foods.

Where it started

Johnson was born in California but moved to Pasco as a child and calls herself a native. She credits her father, Aubrey Johnson, as her best friend and constant cheerleader who told her she could do anything she wanted.

The elder Johnson, a welder by training, is a constant entrepreneur whose has run businesses ranging from trucking to cosmetology.

Thanks to her father, Johnson said, she always knew she wanted to be her own boss.

She graduated from Pasco High School in 2010 and began a career in sales. That ended when she developed a difficullt-to-diagnose health issue, which took months to diagnose and treat.

When she felt healthy enough to resume working, she took the role of helping her friend who’d had the stroke. Aub’s allowed her to be her own boss and her friend has largely recovered, she said.

Where it’s going

Aub’s will continue to be part of the Kennewick public market, but the window space in Pasco is now its home base. Aub’s took over the window after the former user, Delicakes by Angelica, moved to Kennewick. Pasco Hamburger Co. uses a second window at the specialty kitchen.

Aub’s carries a rotating lineup of five to seven varieties each week. Original recipe is on the menu every week, as is a nutty version.

Her growth plan includes building Aub’s into a coffee shop staple that is carried in grocery stores. She wants Aub’s to be a household brand.

She plans to eventually move into her own kitchen and even operate a frozen yogurt style cafe, where customers can purchase a slice of banana bread and top it with fruit, drizzles, ice cream or other toppings.

“We’re doing some serious out of the box work,” she said. ”Even though I don’t like banana bread, I know people love it and there isn’t much variety.”

Where to buy:

Aub’s Bananza Bread sells bite-sized and mini loafs.

Pasco Specialty Kitchen walk-up window, 110 S. Fourth Ave., 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Wednesday to Saturday

Public Market at Columbia River Warehouse, 10 E. Bruneau, Building C, Kennewick, 1-7 p.m., Thursday, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Sunday.

Pasco Farmers Market, Saturdays through October.

Delivery or pickup through TC Food Force

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