When Frerichs Farm, Warren, hosted the Southern New England Giant Pumpkin Growers Annual Weigh-off earlier this month, the “Gerbs” brothers were there to promote pumpkin seeds: Galen Conte, left, Sennen Conte, and Barclay Conte.

Maybe pumpkin seeds don’t star in everyone’s happy childhood memories but they are very much a part of Sennen Conte’s. Today the Barrington native has parlayed his pumpkin passion into a viable snack business with the funny name of Gerbs.

Where does one begin with this story?

Is it with Lorraine Conte on Halloween roasting pumpkin seeds with her sons Barclay, Galen and Sennen? Is it when Sennen made his own varieties of roasted seeds for a Halloween party and his friends gobbled them up? Do we credit Galen for using his business acumen to launch an out-of-the-ordinary food endeavor with his seed-loving brother Sennen? Don’t we recognize Sennen’s in-laws, who own one of the world’s largest communion wafer businesses, with helping the brothers navigate the food world? And where would we be without Barclay, the oldest brother who for some unknown reason nicknamed his two siblings “Gerbs” and gave them the perfectly quirky name for their fun product.

Yes indeed, Galen, 38, (the business guy) and Sennen, 34, (the food guy) make and sell a line of roasted pumpkin seeds. There are whole roasted ones and baked kernels flavored with onion and garlic or spiced hot with roasted red pepper. All are delicious, but almost as important, they are free of gluten, wheat, egg, soy, dairy products, peanuts and tree nuts, making them a worry free snack food for the 21st century.

Nutritionist Jonny Bowden, author of “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth,” says the seeds are the most nutritious part of the pumpkin with lots of minerals and nutrients including desirable levels of magnesium. They offer fiber and more. With nine grams of protein it’s in the same nutritional company as a breast of chicken which has 12 to 14 grams, depending on size, said Sennen.

“We wanted to make a healthy snack,” said Sennen. “But we started with pumpkin seeds because they reminded me of my childhood.”

Gerbs started back in 2005 when the Contes began patenting recipes developed by Sennen. He worked to develop a recipe that eliminated all the oil during the roasting process and replaced them with seasonings. This gave the seeds a longer shelf life as does packaging them within 24 hours of roasting. Whole Foods is one of the stores that sells Gerbs and their requirements for products are stringent, Sennen said. So they started with those standards from the beginning knowing they wanted to be in those stores.

They began marketing at wine and beer expos to reach a snacking audience who also had a palate for taste. The company has realized huge growth over the past two years, said Sennen. They currently use 3,000 pounds of raw pumpkin seeds a month.

The Contes have recently joined United Natural Foods to see their Gerbs distributed to a wider audience in grocery stores, but they are already sold at farms and grocery stores in 16 states and the District of Columbia. In addition to Whole Foods, they are sold locally at stores, including Dave’s Marketplace.

The whole pumpkin seeds and kernels retail for $2.99 per box for 3.5 ounces.

As of now they are still a two-man company with help from family members including Sennen’s wife, Elizabeth Cavanagh. Her family owns the Rhode Island-based Cavanagh Co., which makes about 80 percent of the communion bread used by the Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran and Southern Baptist churches in the U.S., Australia, Canada and Britain. Sennen said their business expertise has helped guide the Contes as Gerbs developed. Gerbs recently moved into Cavanagh’s Johnston production facility, where they can make their allergy free product.

They’ve also just expanded the product line into candy with pumpkin seed clusters in milk and dark chocolate and in a brittle. They sell in the $4.99 range.

But even with the addition of fine chocolate, Sennen is committed to maintaining the flavor of the pumpkin seed cause, because after all, that is how it all began.

Learn more at Gerbspumpkinseeds.com.

gciampa@projo.com