Today we’d like to introduce you to Melanie Freda.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
In 2013, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and I had to eliminate gluten from my diet. At the time, there was very little on the market that was worth spending money on. Over the years, things for the gluten free community began to improve, but I was still frustrated with the gluten free offerings I could find in the store. I started baking for my family in the hopes that I would be able to replicate some of the things I really missed. Eventually, I started baking my own bread and lots of sweet treats that I would bring to family events and parties.
After a few years, at the gentle prodding of my husband and a few family members, I decided to get licensed to sell baked goods from a home based cottage operation. I wasn’t really sure it would turn into anything, but I decided to just start and see where it went. I was approached by a local farmers market and once I got one market under my belt, I started to do others. I’ve grown my little community from being out at community markets and popup events. Meeting my customers face to face, connecting with their stories and challenges, has been motivating and has inspired many of my menu offerings. As the business has grown and the laws in Georgia have changed, I have had to opportunity to open some new doors I wouldn’t have expected. I now have a few wholesale accounts and some plans for expansion over the next year or two.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not. There are always challenges in business, from learning how to manage the paperwork to taxes and keeping up with government requirements, there’s always something new to learn or research. In the kitchen, the challenges are always plentiful! Scaling production has it’s challenges, especially working in a space limited environment. Coming up with resourceful ways to maximize space and efficiency has become a regular activity, but I always work through it. It’s meant investing in new equipment and often times abandoning things I bought in the beginning, in favor of something that will work better. It’s frustrating sometimes to feel like money was wasted, but I attribute that to the growing pains of a small business.
Recipe testing and development doesn’t always end in delicious treats and there’s certainly a fair amount of waste you have to consider with that. This is an area I particularly struggle with, because I really have a hard time with waste. Unfortunately, there isn’t much of a way to get around that, but I have learned to try and repurpose things as much as possible. Bad bread still makes good bread crumbs! Bright side, right?
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Groovy Grains Bakeshop is a dedicated gluten free bakery. I specialize in gluten free, but also accomodate many other allergies, like dairy/egg/nut free at request. One of our main menu items is our gluten free sandwich bread. Many people who aren’t gluten free may not realize that gluten free bread at the store is often tiny (like really tiny!). One of the things I am most proud of is being able to offer my gluten free customers a full size loaf of bread. Same size everyone else gets! It’s part of my mission as a gluten free baker to always offer regular size food to my customers. No tiny bread, or miniature cookies, or biscuits the size of a quarter. Real food, normal size, delicious flavor…that’s always the goal here.
For special occasions we offer celebration cakes, cupcakes, and specialty pastry/treat boxes. I also often take requests from customers who have a favorite treat that they miss since having to go gluten free, whether it’s a Hostess-style cupcake or a special biscuit they had from a restaurant far far away. IF I can accommodate a request that makes someone’s food dream come true, I will absolutely do it!
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I love to collaborate with others.
I can be reached via:
my website: www.groovygrainsbakeshop.com
email: melanie@groovygrainsbakeshop.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.groovygrainsbakeshop.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/groovygrainsbakeshop
