Women in the Small-Business Food Game
In good times and bad, staffing can be a challenge in the food industry where frequent employee turnover is the norm. Three Rhode Island women who all began their culinary careers creating small-batch, artisanal food and beverage products have stories to tell as they continue to navigate workforce challenges and whether to go it alone, or when and how to staff up.
A solo foodpreneur (entrepreneur of the culinary world), Savannah Campbell does everything single-handedly at Warren food business incubator Hope & Main––production, sales and deliveries, marketing and social media. Her company, Caribe & Co., offers Caribbean-inspired, handcrafted syrups in six flavors, including Mexican Vanilla Bean and Chocolate Rum Cream. Owner/crafter Campbell adds syrups to coffee, cocktails and seltzers, and uses them atop pancakes and, with her Sorrel and Ginger or Jamaican Coconut Drop, in fruit desserts. Her syrups are available at farmers markets, local retailers and online.
Two years after launching her company (in 2022), Campbell is discovering that self-care is essential. “I’m learning to prioritize and to realize that not every moment has to be about work,” she says. “Saying no is hard; I want to tap into every opportunity, but I have to focus on what will bring me the most payoff.” With two culinary degrees from Johnson & Wales University, Campbell appreciates her family and friends—some of whom occasionally sell her syrups at farmers markets––and Hope & Main’s supportive community. Ideally, Campbell would offload syrup production to employees who are more efficient and faster than she is, which would alleviate staffing issues.
A solo foodpreneur since 2017, Elizabeth Fradin produces five flavors of savory gluten-free crisps at Hope & Main. Originally named Beth Bakes, the company rebranded as BettaBakes in 2023. Although Fradin grew up cooking for friends and family, her daughter’s celiac disease diagnosis drove her dive into the gluten-free world.
“At first, it felt urgent,” says Fradin, who began baking with teff, sorghum and other gluten-free flours. “Without Hope & Main, I wouldn’t have gotten this far. This is their ‘sweet spot’––they help you refine [a concept] into a business and offer excellent training.”
If BettaBakes had additional resources, Fradin would hire someone to manage all the production processes so she could handle ordering, delivering, planning and scheduling, bookkeeping, purchasing and social media. “I love meeting customers and introducing our artisan crisps to people; I’d never give that up,” she says.
Like Campbell, Fradin sells her goods online, to retail outlets and at farmers markets and special events. Eager to grow her wholesale revenues, she is committed to delivering only fresh-baked artisanal crisps, including her best-selling Classic Sea Salt and Currant Fennel.
Fradin’s “mainstays” comprise her bake team, Joy Bloodworth––with Fradin since the beginning––and Rob Castaneda. “Joy is phenomenal; she’s always encouraging me to think bigger,” says Fradin. “My ideal kitchen team is two people in the bake station and one in packaging. I try to pay well, but I’m asking a lot of these [hourly] workers to learn the intricacies of precise baking.” Other part-timers and, occasionally, Blood-worth, sell the crisps at farmers markets.
Rob Armstrong, Maureen Maloney’s partner in business and love, encouraged her to make a great granola to accompany Munroe Dairy’s delicious milk. “Rob [owner of Munroe Dairy Home Delivery] … loves granola,” says Maloney, Sacred Cow’s chief cook and bottle washer. After buying and taste-testing hundreds of dollars’ worth of other granolas, she eventually developed a unique recipe incorporating her passion for Indian spices and blending savory and sweet. The company name was Hope & Main CEO Lisa Raiola’s brainchild.
Today, at least three bakers are needed to make the granola in the onsite kitchen that Maloney modeled on a Hope & Main kitchen where it all started for Sacred Cow. “We used to have five people in the kitchen, but we got more efficient,” she says. “Owning our own space gives us flexibility in storing supplies and working eight hours a day.”
Since Maloney launched Sacred Cow, a division of Munroe Dairy, nearly 10 years ago, the original granola-making team has moved on, though the current team has been there for several years. “We work as a team, and we look for employees who enjoy themselves,” says Maloney. “A culinary background isn’t essential, but employees should have a passion for food. We nourish creative ideas to help us grow.” Competitive wages, health insurance, profit-sharing, employee discounts and reimbursements for culinary workshops make a sweet benefits package.
During Covid, the small team faced chain-reaction absences, when one employee after another got sick. “We had to pinch-hit, and everyone had to wear all hats,” recalls Maloney. “When we interviewed people for jobs, we were grateful if the person simply showed up; a ‘no-show’ was not a surprise.”
Sacred Cow Granola is available at local retailers, online and at Munroe’s East Providence food and dairy retail store. “We simply don’t have enough employees to staff farmers markets and special events, too,” says Maloney.
Hiring a co-packer––a food production facility that produces food products for the business owner according to their own unique recipe––is not desirable for these women, based on their current levels of production and needs.
Campbell is concerned that co-packer requirements could be challenging for inventory. “Six flavors are a lot to produce,” says Campbell. “I want to have an inventory management system before I add any new flavors.”
Fradin worries a co-packer would change her precise formulas to run on automated equipment. “My artisanal crisps need to be fresh baked each week,” she explains.
Sacred Cow’s granola goes through “a laborious process … it’s a science of flipping, tossing and turning [the ingredients],” says Maloney. Granola ingredients include Maine Grains’ organic oats and Vermont’s Bascom Family Farm’s organic maple syrup, which are high-quality but more costly.
These women are all winners: Campbell’s $2,500 grant from Santander Bank and Babson College helped pay for inventory and production costs for the upcoming holiday season; Fradin’s Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses Entrepreneur program helped fund the rebrand of her business; and Sacred Cow was named a Good Food Award recipient in 2019.
Even with staffing issues, these award-winners maintain their passion for sharing their culinary delights with their customers.
Nancy Kirsch is a freelance writer in Rhode Island. Contact her at writernancy@gmail.com.
For more, visit these makers at: BettaBakes.com
