Aunt Carrie’s
Elsie Foy—who owns Aunt Carrie’s, the iconic 101-year-old shore restaurant in Narragansett, with daughters Amy Foy and Laura Perron—is working with Hope & Main to get their popular clam cake mix, currently available in Aunt Carrie’s gift shop, ready for retail sale at fish markets and grocery stores. “We’re trying to think now as manufacturers rather than as chefs,” said Foy. “You might have a good product but knowing how it will sell somewhere else … that everyone has a little piece of the profit … and all the people who need to be involved; there are lots of moving pieces.”
Their decision to focus on selling the clam cake mix to retail outlets occurred only after they realized, with guidance and technical assistance from Hope & Main experts, that canning their Indian pudding, a customer favorite, presented myriad challenges. “If you want our Indian pudding, you’re going to have to come and get it [from the restaurant],” said Foy. “It’s been an eye-opening experience.”
Branding for the clam cake mix will likely include some pictures from Aunt Carrie’s earliest years.
