Brenda Jones and Colleen Fletcher have taken a seasonal family hobby and turned it into a growing gourmet business.
The two International Falls residents established Lakeside Gourmet Jam in August 2007. After one year, the partnership is self sustaining with plans to double its output in 2009.
“We are just two people that have done everything we can on our own to create the entire package,” said Jones, a marketing specialist in her first job. “We would like to eventually draw a living wage and employ other people.”
The individual jams are sold by the jar or as “flagship flavors” gift baskets. The flavors of blackberry, raspberry and wild blueberry are blended with combinations of jalapeño or red peppers.
The two want people to use their jam as a gourmet product in everyday cooking. Jam is a familiar topping on toast and bagels or even peanut butter sandwiches. Gourmet jam stands on its own, they said, as an hors d'oeuvres and for cooking.
The company Web site, lakesidegourmetjam.com, offers advice on how to use gourmet jam in sauces, as a glaze for chicken, pork, fish or wild game. They get customer feedback saying they serve it on meatloaf, bratwurst and as a raspberry rue over red elk. They also serve it warm on pancakes and ice cream.
The idea started when Jones said she could not find an equivalent affordable gourmet jalapeño jam in the marketplace. The company name “Lakeside Gourmet” reflects the shared experience of the partners and a community identity with the water.
Jones and Fletcher are experienced in business, but said making and selling a food product is complex and difficult. They navigated state and federal regulations regarding food production.
“There is a lot of underlying information that really isn’t spelled out very well,” said Jones. “We asked about what applies to us in our category and how we need to run the business to be accountable to everybody.”
If they can expand to 10,000 units per year it will require updates and exemption applications to comply with rule changes. It will all change again once they expand past 100,000 units per year.
“As we grow, we will make those concessions,” Fletcher added, noting that they have a business savings plan to buy equipment for the next level.
Jones and Fletcher also worked with the Small Business Development Center. They attend the Women’s Business Network meetings and first met with Jenny Dougherty, director, SBDC in 2007.
“They have been great clients to work with,” said Dougherty.
They worked through the small business start up process, from legal, accounting and insurance issues for proper licensing requirements, to registering with the Secretary of State and obtaining Federal and State Tax ID numbers. She also provided them with market research for specialty food products, UPC code information.
“We talked about the format for writing a business plan and developing projected financial statements,” said Dougherty.
As the two begin investing in equipment she said that it would reduce the costs of producing their product, ensure consistency and improve profit margins.
Dougherty said that the two balance the work to expand their market with other jobs and home life. She excited to see their product for sale at local stores and to hear people rave about the Jam.
“I have also witnessed their devotion and hard work,” she added. “They have been at every local and regional event selling their product.”
“We are still going to people and asking questions about running a business,” said Jones. “As much as we have learned, we have to learn more. There is no neat or easy package; this is a learning process.”
Supplies and shipping are the costliest overhead. They use gourmet frozen fruits and fresh vegetables for the quality flavor and character of the jam. These items are not always available locally.
For consistency, they converted to using commercial weights and containers scales. This is much different than making it at home and several times the size of their the normal method. They needed to rent an approved commercial kitchen and found the Coffee Landing.
“I think this is great to make use of a resource that is otherwise idle after we’re closed at 4 p.m.,” said Sheila Johnson, owner of the Coffee Landing. “I appreciate having such a quality product associated with the store.”
The partners started offering the product at area craft shows, resorts, grocery, retail and specialty stores. They recently met with officials with a grocery warehouse to see if the jam can be carried in stores around the region.
Fletcher and Jones say they enjoy offering free jam samples with cream cheese on crackers at public events. The describe the response to the product as “fun and validating.”
“It’s the simplest way to serve and the most fun way to treat people,” said Fletcher.
They plan to add new items each year; it begins with the traditional holiday experimentation or updating an old idea that didn’t work before. They said they want to introduce some hotter variations and some low sugar jams.
