Community Feature: White River Bakery, Neshkoro Wisconsin

Its a misty day along Broadway Street in the small town of Ripon Wisconsin. In a building adjacent to the Fox River, AJ's Riverside Coffee Shop boasts original tin ceiling tiles and delicious lattes. Twice a week, the White River Bakery – a cottage industry in-home business – sells delicious sourdoughs and "scoafs" (scones in a mini loaf shape) to foot traffic that comes through AJ's.

We sit down across the table with coffees in hand, to chat about her inspiration behind White River Bakery, and the unique industry of home-based food.

SteadGoods: "Let's start with letting the readers know who you are, a little about your bakery, where you work out of and the areas you service, and how long you've been in business."

Ashley: "I'm Ashley Hoffman, and I am the owner of White River Bakery. I've been in business for about 4 months so far. I live and bake in Neshkoro, but I do offer deliveries up to 30 or 40 miles away from home. I also do pop up shops in Berlin, Ripon and Red Granite, as well as the indoor Waupaca Farmer's Market every other weekend."

SteadGoods: "How long would you say you've been a baker prior to opening the White River Bakery?"

Ashley: "I've been baking on and off for about 20 years. I grew up regularly cooking and baking with my mom and grandma. I helped my mom out in the kitchen consistently because she had twins to look after, and my grandma and I would make cookies, breads, things like that.

When I got into high school, I took all of the food-based courses my small school offered, which only got me through the first 2 years of my high school experience. After that, the teacher who handled all those cooking and baking classes created courses for me to continue in for the next 2 years worth of high school, and also had me be her Teacher's Assistant for the classes I had already finished.

Mrs. Jones was a good teacher. She would introduce me to different kitchen concepts or tools and then set me to work creating a recipe out of what I had learned. I did a lot of 'free cooking' in those classes, creating my own stuff."

SteadGoods: "What an amazing way for Mrs. Jones to encourage your skills! Would you say some of those experiences are the inspiration or motivation for your baking and creating?"

Ashley: "The inspiration started as a mix of all those people: my grandma, mom and Mrs. Jones. And then as I started a family of my own, I realized I wanted to provide better, healthier options than what I could find in the store. I wanted to avoid some of the junk and preservatives, so I got back into the baking again."

SteadGoods: "Ok, so what prompted the actual opening of the bakery business? It seems like it happened pretty recently!"

Ashley: "So, I actually had gone to the doctor at some point and found out I was a type 2 diabetic. I wasn't eating well, I wasn't sleeping. My prior jobs were very taxing and I wasn't taking care of myself. The diagnosis prompted me to visit a dietician, who helped me understand that certain carbs were better than others, and that sourdough breads did not affect the glycemic index the same way that regular breads did.

I started to research sourdough bread, and even experimented with buying and making my own sourdough starters. My first starter died within a month (laughter), but I've been able to keep the second one alive and thriving.

As I got into sourdough, I realized that other people don't know about the same benefits. I was having family and friends try it, and it got me baking once again. I was baking both sourdough items for myself and others who wanted the sourdough benefits, and I started baking sweet treats again for holidays and celebrations for family and friends to enjoy.

Everyone complimented my work so much, and it started me thinking again about making this my career. I had originally wanted to pursue a career in the food industry after high school, but my life just went in other directions. Now I feel like I have a stable enough life and family and partner that I can pursue this direction again. With my partner's help and family's help I can balance being a mom as well as being engaged with my baking. I can pick that dream back up from when I was younger, which is so cool."

SteadGoods: "What do you think are the most important first steps interested people should do before they get started with an in-home bakery?"

Ashley: "They should definitely should do their research. Check your state cottage laws, and the laws of any county they know they would be selling within. Your county courthouse or town secretary could help you search through laws that are specific to your area. For instance, in our area, I cannot have a person who isn't associated with the bakery help me sell or work the table for sales. It also has to be direct-to-consumer sales, no wholesale selling without a commercial kitchen and commercial license. Also, some specific goods like chocolates, frostings, cheesecakes, etc. have restrictions too."

SteadGoods: "What would you say has been the biggest challenge to starting up your bakery business?"

Ashley: "The biggest challenge is really just finding places to sell. I use social media a lot, getting the word out there to spark interest in pop up shops and offering pick up and drop off in my local area. But not having one specific spot or space is hard. People miss posts, or don't make it during the window of time that I am at a coffee shop selling or at the farmer's market, and a lot of the time I miss out on sales. People just say, 'Well, I'll catch you next time'. I even send out info after markets, offering discounted goods if they contact me on my way home. Sometimes I sell baked goods all along my route home if I am driving any distance after a show!

I always want to maintain good quality, fresh goods too. So I never freeze goods and save them for another show. If I really can't clear my stock fast enough, I may freeze items and then take them to the local food pantry on Fridays, but that's about it.

I know I have some more opportunities coming up this spring and summer. There's a local winery that wants me to come in and sell: Lunch Creek Vineyards & Winery. I'm excited about that one!"

SteadGoods: "So tell me about the dreams you have for your business. What kinds of shorter term goals do you have this spring and summer? And what kind of long term goals do you have?"

Ashley: "Shorter term would just to be getting my name out there in as many places as possible right now. I want to grow my customer base and sales so I can start saving and planning for the larger scale goals.

I've considered a food truck style venue, or a brick and mortar location to expand into. Possibly a location in cooperation with another business...say I partner my bakery in the same venue as a coffee producer. You can have the coffeehouse aspect and White River Bakery would provide the breads and baked goodies. The commercial kitchen portion is really important, so that I can be commercially licensed and branch into some of the more restricted products, like cheesecakes and frostings.

An idea that I've had is to find a property with multiple levels to either rent or buy. I would make one level the storefront and bakery kitchen, and add a second commercial kitchen to either the upper level or a basement situation. We would be able to rent the second kitchen to other cottage-industry businesses...and making it a community space for bakers or chefs just getting started.

Some creators that I have met rent commercial kitchens almost an hour from home, just to they can find a place that is available and affordable."

SteadGoods: "That is a super cool idea...I love how cooperative everyone in these creative spaces are."

Ashley: "Everyone is super cooperative, ya know? We all realize that there is room for everyone to succeed, and we can share resources to make it more affordable and realistic.
The dreams I have for the business are still evolving and expanding, and some of it is because I just keep meeting and chatting with people that have similar goals and dreams. Once you get involved in the community around you, you just start realizing how many more options are out there."

SteadGoods: "So where can people find your information? And is there any other details you like to share with people about your business before we finish up?"

Ashley: "I just have Facebook right now, and a Square page that lists some items. I'm actually working on my SteadGoods store too. I want to get some really good pictures taken, because people tend to 'eat' with their eyes when they first see listings like mine. Or with their noses, when they first walk up to the booth!

I think something that is meaningful to me is where the bakery name came from. The White River runs through my current town of Neshkoro, and its where people initially have supported my business and my dream. Even if I were to move the business location because of a brick and mortar opportunity, I like that the name would bring my roots with me. Its a place close to my heart."

White River Bakery can be contacted via Facebook, and soon, on SteadGoods.