#146 Baking is a Hot Business - Joanna Strahm, Small Baking Co

Meaningful Marketplace Podcast

Founder, CEO, Mom and Baker, Joanna Strahm takes on all the challenges of a female food entrepreneur and keeps moving forward. She is every inch the baker, beginning with her Mom in the family kitchen, side-by-side. The passion continued, and she chose to formalize her hobby into a profession, receiving a pastry certificate from Tante Marie’s in San Francisco. Although she had a fulltime job, she shoehorned in an internship at Tartine Bakery during the morning bake, the sure sign of a hardcore entrepreneur. The experience made her very employable at Batter Bakery, a very busy neighborhood bakery. It was there she learned to incorporate whole grains into baked goods to elevate flavors, a skill that would become the foundation of her own company. Batter Bakery also provided her with a crash course in starting a company from scratch. The Batter people decided to open up a satellite branch with Joanna the chosen implementor. Getting a baking business up and running from the ground up – on someone else’s dime – proved invaluable to Joanna in starting her own company. When the satellite branch did not work out, the Batter management encouraged Joanna to go out on her own, and that was the jump off point. She opened Small Baking Company in 2016, baking out of a shared kitchen space in Portland, Oregon. She was inspired by the style and flavors of the PNW and immediately built her recipes around them. First sales were in the ample locations of Farmers Markets in the area, and her success was quick. She still consistently sells out at nearly every market day, leaving sad customers who got in line a little too late! The company has wholesale accounts and their delights are available at select restaurants. They also accept orders online for pickup at the Farmers Markets. However, it’s a good idea to order early, the company is still not able to keep up with current demand. The menu includes lots of different whole grain cookies and rotating flavors of scones, cakes, and more. Joanna uses seasonal, locally sourced ingredients whenever possible, including organic whole grains and seasonal fruits. Just this year, Small Baking Company moved to their very own kitchen in their hometown, Oregon City, where they plan to have a drive up window soon. Besides their retail channel, Small Baking Company creates custom orders for your very special occasions such as weddings, graduations, anniversaries and so forth. The website is well crafted and shows off the line well: https://www.smallbaking.co/. IG: @smallbakingco. FB:@smallbakingco. Our hosts: Twitter - @sarahmasoni and @spicymarshall, Instagram - @masoniandmarshall.