Today we’d like to introduce you to Jill Robbins.
Jill Robbins, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My son is one of the 1 in 13 US kids with food allergies. At social events, I’d watch him watching everyone else socializing around delicious treats he couldn’t have. As a mom, and as a clinical psychologist, I knew the psychological importance of feeling included, so I started to bake treats he and local kids with allergies could eat so that they could be part of the group too. I wished though there were allergy friendly treats commercially available, especially ones that would be healthy and that would taste so good that everyone would be happy to eat the same treats together. So I created Homefree cookies. Initially the focus was on food allergies, and then the vision quickly grew to including people with most other special dietary needs as well.
Now our “treats you can trust” Homefree cookies are in many stores, vending machines, schools, business break rooms, hospitals, restaurants, family venues and hotels nationally. They are also in stores in Canada, the UK, Singapore and the Philippines.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I think that facing and overcoming obstacles is an expected part of being an entrepreneur, and we certainly have had our share. For example, because of our industry-leading allergen safety standards, we manufacture all of our own products, rather than farming them out to co-packing facilities. This includes purchasing, operating, and trouble-shooting manufacturing equipment. Although at this point I hire staff to help with this, early on I had to do it all on my own. As someone who still has to remind myself which way to turn a screwdriver, you can imagine how difficult this was for me!
Another challenge was that when we started, there was no “allergy friendly cookie” shelf upon which to put the cookies, and by which it would be easy for consumers to find the cookies. Initially, our products were free of allergens but not of gluten (which is actually not an allergen), so our cookies couldn’t go into gluten free sections. Eventually, to solve this, and even more so in order to make the cookies more fully inclusive, we made the cookies and our facility certified gluten free as well. It was hard to do, but I am proud to say that I managed in this transition to maintain such great taste, texture, and wholesomeness that the cookies were recommended by the Good Housekeeping Research Institute as the “Best Gluten Free Cookies” nationally!
The biggest challenge has been the cost of bringing a food product to retail stores, and of keeping it in those stores. There are significant entry costs and promotion costs, and then the cookies have to sell well quickly to stay on the shelf. As a small family business, we depend on word of mouth by our enthusiastic customers. We hope that people reading this will try our cookies, and then post about them on Face Book and Instagram!
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Homefree – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We are a Certified Women Owned Business headquartered about 30 miles north of Boston in Windham, NH. We make cookies that are uniquely delicious and wholesome for everyone, while also making it easy safely to include people with most special diets. Specifically, Homefree cookies meet the needs of people seeking peanut and nut free, egg and dairy free, soy free (except lecithin in one flavor), wheat free, certified gluten free, vegan, kosher pareve, low sodium, non-GMO verified, organic (70%) or nothing artificial, certified a good source of whole grain (very rare and desirable in gluten free baked goods!), no trans-fat or cholesterol, and even low glycemic (vanilla), all with one delicious product!
Homefree cookies taste so good and are so healthy that they were awarded “Best Snack Award” by Shape Magazine, and featured on the Today show as a Recommended School Snack. Among other awards, they won a Food & Beverage Product Innovation Award from the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show because they are a great one-stop-shop foodservice solution. And I am happy to say that they just became available from most foodservice distributors (through a master distributor called Dot Foods). They are also offered by many retail distributors.
Most important to me, as the mom of a child with food allergies, and as founder of Homefree, is the meaning and strength behind our descriptor “treats you can trust.” We have intensive allergen-related standards, as well as outstanding food quality and safety practices more generally as verified by our Safe Quality Food (SQF) level 3 certification. That way, our customers can feel home free!
I also am proud that Homefree is a certified B Corporation for our strong commitment to social responsibility and environmental stewardship.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I started Homefree as a mom, and as a clinical psychologist, because of the importance of inclusion. Everyone wants to be part of the group when treats are served! My goals continue to be to raise awareness about the importance of inclusion, especially for kids but for everyone, as well as to get the word out that Homefree cookies are available to make that easy to achieve.
And we aim to grow, so that Homefree cookies become increasingly available anywhere there are cookies. I am excited to announce that the DoubleTree Hotels have just started to offer free nut-free Homefree Chocolate Chip Mini cookies at check in! (Call before you go to be sure they have been stocked at your destination location.) DoubleTree wanted a safe delicious welcome for guests who cannot eat their iconic walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies. They therefore launched this caring initiative so that families like ours can have cookies too. If you appreciate this, we hope you will thank them!
Pricing:
- Suggested retail price for our boxed cookies is $4.99.
- Suggested retail price for our single serve bags is $1.49.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.homefreetreats.com
- Phone: (603) 898-0172
- Email: info@homefreetreats.com
- Instagram: homefree_treats
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/homefreetreats
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/homefreetreats
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