From Dipped Donuts to a Fully Gluten Free facility, we have come a long way and have a vision for our future!
It All Started with a Dipped Donut
Our founder, Jeni Reida, began making and perfecting donuts in 2018. On any given weekend morning, the good people of and around Delaware, Ohio, would line up, sometimes stretching a line outside and into the parking lot of 256 South Sandusky Street. They came for Reida's pillowy, sweet, fresh, custom-dipped, made-to-order donuts. And they were legendary friends.
From a Vow to a Vision
In 2008, their daughter, Kayla was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. After many years of not finding answers and being unable to identify the cause of her health struggles, an answer was found, Gluten. Jeni was determined to create safe, high quality foods that were as delicious as their gluten counterparts and could be enjoyed by her daughter and for many others, in the gluten free community. She decided each week, on Mondays, The Dipped Donut would close and she and her team would use a dedicated fryer for the production of gluten free cake donuts. These freshly made items were ordered and picked up by gluten free customers in the community. This created a space and time for production and a recurring opportunity for so many to enjoy fresh made gluten free donuts each week. It was the start of something so much bigger.
Then the Tribe was Born
Not quite even two years later, business is booming. Jeni has hired a talented crew, built a full service and fully certified gluten-free kitchen where the team crafts fresh gluten-free food items every day, carefully packaging and freezing to preserve freshness without adding chemicals or preservatives.
People drive from hundreds of miles away just to shop the store's freezers and shelves which are chock full of gluten-free finds. By this time, the business has grown into a legitimate retail operation rotating in over 800 SKUs of product, either house made or hard-to-find packaged products. Everything here must meet Jeni's standard of being equal to or better than their gluten counterpart.
Daily, the store receives visitors from several states away. These folks arrive with an enthusiasm unmatched as they have often seen posts on our facebook pages and groups featuring mouthwatering photos of what the kitchen has been making.
Selection is the Strategy
Many folks that visit don't realize the extent of the shelf items available, let alone the assortment of freshly frozen items. From cosmic brownies to fresh bagels, from breakfast pockets to pizza crusts, from cakes to crescent rolls to calzones. Many of these items are also dairy-free because Jeni realizes that a lot of gluten-free people also have trouble tolerating dairy - it is so in her own family.
Jeni prides herself on connecting with the customers, making sure they know how appreciated they are, and how much she understands their circumstances. She consistently engages with folks through the very popular facebook page and groups and asks people "What do you all want us to make the most?"
Jeni says "It's more than just wanting to sell product, for me. I just really want to make things that people have been longing for, for years even! I enjoy the challenge in continuing to tinker with recipes and techniques in order to perfect an item. Honestly, I like to blow people's minds. I really like that part the most!" she laughs.
photo by RAW Marketing
Expansion is Imminent
Jeni has to make a big decision.
Busting at the seems, and getting so many requests to start shipping items all over the country, Jeni has to make a tough decision to shut down The Dipped Donut store entirely. The space that it occupied was needed for more gluten-free production, a shipping area and packaging machinery. With this decision made, it seemed like a logical time to make a change to the business name.
It's all to build toward nationwide shipping of Jeni's beloved original gluten-free cake donuts, in addition to some of her other super-popular items, while maintaining the production and quality of all the food being produced out of the Fully Gluten Free kitchen.
— Jeni Reida
"Every single day I get asked over facebook messenger or in our huge facebook group page, when are we going to start shipping. Or someone will comment on a post I made that they are living in California or Missouri or Florida - every state really - and wish I would ship them whatever it was we just posted about. I just know that if we can figure the shipping out so that product will arrive in the quality state I want them to be able to enjoy it at, we will grow ten-fold in another two years. And honestly for me, that means that many more people will get to enjoy a gluten-free item they haven't had in years, or their kids will get to have a delicious treat they have never had before. That's all I want."