Today we’d like to introduce you to Stefanie Hockett.
Hi Stefanie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
In 2003 I enrolled in the Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Program in San Francisco’s California Culinary Academy. I fell in love with baking and cooking as a child watching PBS cooking shows and baking for my family. In San Francisco, I worked in many aspects of the baking world. I worked in fine-dining restaurants, cafes, bakeries. Some of my key positions were at The Slanted Door and as the pastry chef for the Chalet Restaurant Group.
I started F & Goode Desserts in 2014 in Southern California. Within a year, we moved into a very tiny 300 sq ft space in San Clemente, CA. We had a couple really great years, but boy was I tired! So, I relocated back to Hawaii for a few years with the intent to reopen my business in Hawaii. While that didn’t come to fruition, I did work with Lydgate Farms, a cacao grower and chocolate producer to create some unique miel de cacao sweets for their farm tour.
Later I moved to Eugene, Oregon, where I again tried to gain traction to reopen a storefront. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit, and in August 2020, I decided to move across the country to Cincinnati to be with my fiance. By the end of the year, we had produced 1500 cocoa bombs in our little apartment and shipped them all over the country. With encouragement from my fiance and a friend, I applied for the Kroger Grant with the Incubator Kitchen and won!
By July of 2021, I decided to take on the business full-time and see what I could accomplish by the end of 2021. I was hoping to make the business viable so I could afford rent at full capacity in 2022. As of July of 2022, we were able to grow and increase sales by 431%.
I have always loved baking for others and am eager to get into a brick-and-mortar again so we can continue our wholesale growth and connect more with the community.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has definitely been a journey. 8 years, 5 states, moves across the ocean and country. My biggest struggle has been trying to grow a team, so I can step away from the business to work on the business and not be the main person handling production. It’s so hard to entrust others with the “baby” I’ve built. No one loves your business the way you do!
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
F & Goode Desserts believes that community connection is made from scratch. We are a scratch bakery baking with integrity and intention daily. We currently manage 14 (and counting) wholesale accounts weekly. We bake everything from morning pastries for our wholesale cafes and coffee shops to custom cakes and decorated cookies for our direct-to-customer business.
We offer pastries through our wholesale partners, have an online store where you can preorder items for pickup, delivery or shipping.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I find that peers are the best mentors. They are going through or have gone through the same struggles as you and know what it’s like to climb those mountains.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fngoodedesserts.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/fngoodedesserts
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/fngoodedesserts
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/f-and-goode-desserts-newport-3
Image Credits
Tasha Pinelo
Catie Viox
