Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Kocher.
Hi Jennifer, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I began my journey with the food industry in 2005, when I stopped working in Finance and started manufacturing all-natural salsas, salad dressings, and wing sauces. I was able to get our products into several specialty stores in Ohio and Pennsylvania and participated in in-store demos for “gluten-free” tastings offered by the stores. That’s when I was able to talk to those with Celiac Disease one-on-one and what they desired the most… better-tasting bakery products like pizza, pasta, and bread.
I then began developing gluten-free recipes for bread and pizza crusts. We’ve received a lot of attention for our gluten-free, vegan pizza crusts because they don’t taste any different than a regular pizza crust. The flavor is the most important aspect of a product. When I developed the pizza crusts I knew I wanted them to be not just gluten-free, but vegan and free of the top 8 allergens. As we continued as a company, I was introduced to Sara Harper from the Grounded Growth Network, which is now part of the Global Food and Farm Community, led by Dr. Jill Clapperton (https://www.jillclapperton.com).
Sara and the network educated me on regenerative agriculture and its importance of it for our planet and our health.
I was able to meet farmers using regenerative ag practices and decided to form a relationship with Adam Chappell, an Arkansas farmer with regenerative rice. I then decided that we needed to have our own gluten-free flour mill to process the rice into flour which then goes directly into our pizza crusts.
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?
LOL… it has not been a smooth road and if an entrepreneur says otherwise, I would think they were lying. The number one struggle for most and for myself is funding to back the initiative. It’s difficult to get someone else to see your vision and want to be a part of it. You have to find the right person that can help you get to the next level of growth. Having a pandemic while this is all happening also does not help.
Other issues I’ve come across along the way are things that were out of my control such as working with distributors who have sales staff but don’t know how to sell and learning to face the fact that there are thousands of products that they sell every day and you are a small fish in a big pond….and again, without money behind you to have internal sales staff or brokers and money for marketing, it’s very hard to grow at a pace you would like.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Kocher Foods International, Inc. dba Around the World Gourmet?
Our company specializes in manufacturing and selling gluten-free, vegan pizza crusts that are free of the top 8 allergens. Because we use regeneratively grown rice in our product, we are helping save the planet one pizza at a time and so are those who are purchasing our pizza. Regenerative ag practices include no-tilling of the soil, which in turn keeps carbon in the soil where we want it to help keep our planet cool. It also builds healthier soil which directly impacts our health. That’s why we promote our pizza crusts as Healthier for You & Our Planet. We purchased a flour mill and we now have regeneratively grown brown and white rice, brown and white rice flour, and our pizza crusts for sale. They can be purchased off our website at www.aroundtheworldgourmet.com.
We also have wholesale accounts and sell to pizza shops, restaurants, universities, and hospitals. We have a small retail location with take-out and dine-in available where customers locally and traveling through the area can enjoy our finished pizzas along with other options. We’ve had people visit us from the D.C. area and Massachusetts.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I hope there are some changes that will come sooner than later. I see regenerative agriculture expanding and those involved in creating a pipeline supply chain. It’s important to make the supply chain distribution of such important ingredients and products easier to source as well as to know where our food is really coming from.
Prior to me forming a relationship with Adam Chappell, I was purchasing flour from a distributor who was purchasing it from a mill who was purchasing it from who knows where. Now, I buy direct from the farmer, mill it myself, blend it and make our finished pizza crusts myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.aroundtheworldgourmet.com the retail side website is www.aroundtheworldgourmetmarketplace.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kocherfoods
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aroundtheworldgourmet
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/atwg_glutenfree
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_Oz1NWOkqdrQJPGY2kOAwQ
