Diane created her business with a love and attention to detail that anyone can see.  Her quick breads are found all over the Lansing area and if you haven’t tried them you MUST.  Diane wouldn’t have been able to come as far as she has without the help of Marcy Bishop Kates of INCU-BAKE.  INCU-BAKE is an incubator kitchen in Holt that allows food producers a chance at their dreams of becoming part of the local food scene.  Below is an interview with both ladies while they were in action at the fully licensed commercial kitchen in Holt. 

Let’s start with the star of the show, Diane of Glory Bee Sweet Treats.  And then we will finish with Marcy of INCU-BAKE in her supporting role. 

1. How did you decide that you wanted to go into a food business?   

Originally, I started doing craft shows.  When I found how much enjoyment I got out of doing it, I decided to pursue it on a larger scale.  The IncuBake kitchen, and owner, Marcy Bishop Kates, allowed me to pursue the endeavor without having to take on the high overhead of a commercial kitchen.   

2. Give the reader an idea of what you have to sell and anything special about your products.   

I have always enjoyed baking, especially for others.  Currently, I make muffins, sweet breads (apple cinnamon, banana nut, cranberry walnut, hummingbird (bananas, pineapples and walnuts), pumpkin and zucchini), gluten free granola bars and scotcheroos, a variety of cookies (chocolate chip, peanut butter, banana oatmeal power cookies, as well as some seasonal items.  My fudge is made with my Mother’s recipe and is absolutely exceptional.

 3. What sets your product apart from your competitor’s?   

This may sound corny, but I think when you have so much love and passion for what you do, it somehow, transfers in to the items that you make.  There are a lot of people that do good baked goods.  I have spent a significant amount of time looking for recipes that are different.  I continue to look for items that will stand out.  Quality is so critical!

 4. What kind of services from Incu-Bake did you take advantage of?  Would you have been able to start your business without an incubator kitchen?

 There is absolutely no way I would have been able to start a baking company without the incubator kitchen.  With the change in the law regarding Cottage industries, many people can do food type items and get them out into the public arena.  The incubator kitchen allows you to take that next step.  Marcy is well versed and resourced in regulations regarding health inspections and requirements.  She is well resourced and helps all of her clients reach their potential in the market place.    

The facility itself is a wonderful place.  There is a large area for prep work on one side of the kitchen and then on the other side are all the utensils you need, there is a restaurant size stove, a 4 shelf convection oven.  There is a large walk in cooler and a freezer.  IncuBake provides a large amount of shelving and storage area. 

 5. Where can people buy your products? 

 Items can be purchased at:

Coffee Barrel (Holt), Horrocks (Lansing and Battle Creek), Monticellos (Haslett), Old Town General Store (Lansing), Sweet Season Orchards (Lansing City Market), Tirrell’s Farm Specialties (Charlotte) and Creative Wellness (East Lansing).

 6. For each of the food producer/farmer interviews I do I use one or two of their products and make an original recipe.  Can you give me a couple of ideas how to use a product of Glory Bee’s to transform it into a great dish? 

Most of my items stand alone. Raspberry Cream Cheese Brownie – just add ice cream, Muffins – with a great cup of coffee, Chocolate Chip Cookies – tall glass of milk J

 7. What piece of advice would you give someone who would like to start their own food business?

 The risk is worth the effort.  Understand that it will not be an overnight success, but with hard work and passion, it can be.  I think the hardest thing for me to learn how to do was to sell myself (and my baked goods) every single day of the week.  Don’t be afraid to make “the ask”. (Asking people to complete the sale can be the hardest part).

 8. What has been your biggest surprise about running your own business?

 Just how much satisfaction you get from people telling you your items are really good.  I never dreamt that I would be doing this and enjoying it as much as I do, after spending 34 years being a secretary/administrative assistant. 

 9. Do you have any new projects or ideas that we can look forward to in 2015?

 I am always looking for new ideas and recipes.  I just started having a discussion with a fellow baker about the possibility of doing yeast breads.  Then there is always the possibility of owning my own kitchen/bakery.

 Diane is the owner of Glory Bee Sweet Treats.  If you want more information about what she is selling visit her website at http://www.glorybeesweettreats.com/index.html. 

Diane talked about how important having a licensed kitchen is to her business and without INCU-BAKE she would not be able to have grown her business. An incubator kitchen can solve many problems that new food businesses have. It can be the first facility a food producer relies on when starting by legalizing and growing their operation within the specific state food laws and regulations.  It can also be a great way for a business to grow from a small market and possibly begin to increase sales on a wider scale.  Marcy has been in Holt helping food entrepreneurs for many years and her interview is below:

1. Tell us the process of how you started Incu-Bake. When did you start thinking about becoming an owner of an incubator kitchen?

I’ve always had dreams of being an entrepreneur, but up until a year before we opened, I had never heard of an incubator kitchen. I was looking for a kitchen to rent so that I could do catering legally; it came to my attention that I wasn’t the only person in the area looking for a commercial kitchen. Lots of research later, I had the good fortune to discover the building we now occupy, and in July, 2011, Incu-BaKe was hatched!

 2. What has been a difficult part of the business that you hadn’t thought about and how did you get over it?

 I was unaware that regulations are often interpreted in different ways by different people. I have overcome that by learning as much as I can and by creating a very good relationship with our licensing officials—to the extent that I can debate pretty much any issue with them. Sometimes I even win!

 3. Tell us about the artisans you have that you work with you at the incubator kitchen. 

 My customers are the best part of this business. They come from as far as St. Clair Shores, Jonesville, and Portland, and in fact soon we’ll have a client from Chicago. Their work ethics are incredibly inspiring, and their products are delicious—I do far too much quality control. Their dreams for their businesses are very diverse; for some, they hope to turn this into a career. For others, it’s a fun hobby or some extra spending money. I always joke that everything from granola to golumbki comes out of our kitchen—on any given day, the fragrances, tastes, and noise is different!

 4. One of your artisans that started at Incu-Bake is Diane from Glory Bee Sweet Treats. What did you help her with as the service provided by Incu-Bake from the first time she walked into the kitchen to now?

 Diane is both client and staff. She first came in to help me with some projects, and in return she got kitchen time to grow her former Cottage Foods Business. I worked with her to get her licensed and to scale up her recipes, so that she could start to sell wholesale to markets and stores.

 5. Can you take us through a “Day in the Life” of Marcy Bishop Kates?

 There is really no normal day. In addition to Incu-BaKe, I do contract consulting for a couple of local nonprofits, but those tasks also focus on small business development in different ways, just at different regional levels. Although I spend more time away from the kitchen than I used to, it has really helped me expand my network, which is then beneficial to my clients.

 A good portion of time is spent meeting with new potential clients, preparing them for the licensing process, and then getting them oriented to using the kitchen. A larger portion is spent supporting established clients. My nickname alternates between “Glinda” and the “Incu-Mom,” and I provide a lot of support and encouragement to those who need it, and broad shoulders to others are experiencing frustration and discouragement.  I help research questions about things such as labeling, food safety, and more.

  6. What advice would you give to a person who might have a great food idea and want to make it their life’s passion? 

 ·       {C}Understand costs, and the difference between wholesale and retail.

·       {C}Be sure you can fit the endeavor into your lifestyle.

·       {C}Test out your product and possible price points on friends and family—and anyone who will give you honest feedback.

·       {C}Decide where you’d like to go with this? Do you want to end up with a mass produced product available in every big box store? Or do you want to create an exclusive artisan product?

·       {C}Come see me; I’ll help you refine your plans!

 7. What were some of the highlights at Incu-Bake this year?

 ·       {C}There are so many: Olympus Salsa going from an idea to a fully-fledged business with their own production facility and in well over 30 stores in less than 9 months.

·       {C}Seeing products made in the Incu-BaKe kitchens in a variety of stores around the state.

·       {C}Hiring a young woman who is a recent graduate of the Career Center Culinary Program to work part-time as our kitchen manager and special project supervisor. Watching her hone her leadership skills has been really rewarding.

·       {C}Between the Buns and More, a small retail shop carrying a wide range of small-batch Michigan made products, was finally fully launched and ready for customers.

 8. Do you have any big projects or ideas that we can look for in 2015?

 In conjunction with Ruben at RG Distribution, we are preparing to start co-manufacturing for a few select companies, and to do some private label products. This will allow me to expand the Kitchen Manager position to full-time, have more regular hours for our retail store, and quite possibly hire a few additional staff. RG Distribution works with many Michigan businesses.  You can always purchase them at INCU-BAKE.

 Marcy Bishop Kates is the owner of Incu-Bake.  Incu-Bake is an incubator kitchen. An incubator kitchen can solve many problems that new food businesses have. It can be the first facility a food producer relies on when starting by legalizing and growing their operation within the specific state food laws and regulations.  It can also be a great way for a business to grow from a small market and possibly begin to increase sales on a wider scale. Marcy works with business owners on a variety of details, from understanding how to reach the target audience to creating labels for their food products.