Schoolhouse Gluten-Free Gourmet earns an A+ from loyal customers for their handmade, gluten-free goodies
When executive chef Aidan Brunn was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2007, he began to seek out delicious and nutritious gluten-free alternatives. What he found was a marketplace that offered sub-standard gluten-free products from the grocer’s freezer, full of preservatives, sugar, fat and fillers. He and his partner in life and business Jen Laughlin (now company CEO) not only started making fresh, nutrient-dense foods that tasted good and eliminated unnecessary fillers, but saw a business opportunity as well.
Schoolhouse Gluten-Free Gourmet has been offering gluten-free goodies in Nova Scotia since 2009. Operated from a production facility in an old schoolhouse in Martin’s Point, Lunenburg County, Schoolhouse has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years. Originally a two-person start-up operating out of their home, the company is now a commercial baking enterprise with six staff, creating 18 products, serving three farmers markets and supplying 55 independent retail vendors, restaurants and cafés in Nova Scotia.
The Schoolhouse team produces small batches of goodies—from potato millet bread to decadent brownies, from flaky biscuits to gooey butter tarts—all created by hand with the freshest ingredients, using local products whenever possible.
“Community is an important pillar of our business, and we relish the opportunity to encourage organic, ethical, sustainable farming practices and to support bio-regionalism in our communities,” says Aidan. “We are a rurally-based bakery, which means we can keep the tradition of handmade artisanal baking alive while supporting our local economy as well.”
Schoolhouse’s products are naturally high in fibre, protein, vitamins and anti-oxidants; they’re power-packed and easily digestible. The company offers full disclosure on all ingredients and where they come from. They guarantee safe food production in a 100 per cent dedicated gluten-free kitchen.
The popularity of Schoolhouse’s products extends well beyond those who require a gluten-free lifestyle. “We’re so happy to be able to offer those who really need to eat gluten-free a menu of fresh, tasty, ethical options,” says Jen, “and we’re delighted to also be the choice of those who could eat any brownie or loaf of bread on the market, and yet opt for ours.”
Recipe development is a very important part of the Schoolhouse success story, and it’s a process that is not entered into lightly. “Feedback from our customers is essential to our business development….They help us determine what’s working and what isn’t. We listen to our customers at the markets every week, we complete an annual third party survey and offer an online feedback survey on our website,” Jen says.
Aidan creates and develops all the recipes, putting each through rigorous multi-stage production testing. The final product must be delicious, healthy and nutritious.
For the home-based cook looking to do more gluten-free baking, Aidan and Jen suggest different flour combinations for best results. For example, a mix of brown rice flour, sorghum or millet flour, along with a bit of starch (potato or tapioca), works really well for muffins, cakes and cookies. Breads, on the other hand, need to be heavier on starch and lighter on whole grains for a good consistency.
Gluten-free foods are arguably one of the fastest growing sectors in the food industry. Not just a fad, the surge in interest would seem to be a genuine need for people looking for more options for allergy-friendly food.
Jen sums up the love she and Aidan have for their business and the pride they have in their product quite simply: “Though the number of gluten-free offerings on the market has increased manyfold since Schoolhouse began,
by and large, those offerings replace gluten with sugar, fat and additives.
We replace it with nutrition and love.”