Jennifer Lee's Allergen Free Farm
Donation protected
Jennifer Lee's Bakery has transformed from a sugar allergen full bakery called Sugar Coated Heaven to a strict allergen free / vegan bakery helping thousands of people with food allergies in the New England area and beyond.
In 2011 Jennifer LaSala (who was only 17 years old at the time) started Sugar Coated Heaven. A simple sugar filled bakery focusing on chocolate covered oreos. She took a business class in Chelsea High School ran by NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) and her business came in first place in the Chelsea High School Business Plan Competition and 3rd place out of 1100 students at the Regional Competition.
For the first three years of the business she juggled going to Johnson & Wales University, working full time in Boston, and selling at farmer's markets in the area. In 2013 Goldman Sachs named her Global Entrepreneur of the Year for New England at 20.
One year after winning this prestigious award Jennifer go into a serious accident at her former job. She slipped and fell, hitting her head so hard that the blacked out, had a seizure, and fractured her neck. While recovering she started to constantly breaking out in hives. After seeing a doctor about it, she was told that she probably has a gluten and dairy allergy. "When the doctor told me that all I could think about was, what am i supposed to eat? Everything is filled with gluten and dairy." -Jennifer
After some tests she found out that she does not have food allergies but is instead allergic to many painkillers. "Even though I was cleared for food allergies, the experience of possibly having them made me feel bad for everyone who really has them and what they go through every day. That experience made me want to help and I changed everything to allergen free."-Jennifer
After experimenting with many different flours, dairy free options, egg free options, and everything in between she finally was able to put out a line of products that was completely free of gluten, eggs, dairy, and nuts. Due to the unique niche that she was in she was able to get a temporary spot at the Boston Public Market in January of 2016. Her temporary stall there was so successful and she had so many customers begging for her to stay that she put in a permanent application and opened up full time on March 4th, 2016.
Now that you know our story, here is our plan for the future;
As many of you know I started this bakery with only $50 in my pocket. To date, we have had no fundraisers, no loans, and no investors (even though we have had over a dozen people give us offers- I don't want to sell shares of my business) The very first goal of my business was to open in downtown Boston and we did :). Now that we have been such a success in Boston and I have met so many AMAZING families that travel from not only all over MA but from all over the country to visit us, I have decided that Jennifer Lee's Bakery will be officially expanding. Our goal is to open up a farm/bakery/animal sanctuary free of ALL top 10 Major Allergens. A place where families can go to picnic, pick your own, play with animals, and enjoy a farm experience without ANY chance of cross contamination. A safe haven for ALL. Even with sales being fantastic in Boston, we still need a good amount of money to get everything up and running.
Our goal is to have a place where families can go to share amazing experiences with their loved ones without the constant fear of cross contamination and if they'll be safe food for them to eat, and most importantly we want to create a place where EVERYONE fits in and can pick anything they want from the menu.
In 2011 Jennifer LaSala (who was only 17 years old at the time) started Sugar Coated Heaven. A simple sugar filled bakery focusing on chocolate covered oreos. She took a business class in Chelsea High School ran by NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) and her business came in first place in the Chelsea High School Business Plan Competition and 3rd place out of 1100 students at the Regional Competition.
For the first three years of the business she juggled going to Johnson & Wales University, working full time in Boston, and selling at farmer's markets in the area. In 2013 Goldman Sachs named her Global Entrepreneur of the Year for New England at 20.
One year after winning this prestigious award Jennifer go into a serious accident at her former job. She slipped and fell, hitting her head so hard that the blacked out, had a seizure, and fractured her neck. While recovering she started to constantly breaking out in hives. After seeing a doctor about it, she was told that she probably has a gluten and dairy allergy. "When the doctor told me that all I could think about was, what am i supposed to eat? Everything is filled with gluten and dairy." -Jennifer
After some tests she found out that she does not have food allergies but is instead allergic to many painkillers. "Even though I was cleared for food allergies, the experience of possibly having them made me feel bad for everyone who really has them and what they go through every day. That experience made me want to help and I changed everything to allergen free."-Jennifer
After experimenting with many different flours, dairy free options, egg free options, and everything in between she finally was able to put out a line of products that was completely free of gluten, eggs, dairy, and nuts. Due to the unique niche that she was in she was able to get a temporary spot at the Boston Public Market in January of 2016. Her temporary stall there was so successful and she had so many customers begging for her to stay that she put in a permanent application and opened up full time on March 4th, 2016.
Now that you know our story, here is our plan for the future;
As many of you know I started this bakery with only $50 in my pocket. To date, we have had no fundraisers, no loans, and no investors (even though we have had over a dozen people give us offers- I don't want to sell shares of my business) The very first goal of my business was to open in downtown Boston and we did :). Now that we have been such a success in Boston and I have met so many AMAZING families that travel from not only all over MA but from all over the country to visit us, I have decided that Jennifer Lee's Bakery will be officially expanding. Our goal is to open up a farm/bakery/animal sanctuary free of ALL top 10 Major Allergens. A place where families can go to picnic, pick your own, play with animals, and enjoy a farm experience without ANY chance of cross contamination. A safe haven for ALL. Even with sales being fantastic in Boston, we still need a good amount of money to get everything up and running.
Our goal is to have a place where families can go to share amazing experiences with their loved ones without the constant fear of cross contamination and if they'll be safe food for them to eat, and most importantly we want to create a place where EVERYONE fits in and can pick anything they want from the menu.
Organizer
Jennifer LaSala
Organizer
Boston, MA
