Real food. Real people. Real business.
Posted on Thu, Dec 31, 2009
The first blog post. It feels like I'm the first person at a
New Year's Eve party, nervously waiting for others to arrive. The kind of party
where you don't know anyone very well, but you've heard good things about the
other guests and were invited because you have a lot in common with the group.
I'm hoping that as the evening progresses,
I'll meet some great people and maybe even a couple future close friends.
But first, I need to put on a brave face and introduce myself to the other guests as they enter.
Welcome! I'm Debbie Huber. I love great bread, nice people
and authentic businesses. As a veteran employee at Great Harvest, I've met
amazing small business owners and eaten a lot of whole wheat bread. I've even
baked it myself, and there is not much in life that is more immediately
satisfying than pulling trays of your own bread out of the oven. Except maybe
watching people put butter on a steaming slice, enjoy that first bite and say "wow! Just like my grandma used to make..." or "this is whole wheat? But it tastes so
good..."
I'm going to share stories with you in this blog about the
people that create Great Harvest bread every day in communities around the U.S.
Each bakery is independently owned and operated. If you've been to multiple
Great Harvest bakeries, you've noticed that each bakery owner gets to create a
beautiful small business in their own image. There are common themes that run
through each Great Harvest business, like great tasting bread, but then each
bakery owner adds their own unique twist along
the way. And you'll see that their struggles and challenges as small business
owners are not unique to the bread business.
From the comments on our Facebook fan page, I know that you
also like to hear about Great Harvest bread and how to use it. Thankfully, my
co-workers include many foodies (you should see what happens when we have pot
luck!) and a registered dietician who have expertise in these areas. They will
be sharing their knowledge with you and I'll let them introduce themselves as
they post. Our CEO, Mike Ferretti, has been the driving force behind getting
this blog started and he'll be sharing his insights as well. He's a food and
wine lover too, so don't be surprised if he writes about more than just
business.
That's the plan, but it's not really about us. We hope
you'll leave comments so we can adapt, learn as we go and get to know you. What
do you want to hear about? I'm curious to find out.