Marketing
a Family Recipe
Original
Air Date: July 19, 2007
 Link
to Jean at the Oprah & Friends website - (eMail this story to a friend)
Do
you have a fantastic family recipe that you'd like to market?
Jean is live at Harpo Studios in Chicago with two guests who
did just that—Danny and Marie Lena, who took a cherished
family recipe and turned it into a thriving business. Jean
talks to Danny and Marie about Grandpa's Peppers and their
recipe for success.
Known as Papa and Mama Lena in their hometown of Chicago, Danny
and Marie say for years they worked as motivational speakers, helping
others find their passion and promoting their book, Being
Better Than My Best. After turning 50, the couple says
they were ready for their second act but weren't sure which path
to pursue.
Inspired by their mutual love of cooking and food, Danny and Marie
say they got an idea to start a business using a secret family
recipe for crispy veggie chips flavored with Italian-style peppers.
Beginning at the age of 10, Danny says he spent three summers in
a row living on his grandfather's farm in Des Plaines, Illinois,
where he learned the special recipe that his family back in Italy
had been making for generations.
To get started, Danny and Marie say they made a big batch of the
chips and rented a booth at an Italian festival for four days.
In the first hour of the first day, they completely sold out! Encouraged
by the positive response for the chips, Danny and Marie sought
out a patent attorney, who helped them patent the process.
Next, they moved operations from their home kitchen to a rented,
shared-use kitchen. "You have all the equipment there and
everything you need," Marie says. From packaging and UPC
codes to figuring out the nutritional content of their product,
the Lenas say there are experts at the shared-use kitchen that
guided them through the entire process of getting their product
to the public.
Today, the couple operates Papa Lena's Healthy Foods in Chicago,
which makes chips from a wide array of vegetables, including red
bell peppers, hot peppers, zucchini, elephant garlic, beets and
sweet potatoes. It's a healthy and delicious food, Danny and Marie
say—the chips are roasted in a convection oven and coated
with olive oil. "Food itself is love because it energizes
us, it invigorates us, it makes us who we are," Danny says.
Related Resources
- Being
Better Than My Best by Danny and Marie
Lena
Related Links
|
