Boy is it good to have the holiday over and be back producing. I have the full crew here today and are busy mixing flour, pre mixing everything and are ready to make 4000 quarts of peanut butter cookies.
I'm not sure how many of you have worked around a bakery but it is indeed a fun place to be. I have people who arrive at work all nice and neat and within the hour they are covered in flour and smiling all the while.
We take great strides to make sure ours is a workplace that is spotless and of course gluten free. I do not allow any food on the production floor and when the team takes a lunch break they are directed to take off their aprons and hang them in a secure area, not to be put back on while in the break room, but only when they are heading back to the production floor.
The facility is 20,000 sf with high ceilings. It is too large for our current needs, but it does allow us the ability to grow. And grow is what we are doing. Every week brings new stores and we are continually opening new areas of North America.
In addition to the production area we also have a freezer the is around 45,000 cf. When we first had it erected I thought we would never be able to use all that space. However last month, just before sending out a large shipment, I was amazed to see that our floor space was 80% utilized and was considering adding a racking system.
On a personal note, my 1996 Mercury Mountaineer is about ready to give it up. It is pushing 180,000 miles and I am afraid it will not last much longer. After some cursory investigation I decided it was time to bite the bullet and spring for new wheels. So this afternoon I will take delivery of a new 2007 Hyundai Sante Fe.
From what I have read, Hyundai is producing one of the better quality vehicles and their prices are way below most of the competition. Time will tell if this was a good decision.
Have a great day. TTYL
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
On to the next one
Well it's over. Thanksgiving has come and gone and all were well satisfied. It sure seems odd that year's fly by. The older one becomes, the quicker seasons seem to change. It was only last week that summer began and now here we are staring Christmas in the face.
I am way ahead of the game this year. I have done the vast majority of my shopping and even sent most of the packages home with the recipients. I still have the parents and finish buying for Yvonne. It feels good to have done this during the year so it is not so hectic now.
If your family is like ours they have everything they need and it is difficult to find things they want. It is a challenge.
Here at the cookie plant things are getting back to normal. We finally received the shipments of raw materials and are getting the staff back to ramp up production again.
I didn't say anything earlier, but we were having a bit of trouble with the peanut butter. Our source was just not coming through in a timely manner and it was putting a real strain on scheduling. Now I am buying direct from the manufacturer and hopefully will never experience the same delays again.
So today we start to make peanut butter cookies again. When we are running at full speed we can currently produce around 50,000 cookies per shift. When I structured the work week I went with a 4 day (Mon -Thur) 10 hour per day schedule. I have to say I love it. Having a 3 day weekend virtually every week is very nice.
I just received word from Sales and they say we are now available in over 400 locations. Not bad for a company that really only began full scale production a little less than a year ago.
If you haven't had a chance to check out the new packaging, please go to the website and post your impressions here. So far the response has been overwhelmingly favorable (barring one Buyer on the East Coast).
Time to go out and make some cookies, TTYL.
I am way ahead of the game this year. I have done the vast majority of my shopping and even sent most of the packages home with the recipients. I still have the parents and finish buying for Yvonne. It feels good to have done this during the year so it is not so hectic now.
If your family is like ours they have everything they need and it is difficult to find things they want. It is a challenge.
Here at the cookie plant things are getting back to normal. We finally received the shipments of raw materials and are getting the staff back to ramp up production again.
I didn't say anything earlier, but we were having a bit of trouble with the peanut butter. Our source was just not coming through in a timely manner and it was putting a real strain on scheduling. Now I am buying direct from the manufacturer and hopefully will never experience the same delays again.
So today we start to make peanut butter cookies again. When we are running at full speed we can currently produce around 50,000 cookies per shift. When I structured the work week I went with a 4 day (Mon -Thur) 10 hour per day schedule. I have to say I love it. Having a 3 day weekend virtually every week is very nice.
I just received word from Sales and they say we are now available in over 400 locations. Not bad for a company that really only began full scale production a little less than a year ago.
If you haven't had a chance to check out the new packaging, please go to the website and post your impressions here. So far the response has been overwhelmingly favorable (barring one Buyer on the East Coast).
Time to go out and make some cookies, TTYL.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Thanksgiving feast
Well it's the day after the feast. We had 10 for dinner and the lovely wife and I were up early yesterday getting ready. We live on an island so 6 of our guests had to rise at the crack of dawn to drive up and catch the ferry.
Yvonne and I we straining the soup, making mousse, and generally getting the table and fixings all pre done as much as possible.
We began to fill our plates around 4 o'clock with a great tasting appetizer. To see the entire menu you should check out Yvonne's blog at http://www.glutenfreeda.com/ look for the blog on the left hand nav bar.
Our meal went off flawlessly. There was not a hungry person still standing when people started to leave around 11pm. It is fun for the both of us to have new people over and see the looks on their faces when they see how well you can eat on a gluten free diet. There was not a single thing missing from a traditional Thanksgiving meal. We had stuffing, potatoes, gravy, an incredible chocolate and pumpkin mousse. And of course some great Pinot Noirs.
Today we are off to tour the island and hopefully see at least one pod of whales. As we get more familiar I'll fill you in on the many great aspects of living on San Juan Island. Take care and have a great day and remainder of the weekend.
Yvonne and I we straining the soup, making mousse, and generally getting the table and fixings all pre done as much as possible.
We began to fill our plates around 4 o'clock with a great tasting appetizer. To see the entire menu you should check out Yvonne's blog at http://www.glutenfreeda.com/ look for the blog on the left hand nav bar.
Our meal went off flawlessly. There was not a hungry person still standing when people started to leave around 11pm. It is fun for the both of us to have new people over and see the looks on their faces when they see how well you can eat on a gluten free diet. There was not a single thing missing from a traditional Thanksgiving meal. We had stuffing, potatoes, gravy, an incredible chocolate and pumpkin mousse. And of course some great Pinot Noirs.
Today we are off to tour the island and hopefully see at least one pod of whales. As we get more familiar I'll fill you in on the many great aspects of living on San Juan Island. Take care and have a great day and remainder of the weekend.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
First in manufacturing
Hello all. Say I am new to this Blog thing. I have heard about them for years and have wanted to get one started, but business has been crazy and I have not carved out time to take on the learning curve.
But now here I am and I hope you find the blog an interesting place to visit.
We can talk about all sorts of things, from eating gluten free, to living with a celiac when you are not one yourself. My wife was diagnosed in 1999 and we have been gluten free at home ever since. Best day of my life was when she was diagnosed. We'll get into more of that later.
Currently my wife (Chef Yvonne from Glutenfreeda), daughter (Chef Jessica) and myself are running Glutenfreeda Foods, Inc. You may have heard of us. We started as an online magazine and have morphed into a full fledged company selling pre formed frozen cookie dough across the Western USA. Currently we are in over 350 stores with more coming on weekly.
It has been a challenge for me, as I have been tasked with running the production facility. We started in the garage kitchen with Yvonne, a part time employee and myself. Last month we had 12 line staff, a full time artist, two sales people, numerous brokers, and office personnel. Quite a change in a little over one year.
I supppose we should keep this short so there will be more to add in ensuing days. Tomorrow is the big T day (turkey that is) and we are going to have a feast for 10, all gluten free of course. I have to tell you, I believe we could sell tickets to celiacs just to come and experience one of Yvonne's spectaculars. Actually for a few summers ago we did exactly that, but that too will be another story.
So enjoy your Thanksgiving, I hope you can spend it with family and friends. Check in and see what we're up to. I hope to talk to you soon.
But now here I am and I hope you find the blog an interesting place to visit.
We can talk about all sorts of things, from eating gluten free, to living with a celiac when you are not one yourself. My wife was diagnosed in 1999 and we have been gluten free at home ever since. Best day of my life was when she was diagnosed. We'll get into more of that later.
Currently my wife (Chef Yvonne from Glutenfreeda), daughter (Chef Jessica) and myself are running Glutenfreeda Foods, Inc. You may have heard of us. We started as an online magazine and have morphed into a full fledged company selling pre formed frozen cookie dough across the Western USA. Currently we are in over 350 stores with more coming on weekly.
It has been a challenge for me, as I have been tasked with running the production facility. We started in the garage kitchen with Yvonne, a part time employee and myself. Last month we had 12 line staff, a full time artist, two sales people, numerous brokers, and office personnel. Quite a change in a little over one year.
I supppose we should keep this short so there will be more to add in ensuing days. Tomorrow is the big T day (turkey that is) and we are going to have a feast for 10, all gluten free of course. I have to tell you, I believe we could sell tickets to celiacs just to come and experience one of Yvonne's spectaculars. Actually for a few summers ago we did exactly that, but that too will be another story.
So enjoy your Thanksgiving, I hope you can spend it with family and friends. Check in and see what we're up to. I hope to talk to you soon.
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