Jelly Business Thrives In Farm Home

Jelly Business Thrives In Farm Home 27-6-6 Kellie Sloot makes 59 varieties of jams and jellies in her farm home and sells out of a small store located in her basement. The business, called Yesterday's Kitchen, sells 3,000 to 4,500 jars of jams and jellies annually. She started 13 years ago after being urged by her husband to "do something" with the wild plums that were growing on their property. When people raved about her jam, she started making more to sell on a small scale at craft shows and farmers' markets. The business kept growing from there, until she had a commercial kitchen built onto her home in 1996. "I've found that I really enjoy pleasing the customer," says Sloot. "We still pick some of the fruit ourselves, but the rest of it comes from neighbors or local vendors. I have a license for commercial baking and use no artificial sweeteners or preservatives in any of my recipes. I use all low-sugar recipes that have more fruit than sugar, and make six kinds of sugar-free products using white grape juice as a sweetener." Some of her more unusual recipes are corncob jelly and rose petal jelly. She developed a lot of her recipes on her own after "tasting something somewhere," then coming home to try new flavor blends. There are always two or three potential new recipes on her "drawing board," she says. Some recipes also come from customer requests and she is always open to custom orders. With no regular store hours, Sloot's business is open "by chance or by appointment." This works well for her, since she needs to be flexible and available for her three children and a farming husband who sometimes needs help. However, she is usually in the kitchen five days per week to keep her inventory from depleting. "I'm busy through the winter, too, because I freeze berries and also can the juice from berries, so there's always fruit to work with," she says. "The jams and jellies are very popular and make a great home business because people are looking for homemade, from-the-farm products." To broaden what her basement store offers, Sloot also makes nine kinds of homemade frozen cookie doughs, apple turnovers, jumbo muffins and gift baskets. The ambitious woman contracts out exclusively made aprons, gift bags and country aprons to add to the charm of her store merchandise. She retails bread and pancake mixes, ice cream toppings, a raison/nut/candy mixture, and a variety of Minnesota-grown products such as consignment crafts, candles, linens and children's items. "Everything I carry contributes to the homey, country flavor of Yesterday's Kitchen," she says. "I've also started wholesaling and doing a mail order business through my website." Every year, she and her family hosts a "Harvestfest" on two different weekends in October. Her parents assist with pumpkin painting, hayrides and other activities, while she gives tours of her jam kitchen. Sloot charges $3.50 per half-pint jar of jam or jelly, but will do other sizes on request. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Kellie Sloot, Yesterday's Kitchen Goods and Gifts, 30245 565th Ave., Winthrop, Minn. 55396 (ph 507 647-2103 or 877 340-9467; email: sloot@rtsmn.com; website: www. yesterdayskitchen.com).

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