What Brought Us Together.
It's been a journey to here.
Like everyone, I've been evolving over time. My business ideas, my interests, my health, all have slowly changed over the years. I bet the same is true for you? How much have you grown in the last 8 years?
I started my original baking business in 2012.
I started selling at the Dillsburg Farmers' Market in June of 2012 as Sunshine Bakery. Back in 2012 I sold mostly traditional baked goods, nothing gluten free, all refined sugars. In 2012, I was one year into my IBS diagnosis, but it wasn't too much of a bother.
Fast forward to 2018.
My bakery business has expanded. I'm selling wholesale to coffee shops, and setting up at multiple farmers' markets. Over time, at the request of customers, I added some gluten-free options to my bakery line up. In 2018, I was also a year into personally eating gluten-free and dairy-free in an attempt to get my stomach troubles under control (which had gotten much worse in the fall of 2017). This led to more bakery experimentation.
An even bigger change.
After some initial success, being on a gluten-free, dairy-free diet, my digestive issues got really bad in the beginning of September 2018. Which led me to be more vocal about my issues in my desperate search to find something that would help. A friend and her mom suggested I try the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. They had used this nutrition plan to put my friend's Crohn's disease into remission and get her off prescription drugs. So in September of 2018 I started the SCD "diet", this meant no gluten, no starches, no refined sugars, no grains at all, and no "unaged" dairy. This big lifestyle change brought on even more experimentation in the kitchen!
How we both ended up here.
I strictly followed the SCD nutrition plan for over one year! It was during this time that I made my first batch of what would become the paleo granola line of Tucker&Co. Granola, this grain-free, refined sugar free, granola was/is one of best sweet & salty & crunchy snacks I ever had. I knew I had to make more and give others (that's YOU!) a chance to try it! Following SCD has totally changed how my body feels and I believe has been the reason for actual physical healing in my body.
When you know better, you do better.
Winter 2020 has brought about a bunch of changes, for everyone, cough...cough... corona virus....cough...cough, but for me and the bakery, it has meant changing the name from Sunshine Bakery to Tucker&Co. Bakery, and more importantly moving towards being totally refined sugar free. One of the biggest things my continued health journey has taught me is that refined sugars can really do damage to your body no matter who you are, or how healthy you think you may be. That's why I'm reworking old recipes and coming up with completely new creations for Tucker&Co. Bakery that use only unrefined sugars, such as honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, date sugar, or date syrup.
Launching Tucker&Co. Granola.
Spring 2020, I'm launching Tucker&Co. Granola as it's own brand offering two different lines of granola available online for anyone to order. One grain-free paleo granola line, and a line of oat granola, made with certified gluten-free organic oats. Both refined sugar free. I hope you will give them a try real soon!
Continued growth.
The adventure definitely doesn't end here! I know both the business and I will continue to evolve. I'm so grateful you are here, reading this, and coming along for the ride. So whether you're on this website because you also have a chronic illness that keeps you on a specific diet, or you're eating paleo because you want to stay fit, or you just heard the granola is dang delicious. I'm so excited Tucker&Co. Granola is keeping you fueled up on your many adventures.
Enjoy,
Heidi