We recently connected with Anna Franceschi and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Anna thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
I started this business because I wasn’t satisfied with the quality of products at our local grocery stores. I have never been a basic cook. I love mixing flavors and experimenting with different foods. Many of my friends and family said I should be selling my products. So I gave it a shot with our area craft shows and farmers markets and that was 10 years ago. Since then the business has grown bigger than I imagined. 3 years ago I took what I call a leap of faith and quit my day job as a deli manager to do this full time. Happy to say I will continue to go forward and slowly expand.
Anna , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I learned how to make jams, pickled veggies, sauces from my mom. I grew up on a hobby farm in rural Michigan. We grew most of our own vegetables and fruit. Most of my jobs have been in the food industry. I have worked in food processing plants, restaurants and delis. Some of my favorite flavors of jams we sell are recipes that I learned from mom. What really started me down this path was health issues. I was unable to find foods that I could eat safely. I happen to be a diabetic with Celiac disease. So many foods at the grocery stores are filled with so many additives and fillers that just made me sick. I know many people have issues like this. I wanted to create some truly unique and tasty foods that we could eat without worry. Franceschi Farms is known as foods with a kick. Many of our products have a spicy kick to them. Our products are made in a gluten free environment. Some of the jam flavors we offer are Blueberry Cheesecake, Raspberry Jalapeño, Satan’s Mother In-Law and Peach Ginger. We offer a core 10 flavors and then we have 6 seasonal flavors. Our jam line is made with half the amount of sugar than other brands. No fillers added…just fruit, sugar, lemon and pectin for the base. We also offer a spice line too. These range from meat rubs, veggie seasonings and dip mixes. Our best all purpose seasoning is our 307 Blend. It’s a bacon infused sea salt with other spices. It’s fabulous on everything. We also have a Maple & Brown Sugar Meat Rub, Wyoming Wild Game Seasoning, Citrus Bliss, Moo Salt which is delicious on beef. There are even a few salt free options. Our salt free options are Fish Seasoning, Veggie Blend and Buttery Herb. We also have a rotating line of pickled veggies of what’s in season at the time. We always have Pickled Brussel Sprouts, Corn Relish, Pickled Garlic and a local favorite Outlaw Hors d’oeuvres which is a candied Jalapeños on hand. This year I have expanded to the point where I have a business partner now. It took me over a year to find the right person in Mallorie Lainhart. I will say to those getting ready to include a partner to take your time to find the perfect fit. Best working partnership should be someone that sees your vision and can execute the plan to become even better. This year we started our new BBQ Sauce line of products. We are very excited about this. Our flavors include a Bourbon Heat, Spicy Peach, Raspberry Ghost Pepper and a Smokey Habanero.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
I met my business partner at her business. Mallorie had a brick and mortar Apothecary shop in our small rural area of Wyoming. I would come in all the time to shop and I would do Tarot Card readings there. We just hit it off. I wasn’t thinking of her as a business partner at the time. Over the last year and half we learned each other’s style of business and our friendship grew and when I mentioned growing and adding a partner she adamantly said it meant to be. She moved her business to an online platform and she started learning how to do my business. There are many things to learn about making jams, spices and pickling.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
During the Covid crisis there was a rush on people buying canning supplies and low supplies to begin with. I had quit my job during the pandemic to expand my business so I was a bit stressed with the lack of jar and lids. So I just rolled with it. My customers did not care that the jars were not a standard 8oz size. All they cared about was that my jams, spices and veggies were still available to purchase. It made me feel good to provide good food to our community. I even had people return the jars for me to refill them. Now that the pandemic is behind us we are able to get 8oz jars again. During all that we found a great company that makes top quality lids. We exclusively use Denali Lids for our pickled veggies. Never had a single issue with the quality.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.franceschifarms.com
- Instagram: franceschifarms
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/franceschifarms