We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kate Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kate, appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
In 2019, I wanted to sell my elderberry syrup to wholesale customers in Maryland. Taking the regulatory steps, it soon became apparent that the state health & agricultural department had never approved an elderberry product. So in a time period when you’d imagine everything had already been done, I was a pioneer. Mama Bears became the first and only elderberry product approved by state regulatory bodies in Maryland.
There was a lot of details to figure out and work out with the state since they did not have any specific governing directives for my type of product. In some ways this made things simpler, in some ways more complicated.
Much of what happened to finally get approved was run on determination. As a mom of 2 little ones (a baby and 3 year old) I was having to find the time to write technical processes, adjust Ph naturally to the product using lab testing, work with the university of maryland eastern shore, and develop a label/product that would also conform to FDA standards.
Kate, 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?
My name is Kate, mom of 3. After becoming the first elderberry product in Maryland in 2019, 2020 brought much attention to my health product-centered business during the pandemic. Almost every retailer I contacted was willing to bring my local, one-of-a-kind product to their shelf. Shortages early in the pandemic made us realize we needed to be more self sustainable. This prompted us to plant almost an acre of elderberries early that Spring, which grew quickly in the nutrient dense soil near the Patuxent River where we were located.
Growing our own ingredients, using local Maryland honey and branching out to local farms for ingredients when we expanded our product line allowed us to hook larger chains and wholesale customers including Moms Organic Markets.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
In 2023, my business had almost 50 vendor stores, thousands of dedicated customers, and a thriving elderberry farm. The problem was – we didnt own the land. In fact, we could not afford land in Maryland that would have allowed us to build and grow our farm and business to a level that was sustainable. We were renting.
Long story short, a land opportunity to buy opened to us in our home state of South Carolina, and we took it. We took cuttings of our elderberries and moved them south. We now own the land and have acreage that allows us to grow and expand. It has come with many hardships including having to start over the farm and we lost many vendors because we were no longer a local Maryland product. But as of this date, February 2024, I can say we are almost over the hardest parts of this transition.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
As a stay at home mom, I founded this business originally as extra income so I could continue to stay home with my kids rather than seeking work outside of the home. We had very little extra money to spare and we did not want to use credit cards to fund the business. So I started with $100 as my budget to create a label and business plan. I was able to secure a vendor before bulk purchasing my first supplies and my business self supported itself from there.
A business loan may have allowed me to scale my business more quickly in the beginning, but also I have no debt and have never had any business related debt – I just focus on scaling organically.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mamabearselderberries.com
- Instagram: mamabearsfarm
Image Credits
Photos by Moth in the Moon Photography