We were lucky to catch up with Britt Warner recently and have shared our conversation below.

Britt, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

We get asked all the time “Why Friendship Farms?” about 5 years ago a friend of mine asked me to get a booth with her at a local vendor fair, I could sell baked goods and jellies and she was going to sell pup treats. I agreed and with our love of alliteration we agreed on the name “Friendship Farms” and the motto “Treat yourself and your best friend ” meaning man’s best friend a dog (we really thought we were clever). After a while she decided it wasn’t for her and she no longer wanted to do the market, by that time the bakery part of it had taken off so I continued using the name and well you can still treat yourself and your best friend (just not the furry kind) at Friendship Farms.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have been in a kitchen as long I can remember, from learning cuts of meat with my dad (which came in a handy later when I worked in a butcher shop), to baking pumpkin rolls with my mom, the kitchen was always my center. At 13 I got my first job at a donut shop, then at 14 I added a second job at a meat market deli, my love of food only grew from there, I graduated high school early and went to culinary school. Learning the technical side of food proper names, proper prep, and the science of why ingredients react how they do was so intriguing.

After culinary school I worked in a variety of kitchens always doing “my own thing” on the side. Food was my love language no matter how someone is feeling there is always food to connect to it, break up ice cream to celebratory dinners: food is a constant and making people happy through food was something that resonated with me.

As Friendship Farms grew, we decided we could give back, my son originally had the idea to donate to the Australian wildfire relief and we started fundraising with our annual Valentines chocolate covered strawberry sales. We called it “sharing the love” campaign, we are in out 4thor 5th year now and have extended our fundraising efforts to multiple events and charities per year.

When we opened the Storefront in Troy, we knew we wanted to be there for the local community so we embrace helping the local schools and organizations as much as we can.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I side hustled for over a decade, I slowly built up a recurring clientele. When I had the opportunity to buy a storefront, we made the gigantic leap of faith and bought it. It needed WAY more work than we initially anticipated to open, and the focus of the business shifted; I wanted a fancy French style patisserie, but our community was calling for a donut shop, so we listened to the wants of the people and opened a donut shop a full circle 20 years in the making from first job to owning my own store.

We have had the brick and mortar for almost 6 months, and it has already grown to be just retail to retail and wholesale accounts. We really look forward to what 2023 will have instore for us.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

WORD OF MOUTH! I would not be where I am today without the constant support of my friends, family and clients who became friends.

From positive reviews to social media shoutouts, word of mouth has been our best friend.

Contact Info:

• Website: friendship-farms-foods.company.site
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/friendshipfarms10