We were lucky to catch up with David Bruce recently and have shared our conversation below.

David, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

My mother, Evelyn Bruce grew up in South Georgia, spending her summers amongst the fruit trees and berry bushes on her grandmother Iva’s farm. After picking fresh peaches, she  would watch her grandmother roll out fresh dough for the crust, cook down the peaches on a wood-burning stove and build her cobblers, which would fill the house with the fragrance of vanilla, nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon before emerging golden-brown and bubbly from the oven. Over the years, the recipe was passed down from her grandmother to her mother Dorothy, and finally to her.

I grew up cherishing my mother’s desserts and always enjoyed sharing them with my friends. Of the many tasty treats, the peach cobbler was by far the most popular. For a number of years, we both were inundated with requests for her delicious peach cobblers, from family, friends, and even my co-workers. When I left my job in 2018, I approached my mother about starting a business selling her peach cobbler throughout Atlanta. She agreed and Aunt Evelyn’s Peach Cobbler was born.

David, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I  previously ran several businesses including janitorial, landscaping, grant writing, and business development companies. Because I had never managed a food business, I applied myself to learning the food business, hiring a food scientist, investing in online courses, reading several books, and attending industry events. My passion for our family’s legacy and entrepreneurial spirit has been the driving force behind the business. Consequently, we  have been lauded for our unwavering commitment to providing an amazing delicacy and exemplary customer service. We love sharing our product throughout Metro Atlanta, especially to visitors who are passing through town.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

Since inception, Aunt Evelyn’s Peach Cobblers have been produced from a cloud kitchen space using a variety of contract laborers under the direct supervision of the Bruces. In order to scale the business, we began inquiring about contract manufacturers, or co-packers, to produce a greater volume. The challenge has been identifying a co-packer that can accurately produce our products according to the exacting standards that will maintain the quality of Evelyn’s cobblers.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Our company currently has a list of over 1,000 subscribers acquired from past customer orders. To continue expanding our customer base,  we have implemented and optimized some low-cost marketing campaigns including:

-Active marketing on social media with weekly posts on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) including tracking “Where did you hear about us” to determine the effectiveness of the various posts.

-Email marketing campaigns to our current customer list including coupons, referral offers, special discounts on delivery platforms like UberEats and GrubHub. and more (ie: Buy One, Get One Free, Free Delivery).

-Direct marketing through the distribution of flyers in restaurants and groceries currently offering our products on their menus.

-Video advertising on YouTube, Tik Tok and other social media platforms.

-Word-of-mouth from existing customers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://auntevelynspeachcobbler.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auntevelynspeachcobbler/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/auntevelynspeachcobbler
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuntPeach
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkS3UMaLBoo55dIUYJo2fqg
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/aunt-evelyns-peach-cobbler-atlanta-2?osq=Best+Peach+Cobbler