We recently connected with Jared + Laurie DeLiberato and have shared our conversation below.
Jared + Laurie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you share a customer success story with us?
Some of our favorite success stories happen when we meet customers face to face at local markets or events. When ordering online, most customers come to us specifically for gluten free treats and sweets, but at local events we get to interact with a larger audience that may not know us. So it is a great surprise when a person with celiac or gluten sensitivities learns that they can eat everything we offer.
Laurie has celiac disease and understands the expectation that eating out in public will give her limited options and likely even less with smaller vendors. She’s gone to events and parties with her own food to be sure she can eat something. There is always the hope for one or maybe two options, but the expectation is low.
So when we do events, we always have a sign to ask about gluten free options. A person with celiac or gluten sensitivities, will stop by and ask. It is our favorite moment to then tell them that they can have every single item! It’s all safe for them. This is even more special when a kid is needing gluten free options. We will often throw in extra cookies and treats, if Mom or Dad ok it. We know it can be hard as an adult to have a restrictive diet and imagine that is even trickier for kids. It’s a fun moment for us to overwhelm these customers with all the gluten free treats!
Jared + Laurie, 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?
Laurie was diagnosed with Celiac in 2009. Going gluten free has been a game changer in her health.
But the reality is, we are still normal people. We enjoy eating a piece of bread that doesn’t taste like cardboard. We want to have pancakes on a Saturday morning with our kids that are easy to make while we sip coffee because our children still wake up with the sun.
So we began baking and researching how to make non cardboard gluten free food. There has been a lot of trial and error to find what worked well for our family. Maybe even some tears as cakes fell apart the night before a party. But! Slowly we found our way. We could have brownies on a whim because someone was in the mood for them. Birthday parties are covered. Brunch, we’ve got you.
But, why a bakery?
We want to share the goodness of a delicious scone made fresh. We want others to have a brownie that will put a box to shame. We want people to have a treat that they want and not one they settle for.
Eating gluten free doesn’t have to mean you won’t enjoy treats again. You can have your cake and eat it too, because it’s gluten free.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
While a lot of our business is run online and through social media, we feel our biggest help in building our reputation was being face to face with our customers and continuing those relationships as they continue to order. Our product quality and safety was already a key foundational piece to our reputation; however, getting to know our our customers in regular ways has been the delight of our business. As a baker we get to show up in a specific way at a date at the farmer’s market, birthday parties, showers, and even the ‘it’s been a tough week and a cookie cake sounds right’ moment. It is being present in the tiny moments and big moments.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
Jared and I (Laurie) were kids when we met in 7th grade at church. Navigating the ups and downs of middle school and high school eventually ended in us dating our senior year. We certainly had no idea of what the future may hold, but we were able to grow up together. In that, we learned again and again that we do the best when we are together. We each had separate creative pursuits that ultimately fizzled out. Together, though, we have been able to grow this business. We could not do it without each other!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.deliberatosbakery.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deliberatosbakery/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeLiberatosBakery
Image Credits
Laurie DeLiberato