The Toledo City Paper depends on readers like you! Become a friend today. See membership options
How Sad Snacks is continuing to grow in the area
Fall is a season of pumpkin spice and everything nice. Whether visiting the local coffee shop for the seasonal drinks or picking up a sweet treat for the perfect fall day. Even more perfect is grabbing a sweet treat from a friendly neighbor.
In Ohio, there are two different branches for home bakeries: cottage baking and home baking. According to the Ohio Revised Code in division (A)(19) of section 3715.01, a “Cottage food production operation” is when a person makes non potentially hazardous foods in their home. Goods like fruit butter, jam, candy, bakery products and more.
Under Ohio Revised Code chapter 911, a “Home Bakery” permits the baking of non-potentially hazardous foods with the addition of potentially hazardous bakery products which require refrigeration. Those include goods like cheesecake, cream and custard pies. There is an annual licensing fee of $10 for a Home Bakery license from the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
Taylor Dungjen is the owner of one of the growing micro food spots in Lucas County, Sad Snacks.
RELATED: Maumee Coffee Shop Georgette’s Grounds and Gifts Launches Online Store
“I do everything. All the planning, the baking, the shopping, the mixing, the decorating, the packaging, I’m a one-woman show,” Dungjen said.
Dungjen has been running her bakery for a little over a year now as another means of income to complement her full-time job. While she bakes from her home, she runs her bakery as a Cottage food production.
“I operate under a cottage law. I don’t have any licensing and I’m not required to have any licensing by the county or by the state for food,” Dungjen said.
Being able to be home and not be drawn away from her son was an appealing factor for being a micro bakery. As she has embarked on this journey, Dungjen has watched for a potential trend.
“The cottage bakery, micro bakery trend has exploded. In the last six months to a year,” she said. “It seems like you find a new one popping up or a pre-existing one that you hadn’t heard of before, so it’s definitely a growing marketplace and I don’t know if it’s a trend or if this is something that’s here to stay, but it’s definitely growing locally.”
Dungjen says she prefers her bakery over the traditional brick-and-mortar setting, although there are things to take into account when running a business at home.
“The con is I’m always at my house. There’s no work-life separation,” she said. “It’s nice because I can be at home and tend to the things I need to deal with, but I’m also at home and still there’s a lot less separation of work and life.”
Local businesses in general have been a staple to communities. Local business owners like Dungjen simply pour themselves into their communities because they can.
“I’ve connected with not just a bunch of other bakers, but just other small business owners, also, which has been a really fun way to get more involved in that part of our local community,” she said.
In putting herself out there with her bakery, Dungjen has been able to grow a community in Toledo, a city she feels was the perfect place to set up shop.
“I think Toledo is a really great place to be able to experiment. Whether it’s a bakery or some other type of small, some other small business, but people here are really supportive and I think that’s a great testament to the community we have here,” she said.
