In 2011, Christy Goldsby set out to create a healthy comfort food that’s raw and easy to digest, after her friend developed an auto immune disorder. She wanted something decadent that didn’t break a strict diet, and Honey Mama’s was founded. Honey Mama’s creates high-quality fresh chocolate bars that are fun, nutritious and delicious. The bars are made with virgin coconut oil instead of cocoa butter in traditional chocolate bars and are full of bold, deep flavors, decadent textures, and are free from gluten, soy, dairy, and grain.
Success Story
Honey Mama’s
Industry
Food Manufacturing
Location
Portland Oregon
Date Founded
2011
Number of Employees
32
Background
$220,000
In Cost Savings
$80,000
In New Sales
Established
A New Product Line due in part to New Equipment
The Situation
The business has experienced significant year-over-year growth. Honey Mama’s began with two staff members and $50K in revenue their first year. In 2018, they reached $3.5 million in revenue and have grown to 32 employees. Goldsby has built relationships with co-ops, independents and multiple national food retailers to sell her products.
With a strong increase in consumer demand and growing relationships with large national retail distributers, Honey Mama’s was looking to scale manufacturing and increase overall capacity to meet the needs of their customers.
The Solution
The largest challenge Honey Mama’s faced was scaling manufacturing to meet new growth demands. Because the product is unique (it must be refrigerated) they had to create innovative packaging solutions. OMEP helped the company remove bottlenecks and free up capacity, including installing new packaging equipment. Additionally, Honey Mama’s needed more space to scale their business. OMEP partnered with them to lay-out equipment and increase capacity as they moved from 3,000 sf of space to a 12,000 sf manufacturing facility. Honey Mama’s staff were also cross-trained on the new equipment and can now perform work more effectively.Â
The Results
Honey Mama’s experienced a cost savings of $220,000 due to increased efficiencies. They also added over $80,000 in new sales. Honey Mama’s has released a new single-serve line with a major retailer, thanks in part to their new equipment line. With nearly 95 percent indirect product distribution, they are on track to continue their growth trends and scale up to meet more retailer demands.
Learn about OMEP’s Process!
HOW WE WORK
Linda Wechsler our rep was an amazingly thoughtful and empathetic person to work with. She took the necessary time to really truly understand our process and product and help develop systems/processes within individual departments. We could not have asked for a better partner to work with from OMEP.