Jen's Bagels start up

Help me launch my bagel business to the next level!


Hi everyone! 

As many of you know, I have a small business making sourdough bagels with fresh local flour from Camas Country Mill in Oregon. What you might not know is that I'm currently using the commercial kitchen at my work for baking, but I'm running out of space. I'm ready for something bigger where I can make a lot more bagels and watch my tiny business grow into what I've always dreamed of. 

I need your help! I'm asking for funds which I'll use to put a down payment on a small kitchen space where I can bake my bagels and sell them wholesale to coffee shops, restaurants, small grocery stores, and at farmers markets. I will also use it for the small equipment I may need, and to pay for licenses and permits. 

I would love to be able to do this as soon as possible, as I'm starting to build a solid client base and I'm low on space to produce. Any help would be greatly appreciated, and I will most definitely keep you updated on the steps I take towards my goal!

Here's a bit of back story...

Baking has been a passion for me for most of my life. It started with cupcakes and small desserts, and once I moved to Portland, OR, it evolved into bread. I didn’t know much about bread until I started working at Bread and Ink Cafe, where my love of bread baking took hold.

Bagels always fascinated me, and that’s when my obsession with New York style bagels began. I wasn’t quite happy with the recipe at work, so I researched for months and tested recipes, failed, made progress, failed again, and then made my “perfect” bagel.

I then started learning about naturally leavened breads
---breads made solely from flour, water, and salt. No commercial yeast, just the long slow fermentation of three ingredients. Wild yeast is present in all flour, so by mixing flour and water together and letting it rest, it ferments and creates a natural yeast (starter/levain) strong enough to make bread rise. This long fermentation process makes the nutrients in the flour more easily digestible.

Soon after, I met and befriended a talented baker and writer, Adrian J.S. Hale, who showed me the benefits of locally milled flour and expanded my knowledge of sourdough.  We began experimenting together and eventually created an orginial sourdough bagel made with 100% fresh flour.

My journey as a baker is just beginning and I want to take you along as I continue to create new and delicious recipes and share in the joy I feel as I watch my customers enjoy healthy delicious bagels, bread and desserts.