Made by Hand
HAPPY CAMPERS
Five years after Jan Taborsky ’10, MBA’11 and Lacy Gillham ’10 founded their own business, Happy Campers Gluten Free, they’re living up to their venture’s name. With sales of their gluten-free breads rising steadily and the company expanding into states beyond Oregon, Taborsky and Gillham have discovered that going gluten-free can be as good for your business as for your health.
20
FALL 2016
THE RECIPE FOR A SUCCESSFUL BAKING COMPANY
1 MIX
A gluten-intolerance diagnosis and MBA classes turned out to be the perfect mix for Taborsky and Gillham. Unable to find healthy and tasty gluten-free food to fuel their outdoor adventures, they started making their own bread — an enterprise that eventually became one of Taborsky’s class projects at the Atkinson Graduate School of Management.
2 LET RISE
The couple developed recipes, baked a few times a week and started selling bread at local farmers’ markets. After outgrowing a tiny, borrowed commercial kitchen, the company moved to a dedicated bakery, and this summer, it moved again to a 10-timeslarger, certified gluten-free bakery in Portland, Oregon. The company now has 12 employees, who produce about 1,100 loaves and buns a day. Although they still spend time in the bakery, Taborsky and Gillham focus more on sales, marketing, and research and development.