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***** Miscellaneous Info Below ********
Thanks for reading this article from the October 2006 issue of Money Magazine
How I Did It
By Christyne LaPlaca, 41, Georgetown, Mass.
"On Christmas Day of 1996, I fed my three-year-old a piece of
chocolate. One hour later, Rebecca was in an ER, diagnosed
with a potentially fatal nut allergy.
More than 3 million people have some sort of peanut allergy,
and half of them also have a tree-nut allergy.
I spent the next seven years lobbying for stricter food labeling
and met hundreds of parents who wanted to buy a safe, nut-free
product. That's when I realized there was business potential
for a cookie company that guarantees no nut contamination.
So in the winter of 2003 I established Rebecca's Nut-Free.
It wasn't easy.
I knew little about cooking.
I tweaked a neighbor's family recipe and test-marketed it by
handing out samples. Most food start-ups can rent a
commercial kitchen, but we couldn't run the risk of
cross-contamination. I baked at home at first, but I needed
more space to keep up with demand.
So I coughed up a large portion of our savings to build a
$100,000 commercial kitchen to get my idea off the ground.
Half came from an inheritance, and half came from my husband's
salary as an engineer.
In the fall of 2005 I launched a website for Rebecca's Nut-Free.
Since then, revenue has shot up 300%.
We just reached the break-even point this past June,
and how we're putting everyting we make back in the business.
I plan to keep growing. -As told to Ingrid Tharasook
End of Money Magazine Text
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in our Fundraising Program? Everybody wins - We offer discounts and a 5-10% contribution
back to your school on every purchase. Free delivery for Boston area
organizations. Call or email us for an information packet.
Click here to email:
claplaca@RebeccasNutFree.com
A very warm welcome to everyone at Bright Horizons at Foxboro!
You can place an order by calling us at 888-763-6887,
by emailing us at:
claplaca@RebeccasNutFree.com
,
or by faxing in an order form to 978-777-2279.
Click on this link to print out your order form:
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