Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
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tion from an acquaintance who happened to be looking to build her portfolio. Their consultant called their sales plan into question. Rather than be in 60 stores at the end of the year selling 12 units a week, as MacIsaac and Costello had planned, she advised them to be in 200 stores selling three units a week. They drastically revised their numbers, and the plan worked. Effie's oatcakes were in more than 200 stores by the end of their first year. By that point, it was already time to branch out. To expand outside of the Boston area, the partners split up the east coast accord- ing to where they lived—north of Boston and south of Boston—and made trips to pitch each store they researched. Like rolling the oatcakes by hand, this model wasn't sustainable. Today, Effie's works with a dozen regional distributors, though MacIsaac emphasizes the importance of maintaining personal relationships with retailers. "Irene and I are going to sell our product well to stores because we know where it belongs and we know where it fits," she says. Paying It Forward Effie's still has just two full-time employ- ees—Costello and MacIsaac—and they speak warmly of one another's strong suits. Where MacIsaac brings an impeccable pal- ate and hands-on knowledge to the prod- uct, Costello brings her strategic vision and skillful macro-planning to the busi- ness. Like all great partnerships, they've had their disagreements (including an early showdown about website copy). But they are aligned on the big decisions, explains Costello. "How we work with people, what we want to be able to do for our employees, the kind of company we want to be— there's never a disagreement about that." The partners are quick to credit the many people who have contributed, how- ever small, to their company's success. The greatest lesson, says Costello, has been finding out that "so many people are will- ing to talk to you and share information and their experiences." Now the pair is in a position to pay that generosity forward. "We get calls from peo- ple who have a start-up idea and want to pick our brains," Costello continues. "For both of us it's extremely important to do that. That's what this community is all about." That commitment to the communi- ty isn't just an obligation, it's joyful. It's part of what makes Effie's, in Joan's words, "wicked fun." Winter Fancy Food Show Booth 4622 producer profile 66 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com Olivia Kingsley is a creative writer based in San Francisco whose work can be found at olivia-kingsley.com