Village Squire, 1979-03, Page 15Granola becomes
a boom industry
Almost by accident a Sebringville couple
developed a booming business
It started almost by accident. One day the Perth County Food
Co-op ran out of granola from its usual supplier in Toronto.
Manager Randy Gopal and his wife Janet Dearing had recently
made some of their own granola at home so they decided to take
some of it to the Co-op to make up the shortage. Five pounds of
the granola were sold and the germ of an idea was planted.
Randy started looking at the cost of the homemade granola
versus the price that could be charged and found that a moderate
profit could be made. So.the family began baking granola for the
Co-op. Then a distributer, Green Leaf from Kitchener, asked him
to make some granola for them and the road was begun to the
present Sun and Moon Bakery, located at the rear of the family
home in Sebringville.
The business just grew like topsy from the origin in the family
kitchen and soon threatened to push the family right out on the
street. The bakery took over the living room, the laundry room,
the hall way, the summer kitchen, leaving little room for family
activities. It also wasn't exactly up to normal expectations of
health officials with such things as hanging plants, but they were'
very tolerant, Randy recalls, because they knew the plans were
on the way for an addition.
Today the bakery is located in the addition and there's no
worry about sanitation condiditions. But the remnants to the old
feeling of a very non -factory surrounding are still there. When
the staff breaks for lunch, they walk into the house and make
their own lunch in the kitchen.
It's not your usual factory. Though there are now four
employees at the bakery, besides the two owners. They work
part time, enough hours to keep the bakery going and earn
themselves some living money so they can then pursue their own
loves. One is a writer and a mover with the Stratford alternative
community school, another is a painter, etc. Randy Gopal is still
working 80 to 90 hours a week in the business but he's cut back
to spending three and a half or four days a week in the bakery.
The rest of the time is spent in administrative work and in
travelling to Toronto to deliver the products of the bakery to
distributors. Janet Dearing after devoting nearly all her time to
the bakery is spending more time these days in her little pottery
shop out back. returning to the craft that made her name familiar
Speeding hands and streamlined methods help turn out 100 to many people in the area before the bakery came along.
dozen large granola cookies a day. March 1979, Village Squire 13