iN HOLIDAY: Custom sugar cookie business booming in Kamloops
Things are festive, warm and delicious at a busy commercial kitchen in Kamloops.
Baker Lisha Belliveau has her hands deep in cookie dough and decorative icing.
“I don’t get much sleep lately,” she said. “This is the busiest time of the year.”
It's been less than two years since Belliveau, a former city bus driver, decided she was going to start her own custom sugar cookie design and baking business. It took a lot of elbow grease, paperwork and learning about operating a small business for Belliveau to get rolling out the cookie dough on a larger, commercial basis.
Enchanted – Artisan Cookies is doing so well, she is now looking to open her own bakery.
“It's exciting to own my own business,” she said. “I research, design, bake and ice cookies for all occasions... I’m loving it.”
Belliveau’s venture began when she started baking and designing cookies for friends and family. Always a crafty person but never a baker, Belliveau said she started watching YouTube videos, took online courses and practised a lot.
A couple of coffee shops in town wanted to sell them and that’s when Belliveau started looking to rent a commercial kitchen and got involved with the Kamloops Food Policy Council.
“The council helped me fill out all the paperwork for Interior Health to approve me,” she said. “I had no idea what it took to start a food processing business, there are so many different things Interior Health wants before you get into food processing.”
READ MORE: iN HOLIDAY: New Vernon business making bean-to-bar chocolate
Belliveau said the food council guided her through the long and often confusing process of getting up and running.
She started working out of a commercial kitchen at Gardengate that is rented out to entrepreneurs by the food council in partnership with Open Door Group. The shared commercial kitchen comes with incredible benefits for entrepreneurs.
“I didn’t have to purchase all of the equipment myself,” she said. “The kitchen is clean and inspected by Interior Health so I feel secure my product is safe for the public which is something very important to me. It is huge with lots of table space. I can now make large volumes of cookies and sell wholesale to retail and coffee shops around Kamloops."
Almost two years into her cookie adventure, Belliveau is running cookie decorating classes and keeping her eyes open for a venue for her own dream bakery.
“I have the financial backing and hired a baker,” she said. “I'm looking for my own place that has space for me to teach cookie decorating. I really enjoy teaching. It can be a lonely thing making cookies all day by yourself.”
Food Hub manager for the Kamloops Food Policy Council, Kent Fawcett, said he's happy about Belliveau’s success.
“That is the whole goal,” he said. “It is to help entrepreneurs get started building up their customer base and revenue so they have more certainty in taking the next step forward. We are happy to see people build their businesses, spread their wings and graduate from our facilities."
READ MORE: Thompson-Okanagan farm to table doesn't just happen
Belliveau is busy these days baking and decorating hundreds of cookies per week for the holiday season. She is doing pre-sales and baking fresh for orders. She will be at Far and Wide at 353 Victoria St. on Dec. 18, where customers will be picking up orders and where she'll have fresh baked cookies available for shoppers.
Go here for information about Enchanted-Artisanal Cookies.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
