Fredericton Nut-Free Bakery Expands From Farmers Market To New Location
FREDERICTON – Since beginning as a vendor in the Boyce Farmers Market in 2019, Jenna White has been eager to operate her own standalone shop. In early May, Jenna’s Nut-Free Dessertery will open at 70 Urquhart Road in Lincoln Heights.
The space allows White to expand her menu and options, adding breakfast and lunch menus with takeout options.
“It’s going to have the bakery, of course, but we’re expanding into a lunch and breakfast menu as well. We have a nice fancy espresso machine and all that,” said White. “We’ll have some delicious local coffees to choose from.”
Not only will the new space serve as a restaurant and bakery, but it will also be the base for White’s food distribution.
“It’ll definitely be very comprehensive, which is great,” said White. “It’s good for shipping routes and there are no other coffee shops in the area right now, which is kind of nice.”
Jenna’s Nut-Free Dessertery has been offering a large collection of cakes, cupcakes, cheesecakes, muffins, doughnuts, and other delicious treats out of Boyce Farmers Market since June 2019.
Each recipe is completely nut-free, a decision White made when she developed a severe allergy to nuts in adulthood.
“It became really apparent after that it’s not easy to find a nut-free substitute when it comes to about anything,” White said.
When she began selling her products after being a lifelong baker, White decided she would only sell nut-free items.
“I had the luxury of going into a bakery and choosing whatever I wanted,” she said. “[When I developed the allergy] it opened up my eyes to a very different lifestyle. It doesn’t just affect the person that has the allergy. It affects their families, their friends, their workplace, their schools, and wherever they go.”
White wanted to use her business to provide more variety to customers who may not always have options, while still providing delicious treats to people without an allergy.
“I was just trying to make it a little easier for people and give them a bit of choice,” she said.
A year before opening at Boyce’s Farmers Market, White lost much of her eyesight, making her legally blind. While she had to adjust how she cooks, she says the experience has allowed her to put greater emphasis on her creations’ taste and smell.
“I’ve always liked to cook so although there were adjustments, now I just more so go off of taste and smell and texture versus the look of things which seems to have helped quite a bit, because the flavours are all quite well-balanced,” she said.
The initial run at Boyce Farmers Market allowed White to see the viability of the business. When she opens on Urquhart Crescent, she will expand the menu to include breakfast and lunch options as well as new baked goods. It will also allow her to produce a line of baking mixes and flour mixes, which she will be launching later in the year.
“It was really slow at the beginning, but we’ve been quite well received by the market community,” said White. “But the only problem is when you’re at the farmers market, you’ve only got six or seven hours a week to make sales, so this is the next natural step.”
Beyond the new product offerings and the freedom of having a permanent location, White is also looking forward to bringing more of her personality into the space through bright wall colours and incorporating elements of her Indigenous heritage as a Métis woman.
“I’m trying to bring in different parts of my heritage and to honour different aspects of the community we’re in as well.”
The new space will include a mural painted by Wolastoqiyik Indigenous artist Samaqani Cocahq (Natalie Sappier) of Tobique First Nation, which will be on the wall in the dining area. White says she will also be procuring whatever she can from local vendors.
“Everything from the meat we serve to when we are grounding our wheat, they’re going to be New Brunswick wheatberries. We’re going to try to get salt from a Bay of Fundy salt company,” said White. “We’re trying to keep it as local as possible, because it’s important to try to reach other entrepreneurs who are trying to do the same thing, right?”
While she will continue to operate out of Boyce Farmers Market, the new location will open at 170 Urquhart Road, off Vanier Industrial Drive in Lincoln Heights. The building has been undergoing renovations since February, converting from a metalworking shop into a facility that accommodates food production and a dining area.
“It’s been a complete overhaul of a 3,700 square foot space. It’s not been an easy process, but we’re getting there,” she said. “It’s got all-new walls, ceilings, floors, bathrooms, and kitchen. Pretty much everything has been redone.”
Liam Floyd is a reporter for Huddle. Send him story suggestions: [email protected].