Jenna’s Nut-Free Dessertery Takes Over Boyce Farmers Market Restaurant
FREDERICTON – Jenna’s Nut-Free Dessertery Inc. has expanded into the restaurant space inside of Fredericton’s Boyce Farmers Market. Jenna White, the founder and CEO of Jenna’s, says that she is proud to finally have made it into that space.
Jenna’s Nut-Free Dessertery Inc. is a bakery and restaurant that offers nut-free and traditional Indigenous food. As someone with a nut allergy herself, she knows the constant struggle of needing to keep an eye out for food dangers.
“[Having a nut allergy] really changes the way you eat, the way you live, it changes everything because all of a sudden you have all of these danger warnings around you that were just not part of your life before,” White tells Huddle.
In 2019, she started her business at the Boyce Farmers Market in Fredericton with just two folding tables and $250 to put toward the business. Today, White has grown and adapted the business significantly.
White says that when Covid-19 shut down the market, she was forced to put a pause on her business. However, that inspired her to branch out and adapt Jenna’s Nut-Free Dessertery Inc. into a business that will be able to remain open during the lockdowns.
“I took every course available online at that point, there were so many seminars available for free through so many wonderful organizations, and I took every single one of them and built up my business plan to try to create a business that provided an essential service,” says White.
This led to White recreating and introducing new items to her shop. She says that after partnering with Women in Business, she was able to develop some of her recipes into baking mixes. Since she was no longer creating the products herself, and was instead providing people with the ingredients to do it themselves at home, she was able to remain open throughout the various Covid-related shutdowns.
With the help of Planet Hatch and Ulnooweg, White was then able to open up her own storefront at 170 Urquhart Crescent in Fredericton.
RELATED: Fredericton Nut-Free Bakery Expands From Farmers Market To New Location
Recently, White moved into a second location in Fredericton. Jenna’s Nut-Free Dessertery Inc. can now be found in the restaurant area of the Boyce Farmers Market.
“We have a nice sitting area there for people to come in and have a nice sit-down breakfast at the market,” says White.
White says that there was a callout for a new restaurant to take over the space and, after her second bid, she was lucky enough to get the space.
“I wasn’t going to give that up if I could take a shot at that,” White tells Huddle. “You know, it’s pretty special because I started at the Boyce Farmers Market, so it’s a special location for me.”
This coming weekend will be the fourth weekend in which Jenna’s Nut-Free Dessertery Inc. will be in that space.
“I hope to make it work for the foreseeable future, I have no plans on leaving,” says White. “We’ve built up the kitchen in there and put a lot of love into the space.”
White says that along with this new location, there are many other ways for people to find her recipes both inside and outside of Fredericton. She says that Jenna’s Nut-Free Dessertery Inc. is the first to have bannock mix sold in major grocery stores across Turtle Island.
“Now that may not sound like a big deal, but if you’re not looking for Indigenous-made products on the grocery store shelves, you’re not going to notice they’re missing,” says White.
Over the next few months, White has A Taste of the Atlantic coming to Fredericton to showcase Indigenous food and culture. Along with this, White says that on the Legislative Lawn on New Brunswick Day, you can be one of the first to try the new provincial cookie in which she has created, a maple blueberry shortbread.
Ryley Roach is a Huddle student intern, based in Fredericton. Send her your feedback and story ideas: [email protected]