I love my job because I am a curious foodie. I love trying new foods (as long as they aren’t TOO spicy) and it’s sounds cliché- but I really light up when I learn something new. Every industry has at least a dozen rabbit holes you could dive into and discover all the little things that exist in our world around us that we never thought about before, and ForeFront is no exception. I have a background in theatre and sales, so working at a food packaging and logistics company has really opened my eyes to the way we present, ship and sell food products. I get the inside scoop of the latest innovations before they hit grocery store shelves. Alcoholic freezer pops? We’re working on them. Bread that you can bake inside of its own plastic bag? Totally happening.
As much as I love learning, I will admit the best days are when I hear Nathan say the magic question, “Want to try new samples?” The answer is always “AHH YES PLEASE! What is it?!” Now, one of our main bread and butter customers is one of the largest Chicagoland bakeries. (I’m not naming names- these are trade secrets, people! Lives are at stake!) Bread and cookie samples are always delicious, but as a recently diagnosed gluten intolerant person, these are not as exciting for me… until he showed up with the best gluten free bread of my LIFE.
We are working with a new bakery that bakes the fluffiest, most-normal gluten-free bread I have ever tasted. Usually, gluten free products taste OK but not as good and have a slightly different texture. We the Gluten Free People simply suck it up and try to be grateful for our weird options. I only tried once slice of this masterpiece before I demanded to know the lead time of this project so I could buy some for myself. They have several gluten-free bread options. We are designing a box that can fit and ship any of the bread. This saves the customer on packaging, since one box will work for all of their products! They want to be able to ship the bread anywhere in the country, so it has to be durable but also attractive. I really respect that they want people everywhere with dietary restrictions to be able to enjoy GOOD gluten-free bread. I don’t know if I’ll be able to tell you when it’s available, but I’ll try to sneak some hints in future blogs. If you are one of my tribe, just know hope is coming!!
