Rochelle Berg fell in love with preventative medicine, but
discovered early on nursing was not her calling.
Berg, of New Hope, found her love of culinary arts working
as a chef.
“I realized this is where I want to be,” Berg said.
Berg’s nursing background – and insight about dietary needs
and food allergies – has been helpful in crafting her latest recipe for success:
Granola.
“The field itself wasn’t for me,” she said of nursing. “I
was able to take something from it and do something else.”
About five years ago, she began whipping up her own
granola.
“I didn’t like what was being sold in the stores,” Berg said,
adding that most commercially produced granola products contain vegetable oil
and refined sugar. “I started making it at home and it just tasted better.”
What began “naturally” as an outgrowth of cooking healthy
for her family took off about a year ago as an entrepreneurial venture with
Berg’s launch of Living Smart Granola. She sells her products at Wrightstown Market, Ferry Market
in New Hope, Trenton Farmers Market in New Jersey, as well as various bed and
breakfast establishments, and yoga and reiki studios throughout the area. Plus,
customers place online orders.
“I’m so happy,” Berg said. “I still can’t believe I get to
do this for a living.”
Her granola empire is taking off. Every two weeks Berg
bakes 50 pounds of granola, which is used in her five varieties of granola,
granola bark and granola butter. All of her products are vegan, as well as nut
and gluten-free.
Granola butter, which she describes as tasting “like
cookies, but so healthy,” evolved as a way to eliminate food waste in her
kitchen.
Berg enjoys meeting customers face-to-face and relishes the
challenge of creating new products. When a woman requested granola without
maple syrup because of her Type 1 diabetes, Berg accepted the challenge and created
Cinnamon Quinoa granola.
“I get inspired by people,” she said. “It’s important to
listen to what people need and want. That’s how I’m filling that void in the
allergy market.”
While the baking came naturally, the business side was
challenging. She began mentoring with SCORE Bucks County mentor Tim Fielder,
who coached her various aspects of business, including establishing a price
point for her products.
“That helped me tremendously,” she said. “They made me accountable.”
Fielder helped her transition from a friend’s restaurant
kitchen to an upgraded home kitchen certified to meet Pennsylvania food
preparation safety requirements. His role with Berg now is “primarily one of
encouragement.”
“From our first online meeting I was much impressed by Rochelle's
humor, her enthusiasm and a passion for her product, her capacity for hard
work, her courage when problem solving and a willingness to listen and learn,”
Fielder said. “Rochelle has all the personal skills and qualities needed to
become a successful entrepreneur.”
She credits the people and businesses of Bucks County for
supporting her granola-making enterprise.
“I’ve never felt a sense of community like this one,” she
said.
As a thank you for the support, Berg offers free drop-off
delivery for all orders in Bucks County.
Looking ahead, she hopes to launch a kid’s line called
Mia’s Granola in honor of her 6-year-old daughter, who helps dream up new
flavors, put stickers on the granola bags and sees the growth of Living Smart
Granola.
“She’s seeing people place orders and us having our own
business,” Berg said. “She makes granola with me. She’s on the logo with me. I
can’t tell you how much that just fuels me. It gets me up at 3 a.m. baking.”
And best of all, “She always smells like maple syrup.”
About SCORE
Since 1964, SCORE has helped more
than 11 million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE
provides small business mentoring and workshops to more than 375,000
new and growing small businesses.?With more than 70 members across Bucks
and Eastern Montgomery counties, SCORE Bucks?County?provides over
4,300 free mentoring services annually to local small
business owners through one-on-one counseling and small business seminars. To
stay up to date on news and happenings, join SCORE Bucks County’s email list.
Text SCOREBUCKS to 22828.
