Be Southeast Texas - September 2006

For Melissa Holmes and Judy Baker, daughter and mother respectively, the key to success was right under their noses.

And boy, did it smell good.

What started out as an enjoyable hobby for the two has morphed into a booming business that has made its mark on 49 states.

Gourmet To Go was born out of the kindness of Holmes' and Baker's hearts.

"We were making gifts to give our family and friends," Holmes said. "And they really liked them and kept asking for more."

What they were making were gourmet mixes; mixing and packaging dry ingredients to favorite family recipes so that recipients only had to add such ingredients as water or sour cream, or mix it with ground meat to have a savory home cooked meal or a delectable dessert ready in no time at all.

Since everyone liked the treats so much, including the Mexican Meatloaf and Cheesy Potato Casserole, Holmes and Baker decided to sell the mixes at a craft show. And they sold and sold and sold some more.

Now, Gourmet To Go has distributers in 49 states and is overflowing the building built behind Baker's and Holmes' Sour Lake home.

"Our success has shocked us completely," Holmes said. "But we love what we do and we are glad that it's been so popular."

The twosome didn't start out as kitchen scientists or Cordon Bleu chefs. Holmes, a former fourth grade teacher in the Hardin-Jefferson Independent School District, just wanted to stay home with her two sons, Kaden and Kale. She originally planned on baking and decorating cakes for weddings, birthdays and other special events. Baker just retired from her job as a teacher in HJISD, as well.

"We were just fooling around in the kitchen, making things we liked," Holmes said.

Baker calls Holmes the creative one; the one who will mix and pour and experiment until she gets a recipe right. Holmes complements her mother on her work ethic and organization. They make a good team, bouncing ideas off of each other and finishing thoughts and sentences the other has begun.

Mother and daughter started by paring down family recipes into packages that were shelf stable and could be given as gifts. Some of their first endeavors included Heavenly Chocolate Pie, a recipe from Holmes' great-grandmother; Key Lime Pie, Jambalaya and Spinach Dip.

"We do a lot of Cajun cuisine," Baker said. "What's interesting is that many of our Northern distributors haven't heard of a lot of our dishes, like etoufee. They don't realize that people really eat crawfish!"

Becoming a distributor is as easy as signing up on the Gourmet to Go website at: www.thegourmetcupboard.com. There are distributors in 49 of the 50 states, Hawaii excluded. But even with their business spread out literally all over the country, Holmes and Baker have kept the warm family atmosphere of Gourmet to Go.

Their website is peppered with recognition of family members like Mama Joy, Melissa's grandmother, and her sister, June.

Mixes are named after family members as well, like Big Shan's Chicken Fajita Seasoning, for Holmes' husband, Shannon. Keeping it in the family, Shannon Holmes helped build the Gourmet To Go building that adjoins his house and plans to put in sweat equity on the business' future expansion.

The building that houses Gourmet To Go is cozy and family friendly, too. All the mixes are created, packaged and shipped from the small facility in Sour Lake. The sun-kissed walls are lined with shelves bearing orders to be sent all over the country. The large work island in the middle is where employees mix the recipes for Gourmet To Go.

"We all have to get along really well," Baker said jokingly of the close quarters.

"But our employees are like part of the family," she added.

And in keeping with the family feel, there's no heavy machinery. No mixing vats or time clocks or assembly lines. All the gourmet mixes are still mixed by hand.

"They're actually homemade and stirred together by one of our eight full-time employees," Baker said.

Holmes likes being next door to her house, where she can keep an eye on her sons and be home with them as they grow.

"Our distributors can't believe we actually answer the phone when they call to place orders," Holmes said. "But we're very hands-on and right in the thick of things."

Before Holmes and Baker wrote their business plan, they talked to vendors and distributors with other companies, like Mary Kay, Arbonne International, Pampered Chef or Avon.

"We went to trade shows and arts and crafts shows and put together a business plan that worked for us," Holmes said. "We get a lot of compliments on the way we do business and that's very important to us."

In November, Gourmet to Go will expand. They've outgrown the current facility with their 135 different mixes, weekly orders of 100-pound bags of sugar and flour, 50 pound bags of chopped onion and the accouterments that go with a gourmet mix and gift business. So they're building on Hwy 105 between Sour Lake and the Pinewood and Countrywood subdivisions.

The new facility will be hewn out of stone and cedar and feature a retail shop and a café, with daily specials made from Gourmet to Go mixes, of course.

"Sampling the food is the key," Holmes said. "When people taste what the mixes can make, they can't resist buying it."

The new shop will also proudly display messages from the Gourmet to Go distributors all over the country.

"They're sending us prayers, scriptures, blessings or notes to put on the wall," Holmes said. "And we'll put it up on our website as well."

Holmes and Baker consider themselves blessed with the success of their business.

"We try to run it in a Christian way," Holmes said. "We try to do the right thing and treat our customers as we would like to be treated."