Starseed Bakery, Linda Beg
Beg has expanded her business from her own kitchen to a dedicated gluten-free production facility with room for growth and retail sales. Starseed Bakery supports local suppliers and uses compostable packaging for its products. Beg also has plans to bake in compostable paper bakeware that has a reduced impact on the environment. Starseed Bakery received the 2015 SCORE Awards Outstanding Green Small Business Award.
Linda Beg opened Starseed Bakery in response to increasing concerns about the safety of the food system, including the prevalence of toxic pesticides in food crops and seeds. Her business, Starseed Bakery, is a wholesale and retail bakery serving products that are gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and free of genetically modified ingredients (GMOs). Starseed’s baked goods can be found in health food stores around New Jersey.
“I wanted people to eat safely, and to know and trust who was providing their food,” Beg says. She was confident that it was the right time to introduce this type of bakery. “I knew if I didn’t seize the moment, that I would forever regret it.”
“At each stage of building my business, I was referred to members who were experts in their particular field, so I was continually guided in the areas I needed to address at the time,” Beg says. “Their interest was genuine and they kept in touch with me to ensure that I was staying on a steady track.” Beg says her mentor, Stan Yablonski, always checks on her progress and follows up on what they worked on last.