The story of DERE
STREET is savoury and sweet. Spending a two week
holiday at BOTELET,
a 17th century Manor Cottage in Cornwall, with my wife
and three children, I watched with pleasure as my family
experienced the richness of life in the English countryside
while enjoying the comfort foods of my native England.
You see, I was born and raised in northern England,
a land of ancient history and untamable wilderness that
exists to this day. It is the land of Hadrian's Wall,
Roman ruins, Geordies, Newcastle United and....DERE
STREET, an ancient Roman road built in the 1st Century
AD under the Governor Agricola. While much of the
road today dots the English countryside as ruins along
walking trails, a good portion of it is the footprint of
the A1, the Great North Road linking England to Scotland. Dere
Street would become our footprint to a great new enterprise.
I returned to the States determined to change course. Call
it a mid life crisis or perhaps fate, those two weeks would
change our future. I had been looking for a new direction
and had found it. My 20 years experience as a sales
and marketing executive would prove invaluable in the undertaking
of my new business. I have always thought that life
is an adventure, a constant journey. We are all "just
passing through" and should make the most of our time
here. So
as the journey continues, with the support of family and
friends, we embark on our most exciting adventure yet....turning
my passion for food and baking into a great family business.
Like all great businesses, we started small, working out
of our kitchen, peddling our scones and shortbreads to
small bakeries in Fairfield County, CT. They were
well received to say the least! Why? Because
we make scones and shortbread the way they are truly meant
to be, flavourful, moist and all natural. Add to
that our flare for incorporating exotic gingers, bountiful
fruits from the Northwest and Northeast coasts of the US
and fresh herbs and spices from around the world, and our
customers have discovered a product that literally sells
itself. Our success has moved us, in two short years,
out of the kitchen and into a commercial commissary, supplying
over a million scones and shortbreads to food service customers
and upscale retailers from Maine to Washington D.C. Our
blueprint for success is taken from the Romans 2000 years
ago as they undertook the building of DERE STREET...hard
work, an untamable spirit, quality and pride will produce
a product that will withstand the passage of time.
