NATURAL NORTHERN FOODS

The Owner: Lori LaClair

The Story: Way back in 2005, Lori was pregnant with her son Braxton and worked behind the scenes making sauces and dips for Ken Burritt at Burritt’s Fresh Markets. Her sassy salsa became legendary as she started to sample her creations at the Sara Hardy Farmers Market. Excited to create more, the market became her “test kitchen,” every week adding new, yummy products and perfecting her recipes. In 2009, with Ken’s support, she ventured out into a 1,600-square-foot building. As word of mouth grew, so did Lori’s products. She met a distributer who wanted to sell them wholesale; her first order was nine cases of dip to Tom’s Food Markets.

Always staying true to her “test kitchen” roots, she spent 14 summers at the market before the 2020 pandemic forced it to close.

Today: Lori now owns the building she originally rented from Ken. Lori’s kitchen—“where the magic happens”— is a team of amazing women that handmake 33 fresh products daily, blending, chopping, mixing, spooning, filling, and packing! Her wholesale distribution ships to 200 different locations all over Michigan.

What’s Next?:“We just launched three hot sauces, I love the flavors and the vibrant colors. Always the chance of more new products, I am always coming in the kitchen saying, ‘I’ve got an idea.’ My mind never switches off!”

Fun Facts: To fulfil dip orders they use 240 pounds of cream cheese a week

Cherry Jalapeño dip was the biggest but best accident when Lori had the idea to add cherry preserves to jalapeño spread. She first used Katie Gallagher’s cherry preserves from Gallagher Farms. They both had booths at the market and became friends. The picture on her brand label is the Gallagher farm.