Teen cultivates a home-grown business

meet yourneighbors A Home-Grown Opportunity

By Janet Warford-Perry Teen has launched a business with his own produce

Submitted Photo

Remington “Remi” Effinger was self-described as “bored to death” when COVID hit

Rolla, Mo.

the most effective tool in getting the word out. Too busy gardening and processing salsa to in 2020. That boredom of remote schooling and keep track of all the sales, Remi estimates he’s isolation from friends forced the then 12-year-old to sold 350- to 400-pint jars of salsa since 2020. He explore starting his own home-based business as a charges $8 a jar and asks customers to return fun way to occupy his time. the jars, but they rarely do.

Remi enlisted his mom Stephanie’s help, and Stephanie had the foresight to stock up on jars she began helping him expand his cooking, some- and lids, so the shortage last year didn’t affect thing he first began doing at Boy Scout campouts Remi Eats. She’s hoping the rise in the cost of jars around the age of 8. and lids won’t affect his bottom line too much.

Family friend Debbie Turner shared a mild salsa Next, Remi added herb sales. He quickly learned recipe with Remi. After putting his spice twist on to adjust to public demand as they didn’t seem as it, the initial product was born in two versions for interested in purchasing the fresh herbs as they did sale, mild and medium. Friends and relatives liked the dried version. So dried herbs took the place of the salsa so much Remi decided to sell it at the lo- fresh ones at the market, and customers returned cal Downtown Rolla Farmer’s Market on Saturday time and again for dried herbs and peppers. mornings. The salsa was such a hit that Debbie even This year, in addition to mild and medium salsa became a regular customer. sales, perhaps adding a sweet version, Remi has de-

Luckily, it was springtime in the Ozarks when the cided to grow gourds. Plans include crafting loofah venture first began, and Remi was able to start the and water sprinklers for sale at the farmers market. process of growing his own veggies from seedlings Remi said he’s hoping the two new products will be inside the house. Stephanie, raised on a cattle farm, sought out by customers but admits you just can nevhelped Remi set up the backyard-raised bed garden er tell what the public buys and it’s trial and error. area where 25 tomato plants started the growing ven- At some point in time, Remi would like to enter ture, along with peppers and container-grown herbs. into a cheesemaking adventure but is saving that

He maintains a compost bin, a good way to deal until he’s learned more about the art form that is with leftover scrap food and remove the need for cooking. He likes to explore what food pairs well purchasing expensive fertilizers or treated soil. with each different type of cheese.

In keeping with state regulations for home-crafted The Rolla High School freshman is looking forfoods, each jar has to be labeled with all the ingre- ward to learning things to hone his skills. He’s excitdients used. If the food was not prepared in a certified kitchen, the label must also indicate that Remi noted. The $400 to $500 cost for training to have his Remington “Remi” Effinger began making salsa, but branched out into marketing his own freshly-grown products. See more photos at ozarkfn.com ed about the upcoming World Foods section taught in his Family & Consumer Science class. Remi said he sees himself traveling as an adult, specifically to mom’s kitchen certified is too much of an expense France and Germany, to explore how ethnic foods for his small business to sustain at this time. are prepared in various regions of the world.

Another juggling act is that food sold in a farmers market setting must be processed Remi has his sights set first on pursuing Culinary Arts at RTI. He currently particwithin a week prior to sales. When the family’s small home kitchen became hard to ipates in agriculture classes to learn as much as he can about plants and is a member navigate, the local VFW offered their commercial kitchen to Remi, and of the meats team. the expanse of space has made processing salsa less challenging. Most recently, while his mother was recovering from surgery, Remi prepared

Stephanie has continued to assist with marketing and sales and sever- meals for the family of five. Whether it be a small gathering or assisting with the al other products that have evolved into his own small business. annual VFW Christmas feast, the Rolla teen is up for the challenge.

Marketing the product began with a catchy name – Remi Eats was cho- One day Remi would like to own a food truck, local winery or stationary sen simply in reminiscence of Remi’s love of eating. A personal blog was restaurant. launched on Facebook that Stephanie monitors. Branding the product has His dream career may have been much different had the dismal restricbeen done with consistent product labeling. Sharing the word through fam- tions of a two-month COVID quarantine not forced Remington Effinily and friends, combined with selling at the local farmers market, has been ger to create a business within the confines of his home space.