Editor’s note: Dagne Goodwin, owner of Amelia Maes and Company (offering jams, jellies, barbecue sauce, vinegars and “dribbles”), of Strafford, N.H., recently shared her inspiring New England business story with us at VisitingNewEngland.com. We think you will appreciate the family’s will to overcome job loss and injury, and, ultimately, change their lives around (including the possible loss of their home) by turning a hobby into a job with passion. For those unemployed by this terrible economy and the greed that has hurt “Main Street,” know that you have the power to change your situation. We can look to people like Dagne and family as a model on how to make that change. We hope you enjoy this “good news” story. In conclusion, we say “Shop Local, Buy Local, New England!”
Amelia Maes and Company LLC was born out of the sheer determination us Yankees are famous for.
It was a slow long process for them to find what gifts and talents they had that would one day become Amelia Maes. Keith is the master of barbecue in the family and I’m not talking about throwing some steaks on the grill, I’m talking about real barbecued ribs that take all day to cook on a charcoal fire. The one problem for him was the sauce. For years his family had been bringing sauce back from Kansas City but when his favorite sauce was discontinued he started the quest for another sauce, eventually developing his own recipe. Meanwhile, the family struggled with finances and with little money for Christmas the couple brainstormed ideas of what they could sell at a local craft fair called “Christmas in Strafford” (NH).
Dagne had long preserved food for her family from their small garden and decided on making jams, jellies, chutneys, pickles and the like. Keith cooked up cases of barbecue sauce, Dagne cooked up cases of all manner of items and they had to think of a name. Dagne and Keith decided on Amelia Maes, using the middle names of their two daughters. Christmas in Strafford of 2008 was a great success and made nearly $700 in one day. Christmas was saved for the family and though exhausted they were able to buy gifts and have a wonderful family Christmas.
The company wasn’t truly born though until the next year when Dagne was laid off from work. With Keith home from work with an injury and Dagne with no job at all, tough times were about to become tougher. Dagne felt as though if she waited for someone to give her a job they’d lose their small home and so she put herself to work. She researched how to get her kitchen licensed, created an LLC and started cooking in earnest. Literally on a shoe string budget the company was born and immediately began selling at Farm Stands and at Farmers Markets throughout New Hampshire.
The company is still small; all the products are made in the family’s home kitchen and sold to local shops at farmers markets or on line at www.ameliamaes.com. The line of products now includes Goodie’s Barbecue Sauce, Apple Maple Dribble, Blueberry Pie Dribble, Raspberry Dribble, Very Berry Jam, Pear Apple Jam, Crimson Jam, Spiced Blueberry Jam, as well as three hot pepper jellies; Raspberry Thai Jam, Golden Hot Pepper Jelly and Emerald Hot Pepper Jelly.
Dagne had actually never had hot pepper jelly but her mother had told her that if she was making jam and jelly then she just had to make hot pepper jelly. And as Dagne says “That just goes to show you, that you should always listen to your mother”.
Amelia Maes & Co. LLC
Tel. 603 664-2472
916 Province Rd.
Strafford, NH 03884
info@ameliamaes.com
Tags: barbecue sauce, jams, jellies
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