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Thanks to list mates who found the actual link.  Lin

http://articles.philly.com/2014-09-25/food/54322624_1_gluten-bakery-cafe-kennett-square

Gluten-free: Sweeeet!

Christine Ruggio's daughter is gluten-intolerant, so, in the past, sending her off to summer camp used to require packing a cooler filled with gluten-free baked goods.

But this summer, packing for field-hockey camp at the University of Delaware was less of a hassle.

"Out of 100 kids, seven were celiac, 15 had to eat gluten-free. They had a complete menu for them, so they could have anything they want. It's come a long way," Ruggio said.

"Of course," she added, "we supply them, so that made it a lot easier."

Ruggio, in addition to being a mother of three, also happens to be the founder of Sweet Christine's Gluten-Free Bakery, a homegrown Kennett Square business that has transformed over the last two years into a national brand, serving university dining halls, hospitals, and corporate cafeterias from Philadelphia to Chicago.

Since Compass Group, the world's largest food-service contractor, added Sweet Christine's to its offerings, chefs at school districts, universities, hospitals, and corporate dining rooms have been able to place orders. The company added 40 such accounts in August alone.

And, they recently opened a bakery cafe - serving grilled cheese sandwiches, personal pizzas, and indulgent baked goods like eclairs and brownies at 503 Orchard Ave. in Kennett Square - that they expect to become the model for a chain of gluten-free casual eateries.

To fuel that growth, they opened a certified gluten-free factory in Kennett Square in February and are working to open a second one in Philadelphia this year.

"I'm a little overwhelmed," admitted Ruggio, who less than a decade ago was a stay-at-home mom contemplating returning to the workforce. "Actually, I'm a lot overwhelmed."

But she's also on a mission - and it's personal.

   Ruggio had suffered digestive ailments her whole life, and 15 years ago her health deteriorated rapidly. When she began to experience tingling and numbness, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Eventually, though, a doctor suggested that celiac disease might be the real culprit.

So in 2005, Ruggio gave up gluten. Over the next year her health improved completely. Her dining options, however, grew markedly worse.

"The products out there were horrible," Ruggio said, recalling sandwich bread that crumbled the moment she tried to remove it from the bag.

When her daughter was also diagnosed with gluten intolerance, Ruggio was determined to make sure she wouldn't miss out on the stuff other kids were eating, from cupcakes to peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches.

She began baking, and word got out. Soon, parents of children on gluten-free diets - which included not only those with celiac and gluten intolerance, but also kids with autism and behavioral issues - began placing orders. When Ruggio stopped by a local health-food store one day, the owner invited her to enter her chocolate-chip cookies into a Christmas cookie contest - without labeling them "gluten free." Out of hundreds of entries, they won.

The store placed an order for more cookies, and persuaded Ruggio to build a small commercial kitchen at her home and go into business.

That was 2007. By the next year, she had graduated to a retail bakery, where she could hone her recipes - including her key ingredient, a substitute all-purpose flour that's a mix of six different gluten-free flours - and get feedback from customers. But what Ruggio really wanted was to get her products into hospitals and schools.

"For so long, even after being diagnosed with celiac disease, I'd still wake up from a procedure in the hospital with a cracker waiting for me," she said. "I'm building this business because I wanted to help others not to have to suffer."

So, two years ago, Ruggio brought on a partner, Kevin McCann, who began approaching major food-service companies. The first to adopt it was Philadelphia-based Aramark.

"It was tough to get the meeting," McCann said. "But it gets a lot easier once they test our food."

While he declined to share sales figures, he said the company tripled its sales this year over last, and expects sales to triple again in the year ahead. They've also increased capacity tenfold with the new plant, and more than doubled the staff, to 22 people, with plans to hire more this year.

Abigail Petry, executive chef at Lake Erie College in Ohio, sampled a number of gluten-free lines before trying Sweet Christine's, and becoming an instant convert.

"It's a phenomenal product," she said. She buys hot dog, hamburger, and slider rolls from the company, as well as brownies, cookies, bagels, muffins, and pizza crust. Student feedback has been enthusiastic. "That's huge to me, that they actually want to eat it," she said.

She said some other gluten-free bread has to be toasted just to be palatable. "This is actually great right out of the bag."

These days, McCann and Ruggio see endless possibilities, particularly in prepackaged breakfast sandwiches that shoppers can microwave at convenience stores and frozen complete-meal options to avert the risk of cross-contamination, a major issue for celiac sufferers.

But, Ruggio said, no matter how big the wholesale business gets, she's determined to keep the cafe - to get community feedback, offer a safe, gluten-free space, and perhaps earn a few converts along the way.

One might be Daisy Zavala of Kennett Square, who stopped by recently to look into ordering a cake for her son's fifth birthday party, since one child in his class is gluten-intolerant.

"I'm going to try a piece of cake and see," she said.

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215-854-5053

@samanthamelamed

Sweet Christine's, 503 Orchard Ave., Kennett Square, PA sweetchristinesglutenfree.com; 610-444-5542, at some ShopRite, Whole Foods stores.



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