"Supplying Food Is a Privilege": Nadja Piatka's Muffins, Brownies, and Pajama Parties Make a Healthy Business Recipe

Executive Summary Nadja Piatka turned an idea and a $100 investment into a multi-million-dollar food manufacturing company. She is the founder and president of Nadja Foods. In 1992, Nadja began baking muffins at home in Edmonton, Alberta, and tested them on her two then-teenaged children. At the time, Nadja was an unemployed, single mother with no income. She began marketing her products, and, not long afterward, a bakery was selling her muffins to local customers. Within a year, Nadja Foods had become a national supplier to McDonald's Canada. Nadja's reduced fat and all-natural muffins were a huge success. In taste tests, they continued to beat their higher fat competition. Nadja Foods also began introducing great tasting Healthy Brownies into the Canadian market. Nadja met with Dan Mohan, the development agent for Subway Restaurants of Western Canada. After being tested in a few stores, the brownies won great acceptance in the market. To remain competitive, Nadja Foods expanded to the United States in 2002 when Healthy Brownies were tested in New York. Steve Stewart, a development agent for Subway Restaurants in Western New York, and franchisee Tim Barrett supported entry into the United States in the spring of 2002. At that point, Nadja moved her base of operations to Buffalo where she set up an American LLC (limited liability corporation). After the wonderful feedback her products received in the United States, Nadja entered a new market: public schools, colleges and universities. Because of an obesity epidemic that has occurred among many children, schools were looking for a healthier menu. Nadja Foods was in the right place at the right time. The Reduced Fat and Calorie Brownie is presently served in public schools and on college campuses in Western New York. Nadja Foods has also set up an online operation. In addition to her responsibilities at Nadja Foods, Nadja has been affiliated with many community activities and associations. She was a member of the Small and Medium Enterprise Task Force in Canada, and she contributed to a report on Canadian Business and Exporting. Nadja is a member of the board of directors of the American Heart Association in the Northeast region and serves as one of its recipe developers. Nadja has also promoted healthy eating as a food columnist for The Edmonton Journal in Alberta. She served on the advisory board for the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. She is a spokesperson for Independent Health Foundation and is on the Niagara University Business Advisory Board. Nadja has written two best-selling cookbooks, The Joy of Losing Weight, and Outrageously Delicious Fat Wise Cookbook. She has appeared on television shows such as TODAY, AM Buffalo, the Oprah Winfrey Show, Fox Morning Show, Good Morning Kentuckiana, and Canada AM. Nadja was honored as one of ITV News's Women of Vision, and she received the Regional Finalist Award for Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year. In September 2004, a North American Agreement was signed between Subway Restaurants and Nadja Foods to continue to supply Healthy Brownies at Subways in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Nadja Foods has signed a U.S. supply agreement with Sodexho to provide three versions of Healthy Brownies to schools, colleges, healthcare centers, and businesses that Sodexho services. Nadja Piatka is a woman who has proved that one can make it big with very little. Nadja's Yes I Can attitude has helped her become a successful entrepreneur, and as her company's website notes: Supplying food is a privilege. Authors: Since the introduction of your products into the United States, what kind of growth have you seen? Piatka: Prior to moving the company to the States in 2002, all business was in the Canadian market; the growth in Canada was steady. When the business moved into the U.S. in 2002, the business has seen growth of 75 percent to 80 percent in U. …

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