Monday, July 30, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Student-led Arbor Haven
Foods starts selling in A2
Cameron, a participant at Camp Bradford, balances an Oreo on his forehead as Brooke Baker, Kinesiology sophomore and
counselor, advises him on how to move the cookie toward his mouth.
Fourth annual Camp Bradford hosts
camp or underprivileged children
Plans to expand
gluten-free cookies
to other gluten-free
baked goods
By PETER SHAHIN
Daily Staff Reporter
Finding a niche in today's econ-
omy may be tricky, but in Arbor
Haven Foods' case, it is oh, so
sweet.
Arbor Haven Foods isn't con-
cerned aboutgettinginto aground
war with existing bakeries over
cookie turf. Their motive is about
providing a distinct product in
response to a growing demand for
gluten-free foods.
So far, the new startup led by
University students is selling only
gluten-free chocolate chip cook-
ies, but it hopes to expand in the
near future to other product lines
including a larger variety of cook-
ies and breads.
Engineeringsenior Steve Dean,
Arbor Haven Foods president
and co-founder, said his interest
in developing gluten-free foods
grew out of his own frustration
with existing products on the
market.
Dean, having a strong gluten
allergy, said it is oftena challenge
to reconcile the label of "gluten-
free" with something that is actu-
ally appetizing.
"Really, the idea started as try-
ing to be able to feed myself some-
thing that tastes different than
Styrofoam," he said.
Dean, who received help from
the University's Center for Entre-
preneurship, started working on
the product in 2006 but began
forming a company and commer-
cial model in 2009 with his broth-
er, Josh Dean.
It was during that time that
Steve Dean started honing his
chocolate chip cookie recipe for
industrial-scale production.
"Not all of my ingredients
always play nicely together,"
Steve Dean said. "Josh was here
for one of the first cookies. He
spat the whole thing out. That's
an interesting moment when your
family and friends are so appalled
at something you fed them that
they spit it out."
Having settled on a final - and
palatable - recipe, Arbor Haven
Foods partnered with Celiac Spe-
cialties, a gluten-free bakery in
Novi, Mich. to produce commer-
cial quantities of the gluten-free
chocolate chip cookies.
The enterprise is tiny, operat-
ing the business, researchband
development out of Dean's base-
ment, but it's a start toward what
the founders hope to be a lifelong
commitment.
On the marketing side, the
company has partnered with local
vendors Espresso Royale and
Iorio's Gelateria and recently sold
products at a booth at the Ann
Arbor Street Art Fair.
Steve Dean added that the com-
pany is also working with Zinger-
man's to sell their products at the
Delicatessen and Bakehouse.
LSA senior Pauline Knighton,
vice president of Arbor Haven
Foods, said the company is cur-
rently focused on expanding
its reach to grocery stores like
Kroger.
"We're really happy with our
end product of the chocolate
chip cookie," Knighton said. "But
again, that was a couple months
of tweaking and lots of money
that needs to go into products. We
have a lot of recipes ready to go,
but it's the extra step, and extra
time and money, to get that prod-
See A.H. FOODS, Page 6
Funds also to send
student to overnight
Wolverine Camp
next summer
By ANNA ROZENBERG
Managing News Editor
While trying to get an Oreo in
your mouth from your forehead
using only your face muscles may
seemunorthodox for most Univer-
sity events, it's exactly what Camp
Bradford called for when rain
struck earlier today.
Camp Bradford, held in West
Quad, raises money to hold a one-
day camp each summer for under-
privileged children ages 10-18 who
may not be able to afford Wolver-
ine Camps. The other part of its
budget is devoted to sending at
least one child to overnight camp
the following year.
This year, for Camp Bradford's
fourth year, it raised about $1000
- enough money to fund the day
as well as send a female camper
to a Wolverine Camp next sum-
mer, according to Kierstdea Furey,
Camp Bradford's activities coordi-
nator and LSA Junior.
Furey's job was to plan the day
for campers, much like the Oreo
game.
"We planned it so that way kids
could be outside and inside in case
of rain and weather," she said.
Furey explained that they
started off the day with tie-dying
T-shirts donated by Underground
Printing, one of Camp Bradford's
partners.
"Tie-dye was the first thing that
kids love to do," Furey said. "The
counselors like to do it, too."
There were only 14 campers
today, but Furey hopes to see the
number of campers grow in the
future.
"In the past we haven't had
good communication from year to
year, which is why it's something
we're really focusing on this year
to make sure that these kids know
about it next year," she said.
She added that the counselors
this year are making a binder to
pass on to next year's staff to help
them have a smooth transition.
Fundraising Chair Angelena
D'errico said Camp Bradford's goal
for next summer would be 40 to 50
campers, after improving aware-
ness and fundraising.
She said while this year's camp
was less than ideal size-wise, they
couldn't have held the camp with-
out their fundraising events and
their partnership with Domino's
Pizza and Underground Printing.
"We had a fundraiser with Buf-
falo Wild Wings and we made a
lot of money off of that," D'errico
said. "Domino's has been so sup-
portive all summer ... we owe
them tons."
D'errico said she and the other
counselors will stay involved at
least through the choosing pro-
cess of the student they'll send
to overnight camp next summer.
She explained that they've sent a
boy in previous years and plan on
sending a girl next summer.
"We're going to reach out to
high schools and YMCAs and-see
if they have an outstanding woman
athlete who would like to come to
camp but maybe couldn't afford to
come to camp here," she said.
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