Johnny Secreto Foods is one of many West Michigan-based micro-food businesses adding some spice to the entrepreneurial scene in West Michigan.
Founded in May 2012 by John Coram and Wade LaFever, Secreto specializes in gourmet food and cooking products. The first four products were dry rubs, and they recently added a barbecue sauce and a pasta sauce.
After working out of Hart food incubator The Starting Block, the duo moved production to a commercial kitchen in Lowell, Mich. Initial marketing efforts were focused on farmers markets, but now, their products can be found at several West Michigan speciality stores, the Westborn Markets on the east side of the state, and they will soon be part of Meijer's "buy Michigan" section.
LaFever describes the origins of Johnny Secreto, saying, "My business partner, John, has been giving these rubs away for years. The recipes have been with him for a long time." LaFever says that after being encouraged by many friends who used their seasonings, they decided to try to bring the product to the market.
So far, business has been brisk. LaFever says the one of the biggest challenges is keeping up with orders. "We stopped cold calling. There was so much stuff going on, including product demonstrations every weekend, that we needed to make sure we could handle the Meijer launch of our pasta sauce in late January. We are so proud of how far we have gone."
To follow the success of Johnny Secreto, you can follow their Facebook page
here.
Source: Wade LaFever, Johnny Secreto
Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs News Editor
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.