Julie Clarke knows the delicate balancing act that working mothers are often faced with taking care of their families and juggling their careers.
Actually, she is very familiar with it and would tell you that on any given day.
Because of the demands on her time, she decided to take a leap of faith and design a business that would allow her to spend more time with her family and help other working mothers.
And she has gone in the direction that she believed many busy mothers would appreciate. Clarke and her business partner created frozen and oven-ready meals by Bajnational Foods, their company.
The focus is on home-style dinners that were created with quality and great taste in mind and come in a convenient package for busy days.
They can be served to the family as the perfect home-cooked meal just like grandma made, Clarke told the MIDWEEK NATION during a recent interview.
“I am a busy mother of three – Kathlyn, 8, Jordan, 5, and one-year-old Gabriel – and sometimes you know that you want to have a good meal to give to your family and you don’t necessarily want fast food, you want something that is home-made.
“So a friend and I got together and discussed it and we said you know what, it would be a fantastic idea to have this product available to the public.”
Like every business, capital was needed to get the Bajnational Foods Company cooking. Clarke said they went to Government’s Fund Access grant programme for assistance which she said contributed to the business’ success thus far.
The company launched its Lasagna, Macaroni Pie, Shepherd’s Pie and Scalloped Sweet Potato frozen entrées at BMEX last weekend.
The entrepreneur said she was delighted with patrons’ response when they sampled various dishes and with the fact that Bajnational won Best New Product In The Food Pavilion.
The Wednesday Woman who holds a degree in hotel management and a Master’s in management said that although the company was started in 2009, much time was spent testing the products over and over again in the last four years.
“We wanted to get everything right before we brought it to the public. With these products, we say the freezer life is probably six months to a year on each product. We tested it at intervals.
“We tested it with preservatives and without preservatives. And we decided that obviously, without preservatives would have been better and healthier.”
Speaking about healthier, the former Harrison College student said the products were not being marketed as healthy items.
She explained that individuals could judge by the “nutritional facts on the package, where you can look at it and determine if that is what you want”.
And while admitting that she did not have a chef title, the 38-year-old said that her hotel-management training exposed her to “cooking, cleaning and restaurant managing”.
“Everything that I have done has helped me up to this point with the business,” she said.
“[By] doing hotel management you understand the restaurant business, you would have done the fundamentals on how food works and obviously, having done management, you understand how a business works.”
Clarke admitted that although she had the passion, starting the business was not easy. But according to her, it was her dream and she went after it.
