The pandemic’s impact on public safety has devastated some restaurants and other small businesses. Alexandria, Virginia-based food supplier Mom Made Foods was one of the small businesses forced to close because of the pandemic’s economic damage.
“Unfortunately I had to make, I think, the hardest decision I ever had to make, in that we just couldn’t proceed,” said Heather Stouffer, whose company would have marked 15 years this year, growing from sales at a local farmers market to reach the shelves at Whole Foods and other national retailers.
“We made frozen foods that were geared toward kids and really were at the leading edge of the organic industry pioneering healthy foods for kids in the frozen aisle,” said Stouffer.
The death knell for the small business came when its first production of a new line of frozen sandwiches called Lunchwich was scheduled for March 2020, a time when schools were closing and sending kids home for remote learning.
Stouffer said her heart goes out to other small businesses struggling as hers did.
“My suggestion for other small business entrepreneurs is to just reach out and ask for help…all of us are going through things, and everyone is happy to lend some help,” she said.
While it wasn’t easy to close a business that was nurtured over more than a decade, the founder of Mom Made Foods said she has no regrets.
“I believe that our work in providing healthy foods for kids has really impacted many, many kids across the country into making them a lifetime of healthy eaters and helping parents’ lives a little easier on the way,” Stouffer said.
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