Creating Culinary Experiences Worth Sharing

The Iron Kettle

3 weeks ago

2024 came and went—the pace of this year felt as if it were in double speed. Our first year of operation at the Commissary flew by, but we made sure to keep up with the pace.

The word of 2024 was GROWTH. We expanded our team, grew our product offerings, extended our business hours, increased our wholesale distribution, sourced more ingredients, and strengthened our industry partnerships. With growth comes obstacles, and although we faced many, we did not struggle in food production. One of the challenges of starting a business from scratch—especially one that has evolved from a one-man show—is the establishment of systems and processes. Once you've passed the hurdles of "creating," it's time to set up standards: ways to do things, when to do them, and how to do them. For example: when and how often should the bathroom be cleaned? When and how often should we mop the kitchen? When and how often should we pay or send invoices? There is no head office to tell you what to do, or to advise you on analytical data like industry trends or par levels (how much to order, how much to make). We are creating systems that work for us, using the tools we have, and integrating them into the flow of our daily operations. This has been a real eye-opener.

Anytime someone gets a glimpse into our world, or we step back from ours, we realize just how much food we produce and how we transform so many ingredients. In a typical week, we use 40 lbs of coffee beans, 390 liters of dairy, 180 dozen eggs, 350 lbs of butter, 2,000 lbs of flour, and 460 lbs of sugar. We really pushed the limit over the last two months to keep up with the demands of the holiday season and our growing business. We were open seven days a week for three weeks, and our team worked around the clock. Our small but efficient space was filled with people working hard, and at times, things got tense due to fatigue. We have a roster of 24 people working at the Commissary, 12 of whom are full-time. There are 14 people in the kitchen and 10 front-of-house staff. This makes us one of the largest employers in Comber. This year, we were able to give raises to all our team members, introduce a health benefit program, and host a fantastic night out for our crew and their spouses—complete with bowling and dinner—before the holiday rush.

This business shouldn't be what it is. The odds have always been stacked against us. If it wasn't for you support throughout the last year and the resilience of our team - we wouldn't have been able to grow. Whether its a comment or message online, or you stopping into our space to buy a latte a pastry, supporting us at through our different outlets in both Essex County and Chatham Kent, it's been incredible year. We took risks and explored new opportunities, upgraded some equipment and acquired new ones to be more efficient. We did a few pop-ups, hosted some dinners at the begining of the year, we attended the Downtown Windsor Farmers Market on a biweekly basis and we launched a more expansive delivery program, supplying restaurants, cafes and stores 5 days a week. We set up a temporary coffee shop inside a Garden and Home center that we have been supplying with breads for the last few years - Anna's in Kingsville. What an amazing opportunity it was to serve you coffee in their amazing space, and we are so grateful to them for their continued partnership, and entertaining our crazy ideas. Again, a coffee shop in garden center shouldn't work - but it does if you put Anna's & IK together. Sxtay tuned for more of this in 2025.

On a personal note, we had the opportunity to enjoy some incredible trips and experience travel in a way we hadn’t in a long time. We realized that since our hands were full with both business and family, we needed to ensure we still got to experience the very things we did during the year we first met.

We were happy to keep writing and sharing our story in 2024, and we are so thankful for our team for helping us with each page. As the clock strikes 12 tonight we wish you all the best for 2025. See you on Jan 22nd.

Bonne Année and CHEERS!

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