Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
In the town of Palouse, big plastic crates stack up alongside a house. What they are there for could soon be found in a grocery store or vending machine near you.
The crates are retrieved and new ones arrive by truck, filled with apples from Wenatchee, the central ingredient in Noah’s Ark Foods’ Dutch Apple Rings.
The baked, seasoned snacks are made in one part of Mike and Mindy Hicks’ garage, the first 10-pound bags of which are stored on shelves in the second part of their garage.
Mike, a former mason and current owner of CTI from Marsing, Idaho, always wanted to get into production. The question was what to produce.
He thought about producing some kind of tool, but then started to think about what people will always need. He considered which food niches were out there, such as in the gluten-free and organic markets. It was a while before he got to baked apple slices.
“I used up notebook after notebook, crunching numbers,” Hicks said. “How could we make a food operation in our own shop?”
Two or three concepts were researched and discarded, one being to create a freeze-dried item. After weeks of research, that proved unfeasible.
“I couldn’t manufacture potato chips, for example,” Hicks said. “It’s too high of overhead to do on a small-scale. In manufacturing terms, under $150,000 is considered a shoestring budget.”
Hicks always liked apple crisps and one day thought, ‘what if you put that in a bag?’
The idea evolved from there, the research started once again, and this time, the numbers panned out.
Once Hicks’ decision for dutch apple rings was made and the plans solidified, he approached the Clearwater Economic Development Association (CEDA) for a loan. He was granted $45,000, to which the Hicks’ added $35,000 of their own funds.
Mike called the Gluten-Free Standards Association in Santa Monica, Calif., and was soon referred to Patrick Potter, a restaurant and recipe consultant at Restaurant Ventures Unlimited in Los Angeles. Mike hired him.
Potter flew up north twice, as he helped Hicks locate growers while Mindy registered the name “Noah’s Ark Foods” with the federal trademark office. Soon their business plan was all set. Mike began to convert the garage, while scouring internet listings for used restaurant equipment.
He bought two industrial refrigerators, an industrial sink, a commercial food processor, a rack oven, stainless steel prep tables and two drying racks.
The one item he bought new was an apple peeler from the Pease Company of Rochester, N.Y.
The hand-cranked metal contraption appears it may be the oldest piece of equipment they have, but that’s just its timeless look.
To make the apple rings, Mindy, along with Noah’s Ark Foods’ one employee - besides the founders - runs the apples through the peeler, then pushes them into the used Hobart restaurant food processor to slice them into rings. After that, the slices are set on wax paper over wide metal pans, then oats are added and special seasoning. The pans are then placed in a fan-cooled dryer and after a half hour, it’s a simple matter of sliding them off the pans into the clear plastic bags, which make the 10-lb. bulk size.
At the point of purchase, the apple rings will appear in 4-ounce snack-size bags with five to six rings in each. Gluten-free, and certified organic from the USDA, Hicks said they will be an original entry on store shelves.
“In our research, we haven’t seen anything in the market with a full apple ring structure to it,” said Hicks. “There are a lot of granolas and dried fruit mixes with apples, but there just isn’t anything really close to it out there. Something that doesn’t end up in crumbs. We wanted a product where you reach your hand in there and come out with something solid.”
The oats come from Canada, where Potter located a grower in Montreal.
The green and white snack Dutch Apple Rings package is about the size of a traditional vending machine chips bag. It will sell in the $2 range.
Hicks’ plan to market them includes procurement, which means selling in bulk to military bases, school districts and other large operations. Hicks will go to a Washington Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) convention next March in Puyallup to look for opportunities.
Eventually, Mike and Mindy would like to add investors and expand their manufacturing to other similar baked fruit or vegetable snacks, then open a manufacturing space in the Garfield/Palouse area.
“It’s been labor intensive,” said Mike. “A crash course in learning the manufacturing world – and it’s difficult to get a phone call back when you are a startup. You feel like a minnow amidst a bunch of big fish. You feel you’ve won the battle if you can get a phone call back.”
They started manufacturing in August and plan to launch the product officially in the first quarter of next year. The item is available now to buy in bulk.
Noah’s Ark Foods’ Dutch Apple Rings are likely to be found first in the Palouse at places such as Moscow Co-Op, Rosauers and Dissmores.
It all began with an idea, then research, then testing on family, friends and neighbors. The next test will be consumers around the region and beyond.
“I’m feeling good, especially with our ability to procure,” said Hicks. “That way we can bake in bulk and send it out. We want to see our product out there, we want to start making money instead of just spending money – that’s the whole idea.”
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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