Organically Hip

Neighborhood farmers’ markets, where a
wealth of vendors sell agricultural products raised in Central New
York, have helped cultivate a fast-growing local business. The
whimsically named Organically Hip has burst into retail prominence by
blending the appeal of natural ingredients with an entire line of
baking mixes and granolas. The duo of energetic moms who have
masterminded the company’s success make sure that even culinary novices
can whip up these yummy and wholesome treats to serve their families
and guests. From fluffy pancakes to freshly baked cookies or brownies,
these goodies come from simple mixes made healthier with organic flour,
sugar, chocolate and without artificial ingredients and chemical
additives.

The company’s jump from farm markets to
supermarkets, neighborhood stores and health food shops is getting a
boost from enthusiastic customers who are asking their favorite
retailers to stock the mixes, like the Syracuse University students who
were introduced to Organically Hip at the open-air campus market last
fall and now find them on the shelves of the new South Campus Express
Mart on Skytop Drive. 

Recipe for success: Organically Hip developers Maria Euceda and Angela Murphy show off some of their products in Euceda’s Clay home. MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTO

 

“They started with us in our farmers’
market on the main campus in the early fall,” says Lynne Mowers,
secretary to David George, the director of Food Services at SU. “It’s
mostly about local and organic products. Their stuff was a huge hit
with the students. So we talked to them about whether we’d be able to
use their products in a retail location because this new store was
opening up. We’re featuring a lot of specialty foods like organic
foods, allergen-free foods, things like that. Their stuff fits us
perfectly.”

In return, the O-Hip entrepreneurs have
been quick to respond to their customers, like the students who were
unable to bake the brownies due to lack of access to ovens. “We’ve
introduced a new product recently, a microwaveable brownie mix,”
reports co-owner Angela Murphy. “It came about doing some of the
markets near SU. We kept hearing, ‘I don’t have an oven.’ So Maria came
up with the idea of doing a microwaveable brownie mix and it’s been a
great product for us.” 

The entire Organically Hip line is made
personally by Murphy and her partner, Maria Euceda, in Euceda’s Clay
home, where the team has complete quality control. “We’re always
listening to the customer and seeing what we can do next,” Euceda says.
“We like doing the local markets, seeing our customers, speaking with
them and hearing their ideas.” 

Murphy, whose parents have owned
restaurants, and Euceda, previously the proprietor of a chocolate
lollipop business, started Organically Hip in 2008 so they could work
at what they enjoy doing. “We’re avid bakers,” Euceda says. “We love to
cook and we wanted to start a business. We like to bake homemade. We
don’t really use too much of the box mixes. We wanted to come out with
a product that was convenient for customers and has quality
ingredients. We knew organic was the way to go right from the
beginning.”

These best friends reasoned that many
consumers share their desire to bake something delicious for their
families quickly and easily. “We base our products on the fact that you
don’t have to sacrifice quality for convenience,” Euceda explains.
“They’re affordable products in which we try to bring convenience to
homemade because our mixes are very easy to use and are basic
ingredients with no preservatives, things you find in your cupboards.”

Since both owners have families, it was
easy for them to identify with parents looking for foods that aren’t
tainted with pesticides, fertilizers and preservatives to ride the wave
of surging consumer awareness. “We both eat at least 75 percent organic
for our own personal families,” Murphy points out. “So we wanted to
bring that to the rest of the East Coast. There’s no preservatives.
There’s no chemicals. There’s nothing fake in our products. It’s a
little bit of a niche market here in upstate New York.”

The natural ingredients strategy has
won over some major local stores as their customers are getting hip.
“We are certainly into greener, organic and local,” says Hilarie Zani,
marketing director at Green Hills Farmstand, where Organically Hip
products occupy an eye-catching, high-visibility display. “So that’s
our philosophy when we choose products that we’re going to carry in the
store. We have requests for that sort of product almost every day. Our
customers absolutely love their products.”

Green Hills, 5933 S. Salina St., is a
big local fish whose support means a lot to this fledgling company.
“It’s been only a little over a year since we’ve been in business,”
Euceda points out. “We didn’t want to rush to judgment as far as trying
to get into any big places. We wanted to try other products in our
mixes among local customers. We’ve done a lot of regional markets, a
lot of farmers’ markets, a lot of word of mouth. We’ve really perfected
a lot of our mixes. We switched packaging along the way. We just
started the beginning of this year entering the marketplace through
small retail outlets like gourmet food shops and we’ve approached
co-ops. We now have about seven retail accounts, Green Hills being our
largest. They’ve been really good to us, very supportive of the local
products.” 

The brains behind O-Hip have used their
complete, local control of their operation to be responsive to customer
feedback they’ve received in the community and through their e-mails.
One change was to remove nuts, often a source of allergy problems, from
their brownie mix, while another came from gluten-sensitive consumers
“That’s how our second gluten-free mix came about,” Euceda explains.
“We received e-mails asking if we have any other gluten-free products.
And that gave us the opportunity to go into the kitchen and work on
another product.” 

Similarly, replacing eggs or butter in
a batter is also an option for those who eat a vegan diet. “Anybody
that cooks vegan would know what the substitutions are,” Euceda
contends. “We do have a lot of customers that are very happy for that.”

As Organically Hip transitions from new
business to wider distribution, they look every bit the seasoned
competitor with an artistic logo, a sophisticated Web site, www.organic

allyhip.net, a newly developed Myspace page and sleek, re-closable
packaging with a transparent strip to allow consumers a window into the
line of genuine ingredients. “How many times do you open a cookie mix
and there’s literally four chocolate chips?” Euceda asks. “You can see
right in there and see what you’re getting. “

The partners were glad to recently add
to their retail outlets the Syracuse Real Food Co-op, 618 Kensington
Road, a popular spot for aficionados of organic and natural food
products. “That will be a great account for us because, for a little
store, it’s got a huge customer base,” Euceda says. 

For the last two Saturdays before
Christmas, they’ll be selling their mixes and featuring their gift
baskets at the Regional Market, 2100 Park St. “All of our products are
giftable for any occasion,” Euceda promises. “Especially our vanilla
extract, which is a great gift for anybody that bakes. We do custom
gift baskets for any occasion. For the holidays at markets, we do them
ahead of time.” 

Over the winter, Organically Hip will
be setting up at such local events as the Skaneateles Winter Fest in
January and the indoor farmers’ market in Cazenovia, while they
continue to pursue big dreams. “Our big, long-term goal is to be
everywhere,” Murphy says. “Wegmans is our No. 1 goal.”

Don’t be surprised to see these
ambitious women take the easy-to-make, home-baked goodness of their
products far beyond their hometown following. “We’d like to take our
products national,” Euceda says, “to get into larger distribution,
nationwide. We have a good product. There’s obviously other organic
baking mixes out there. But I think we have a little bit of an edge
because we keep them fun, convenient and we’re constantly updating.” 

So far, they’ve gotten the recipe for success just right.