We had the good fortune of connecting with Amber and Dannie Burr and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amber and Dannie, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
We honestly never had the intention of starting a business! My husband developed some health issues that got us looking closer at ingredients on labels. We used to buy the big containers of syrup from the store and he quickly realized how much high fructose corn syrup was in those containers. He decided to try making his own homemade maple syrup from his Grandma’s recipe for our kids and family. After he perfected that, he tried Vanilla. He made it for 2 years for us and our friends and family before they convinced us to try selling it. We sold our first few jars at a garage sale we had. When we sold out of what we had in a weekend at a garage sale, we decided to turn it into a business. It officially became Daddy’s Homemade just a few short months before the pandemic hit!

What should our readers know about your business?
We used the syrup for two years before turning it into a business and had no intention of making a business out of it when we first started. Many businesses are out there to sell their products. We are just so passionate about our story and how much fun we have experimenting using our syrup in so many different ways, we just love sharing that with everyone. Not to mention getting to share that our daughter’s drawings were the inspiration behind our labels and she drew each one by hand when we started! We are so proud of her! We are very transparent and real with everyone.

Not only have we been faced with normal startup and small business challenges but we started our business right before the pandemic, had all the events cancel and have had to regroup and get more creative with getting the word out about our products and business multiple times. Trying to get funding for small business is not easy to help expand into a commercial kitchen and this is something we are still working to overcome. We have also found out about more health issues with Dannie that we continue to work through on a daily basis, as well as two deaths in the family within a few months of each other. It has not been an easy few years, but despite all this we received New Business of the Year and Home Based Business of the Year!

Community, friends and family are a huge part of our lives. We are so grateful for all the support and love from everyone that have been helping us get through each challenge thrown our way. We want to continue to build something our kids can learn so many incredible life lessons from by growing up in a family owned business they were a part of from the beginning and that if you put your mind to something, anything is possible.

From our family to yours, we inspire the joy of creating kitchen memories through food, family, and fun by producing high-quality, all-natural homemade syrups and ready-to-blend breakfasts while supporting sustainable packaging.

Oftentimes you can find us sponsoring local schools or nonprofits, putting together some of our products in baskets that are donated for silent auctions for non profits or fundraising efforts, organizing food drives for local food banks or anything we can do to help others in the community.
I also want everyone to know that we started the syrup for our kids breakfast foods. Now, with flavors you can’t find anywhere else; we add them as a tasty topper to just about everything. From coffee and beverages to ice cream and desserts; even popcorn and salty snacks!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My mother in law has been a huge advocate and supporter for the homemade syrup and everything we have done with the business from the beginning, including helping come up with the name, Daddy’s Homemade. She also plays a huge part in helping take care of our kids while I’m at events.

Let’s not forget Dannie (aka Daddy). He is my rock, my best friend, love of my life, most amazing father and he is incredible at EVERYTHING he puts his mind too. Besides being the hardest working man I know despite many health issues and challenges thrown his way, he not only found a way to eliminate high fructose corn syrup, but also preservatives and artificial ingredients from our syrup; all while making it shelf stable and finding his creative side! We now have over 100 flavors, pancake mix and he is playing with some more ideas of mixes and baked goods. He also wanted to be sure we were doing our part for the environment by having glass jars for the syrup. As if that wasn’t enough, he also helps raise our 3 young kids and takes care off them while I’m at events.

Website: www.daddyshomemadesyrup.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/daddyshomemadesyrups

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/daddy-s-homemade

Facebook: www.facebook.com/daddyshomemadesyrups

Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCennqrMTiE-DQStcT2g_W1A

Image Credits
Evergreen Chamber of Commerce

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