Community Highlights: Meet Abigail Jones of Abby’s Goodies

Today we’d like to introduce you to Abigail Jones.

Hi Abigail, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Since I was young, I’ve always had the passion for being in the kitchen. My favorite childhood memory is when my friends and I dressed up in chef hats and aprons at my 7th birthday party. We all made our own personal lasagnas!

I always elected to take the culinary classes in middle & high school, and I even joined a culinary competition team. During my senior year of high school, I realized that baking was my real passion in the kitchen, not culinary arts. The only thing I wanted before I fully committed to baking and pastry arts as my career was to be qualified so I packed my bags and attended college in Colorado for two years.

I attended Johnson & Wales University in Denver, Colorado, and earned my Associate’s degree in Baking & Pastry Arts. After college graduation in May 2017, I moved back to Kansas City and accepted my first position in a production bakery at Bloom Baking Co. There I immersed myself in the world of baking—started as an intern, and worked my way up to be the head pastry chef. By January 2019, I was ready to take all my knowledge from school and experience at Bloom and open up my own home bakery business.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Of course, it hasn’t always been a smooth road. I started out as a ghost kitchen where I commercial baked inside of another bakery. We had a contract & schedule on when I could use the kitchen. By the end of 2019 and the first few months of 2020, I was having orders every week plus taking wedding orders months in advance. Business was good, but then when the coronavirus hit customers began canceling orders and I refunded their deposits. This caused a great financial strain on me so I had to make the decision to temporarily close down in July 2020.

I still baked for family during that time because baking is my passion. I love to make good food & see the joy and happiness in others when they taste it. I spent a lot of my time then honing my skills & testing new recipes for.

Over a year later when restrictions started to lift mid 2021, I was beginning to get more order requests. I began looking for ways to start commercially selling my goodies again. During my research, I discovered I could actually sell my product from home. Doing it from home is much more convenient & saves me with overhead. Missouri has a food cottage law (SB 525) that went into effect on August 28th, 2014 that allows cottage food operations across the state. That just means that my products are prepared with great care in a very clean home kitchen that is not subjected to inspection by the Missouri Department of Health. I also hold (but not required) a ServSafe Food Protection Manager certification for everyone’s safety. Under that law, there are a some restrictions that affect my menu — only “non-potentially hazardous” foods are allowed which just meant I could no longer sell my cheesecakes or lemon bars or fruit tarts. Business has picked back up and I’m happy with my new business structure.

We’ve been impressed with Abby’s Goodies, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Abby’s Goodies is a home-based bakery in Independence, MO. I specialize in brownies, cookies, and cakes. I am known for wedding dessert bars & custom birthday cakes. I think what sets me apart from others is I am classically trained. I am a 2017 graduate of the pastry program at Johnson & Wales University in Denver, Colorado. I am very proud of my Charcoal Brownies because you can’t find rich brownies like mine around Kansas City. I make everything fresh, from scratch, using local ingredients when I can. I want the readers to know that I am a custom bakery. Meaning, in addition to my core products, I will work with my customers to create the baked/pastry goods that will meet their needs. I also offer wedding cake tasting boxes to-go for customers to enjoy and taste at their convenience.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Sarah Darby has been my biggest mentor & supporter. She is the owner of Bloom Baking Co. in the KC River Market. Bloom is where I did my internship and I worked for her after I graduated from Johnson & Wales in 2017. I soaked up so much knowledge working for her. She has played a consistent role in my life over the last four years. She has always been there for me if I ever needed guidance, tools, or support in my baking career. There have been many other people that have influenced me from my high school culinary teacher or the other bakers I’ve worked with along the way.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.abbysgoodies.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/abbysgoodies
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abbysgoodieskc

Image Credits:
Sahsha Kochanowicz Photography