About No-MaTer

In late 2016 my husband found that he had developed a tomato allergy. The days of BBQ ribs, lasagna, spaghetti, and even fries dipped in a delicious tomato-based fry sauce seemed to be over.

Taste is such a huge part of life that I decided to see what we could do to mix it up. There HAD to be a way to mimic the zesty yumminess that a tomato brings to a dish without causing him distress. The hunt began...

After two years of experimentation, we finally developed a marinara sauce and BBQ sauce that are delicious and tomato-free!!

The first thing we made was lasagna. You can find our recipe under recipes and wow was it delicious! That settled it, we had a way to still enjoy our favorite tomato (and BBQ) dishes without setting off the tomato allergy!

Notable other negative effects that this could avoid due to the absence of this key ingredient are: acid indigestion, hot flashes, and auto-immune flare ups.

The next stage of our journey began in 2019...how to make this available to others.

What a process!

For all of you entrepreneurs out there who tackled this, I applaud you. It was daunting. I admit to throwing in the towel a few times. But my husband and friends were rooting for me, so I kept pushing forward. We made a decision to start with renting a commercial kitchen and I was mere days away from signing the contract when, you guessed it, the Covid pandemic closed down the world and altered so many lives. I do feel blessed that I did not already commit to many contracts before this world event happened.

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Fast forward to 2021, cause really 2020 was a wash for many people if not one of the worst years of our lives. Plans changed, we re-evaluated our position on the commercial kitchen and decided that me holding down a full-time job and trying to cook every weekend might be a not-so-great idea. So, enter in the bottling companies. There are so many great bottling companies out there, it was difficult to narrow it down. That is, until I started talking with Motherlode. I cannot recommend them enough as they have been so welcoming and encouraging!

Mid-2021... we have a website, an Instagram presence, and a Facebook presence. But still no product...yet. Finalizing the bottling process and going through the regulatory approval (yup, FDA approval required). I am so grateful that I have the honor of working with wonderful people at Motherlode. They have been so patient with my lack of experience and knowledge and have recommended me to another great company for my label, Blair Labeling. The first product that is going through this arduous process is the No-MaTer Marinara Sauce. The great people at Blair Labeling have also shown their amazing customer service and kindness in working together with me to produce a great label (and in the right format so they can print it).

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Here we are, 2022, I really thought that I would be announcing by now that inventory is up! But alas, there were a few other surprises that delayed us. Access to funding as a startup has changed quite a bit as banks are way more risk averse than they were 3 years ago. It took a little longer than I anticipated, but finally I was able to give the green light to make product! Ingredients are being ordered as I type this and I'm awaiting notification of the day it will be produced at Motherlode. I cannot wait to be able to bring this amazing sauce to everyone. Please be on the lookout for news, updates, and more recipes.

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The journey continues and I'm thrilled to share it with you!