A specialty bakery with a coffee shop feel’

Heather Graves

Staff

May 14, 2024

APPLETON – Life without dessert, Rebecca Brown said, was simply not an option for her family.

So, when her father was diagnosed with diabetes, Brown said her mother, Agnes, began researching healthier recipes.

“My mom has been baking and cooking healthy for years,” she said. “I remember her always changing recipes, trying to include more fiber and nutrition and making her creations as healthy as possible. Her garden was also a high priority – eating clean and wholesome was important and enjoyable for our entire family.”

After struggling with stomach issues for many years, Brown said her mother found out she was allergic to gluten and dairy.

“It was plain tough to find something gluten-free, tasty and nutritious all in one,” Brown said.

This led to Agnes coming up with creations of her own.

“We didn’t put much thought into, ‘okay, we are going to make this all gluten-free,'” Brown said. “Most of the ingredients we were using were already gluten-free, so, why not keep that going?”

Before they knew it, Brown said they were sharing treats with others and baking things for the local farmers’ market.

“And things snowballed from there,” she said.

The mother-daughter duo opened Happy Bellies Bake Shop – a gluten-free bakery – in downtown Appleton in 2011.

The shop has since moved to its current location at 2107 N. Richmond St.

At first, Brown said they focused on the community that specifically needed to eat gluten-free, eventually expanding that reach to all folks looking for healthier options.

“We always have the goal to have healthier options for people who don’t necessarily have to be gluten-free but wanted something better, with cleaner ingredients,” she said.

Happy Bellies also offers dairy-free, vegan, refined sugar-free, egg-free, nut-free and soy-free options.

The bakers said the bake shop focuses on offering healthy, all-natural and affordable treats, without compromising flavor – nipping in the bud those who might think Happy Bellies’ offerings don’t taste as good.

Happy Bellies’ bestseller, Rebecca Brown said, is its vegan cake donuts. Submitted Photo

“I think a lot of that is proven by eating it and trying it,” Brown said. “We’ve been at events and people will try something and say, ‘I had no idea that was gluten-free.'”

In the beginning, Brown said she didn’t put 100%-gluten-free labels on items “because it did turn people away.”

“But at this point, because we’ve built a following and people are familiar (with us), it’s a little easier to say, ‘we’re gluten-free,'” she said. “We simply want to make wholesome, natural/organic treats for people to enjoy, without compromising good taste. It’s hard enough to find something sweet to eat without refined sugar and flour, and even harder to find something with any nutritional value.”

Brown said the bake shop’s best-seller is its donut.

“It’s a vegan cake donut,” she said. “We also make cupcakes, cookies, bars, cheesecakes, muffins and scones.”

Those options, Brown said, are available in the shop’s fresh case every day.

“We also have a freezer section where we sell fresh-frozen individual items, as well as dough balls, pizza crusts, take-and-bake scones and cinnamon rolls,” she said.

Two peas in a pod
Brown said the working relationship between her and her mom is “easy.”

“My mom’s focus has always been – she just wanted to make things,” she said. “She had no interest in running a business and all that that entails.”

Brown said she often describes her mom as the “recipe maker.”

“And I’m the everything else,” she said. “We have our different strengths, and then we’ve played to that.”

Growing up, Brown said she always wanted to own a business of her own – “I just never knew what it would be.”

“I feel blessed that it’s making delicious food and serving coffee,” she said.

Looking back, Brown said she’s proud of what she and her mom have been able to create.

“Not everyone knows this, but when we first started, our name was Gluten Be Gone,” she said. “That was our original name for three months.”

Not fully committed to the name, Brown said they began brainstorming names and inspiration came.

“This young girl came in about a week later, and said, ‘it makes my belly happy,'” she said. “That was my sign from God that that was the new name.”

Watching the bake shop team grow, Brown said, has probably been the most rewarding aspect of Happy Bellies’ growth.

“The employees we’ve had and how close we’ve become to some of them, (has been rewarding),” she said. “Some have gone and have kept in contact, which has been cool.”

Playing a part in the celebrations of the community, Brown said, has also been a rewarding aspect of the job.

“The holiday season, I think, is always a good reminder for us – all of these people are taking our things and bringing them to their family celebrations,” she said. “Being a part of people’s birthdays and special moments in their life is pretty meaningful for us.”

Struggles, growth, future
Brown said people have always been part of the bake shop’s greatest moments, but have also been part of its struggles.

“There have been some challenges of maintaining a constant team,” she said.

Managing the rapid growth the bakery saw in the early years, Brown said, was also challenging.

“COVID-19 brought us a few hard years as well,” she said. “We stayed open the whole time during COVID, which we were glad we did. But some of the aftermath with COVID and shortages of (supplies) and employees were challenging.”

The bake shop offers a variety of dairy-free, vegan, refined sugar-free, egg-free, nut-free and soy-free options – including cupcakes, cookies, bars, cheesecakes, muffins and scones. Submitted Photo

The future, Brown said, is one of the things “we are figuring out right now.”

Growth and spacing challenges, Brown said, prompted the bake shop’s first move from downtown to the Richmond Street location.

“That was an easy choice,” she said. “(The building on Richmond) was on a busy road – it provided better parking than downtown.”

Some of those same challenges of the shop’s downtown location, Brown said, are causing restraints in the new location now thanks in part to Happy Bellies steady growth.

“Our location’s space has been a pain point for us,” she said. “We’re so busy that our parking lot is full all the time and it’s a little bit cramped. We are going to get to a point where we outgrow our space.”

Brown said the current location also isn’t conducive for a drive-thru, which has been a topic of discussion lately.

“We wouldn’t mind having a drive-thru at some time,” she said. “So, we are looking at options – do we want to build a new building? Do we want to add a satellite location?”

Brown said Happy Bellies has also started offering shipping of some of its products – “so, we are looking at more growth in that area.”

Though most customers come to Happy Bellies, purchase their items and leave, Brown said there is space to sit down.

“Some people might not know we have a space to sit down,” she said. “We aren’t a coffee shop, but we serve organic coffee and espresso drinks. We also have breakfast sandwiches and breakfast pizza. We have a space for people to hang out and enjoy their time and treats.”

Brown said above all, Happy Bellies offers “gluten-free goodness to the Fox Valley” and beyond.

“We created a place we would have wanted to come to, to enjoy a treat we feel good about eating,” she said.

For more on the bake shop, visit happybelliesbakeshop.com.