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March 19, 2024
NORTHEAST WISCONSIN — With an increase in food sensitivity issues among the American population, Creative Crusts Co-owners Shawn and Peggy Brokaw said they aim to help alleviate those problems.
With its gluten-free, high protein, zero flour and keto-friendly chicken-based crust, the Brokaws said their own food sensitivity issues partially led to the creation of Creative Crusts.
“I wasn’t sure how things would take off, but it seems to be going well so far,” Shawn Brokaw said. “My wife and I have been doing this for about (six) weeks now, cooking the crusts out of a shared kitchen space. We have to have the sales to justify going to our own spot.”
The couple is using Union Kitchen Collective — a shared-space kitchen model allowing for small food entrepreneurs to share the financial and start-up costs amongst other food-based startups — out of Kaukauna.
Brokaw said when looking at options — he said he loves pizza — the couple had to take into account their food sensitivities.
“If we were to make a keto-friendly pizza, it also had to be gluten-free because my wife has been gluten-free for 10 or 12 years,” he said. “Being gluten-free is extremely difficult, especially with going out to eat. Also, I have IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), and some people are afraid to admit that. I want to reduce the stigma that goes along with it — I can’t eat onions, garlic and I’m lactose intolerant.”
Having said that, Brokaw said, “normally, pizzas would wreck my stomach for days.”
“That’s what you deal with in the IBS world — you say to yourself, ‘I know this pizza might hurt me for a few days, but I want that pizza,'” he said. “The idea for Creative Crusts spun out of that.”
Through trial and error, experimentation and success, and many ingredients and processes, Brokaw said the goal has always been to bring pizza back into the lives of people who have cut it out due to health conditions or food sensitivity.
“We want it to taste good but also check all the boxes off (for people with food sensitivity issues),” he said. “Now it’s spinning into the gym/workout world because of the protein of the crusts.”
Creative Crusts pizzas have a chicken-based crust — perfect for folks with food sensitivity issues and looking to add more protein to their diet. Submitted Photo
Brokaw said each serving (half a pizza) of a Creative Crusts pizza has about 40 grams of protein in it.
“As with any good protein source, it helps you feel fuller longer, can help you lose weight and keeps those cravings down,” he said. “I’ve noticed it in my everyday life as well.”
From an idea to fruition
As with any new entrepreneurial adventure, if an idea is to come to fruition, it has to have the backing and follow-through, Brokaw said.
“I just started looking at options on how to make a crust everyone could enjoy,” he said. “I started playing with the idea several weeks ago, and let me tell you, our crusts have come a long way already. My wife and daughter began sampling along with other people — I wanted to have lots of different opinions.”
To differentiate itself in the pizza world, Brokaw said “you have to have something unique.”
“Everyone has different opinions on pizza, but somehow, someway, you have to stand out,” he said.
To see how the idea would take off, Brokaw said he and his wife started looking at different bars and restaurants in the area.
“If (a bar or restaurant) doesn’t have something (posted) about having something gluten-free, a lot of times, we don’t frequent them,” he said. “That made us want to do this even more.”
Brokaw said they have made “three or four tweaks thus far to make the pizza crusts work.”
Getting the word out
Because Creative Crusts is in its infancy, Brokaw said advertising has been word of mouth.
“There have been a few tracks to it,” he said. “I started slowly hitting Facebook, and then we started a bit more. The website (creativecrustswi.com) came online immediately, but the ordering piece wasn’t there yet. We also talked to a few gyms in the area.”
Brokaw said once ordering went live and he began blasting things on Facebook, the crusts began gaining traction.
Co-owners Peggy, left, and Shawn Brokaw said their own food sensitivity issues partially led to the creation of Creative Crusts. Submitted Photo
“I belong to several different networking groups, so it’s also us spreading our story — the why and how,” he said.
Brokaw said, “it’s not only the crusts that have to check the boxes, but the spices do, too.”
“We are working with Smoke N Sanity (out of Fond du Lac and Portage) — they have a line of (food sensitivity friendly) spices because one of the owners also has IBS,” he said. “If you look at your BBQ spices, almost all of them have onion or garlic in there somewhere. They’ve been phenomenal to work with — they want more food out there they can eat, too. We put their spices in our sauce, the Italian sausages, etc.”
The future
Because Brokaw is currently wearing a few different hats in regards to work — Creative Crusts, sales, etc. — there are no immediate plans to open a brick-and-mortar location, but that could change in the future, he said.
“I’ve done sales for 25 years, and my wife is a special education teacher — she loves what she does,” he said. “If things keep going the way they are, we’re going to have to get a place somewhere. Like I said, Union Kitchen Collective is great for now, but I’m hopeful I’ll need my own space — that would be a good problem to have.”
