Bees & Beans

Portland, Oregon

I am a Culinary Institute of America trained pastry chef who has worked all over the country in high-end restaurants and hotels. Every area I have lived in has had a unique identity that I experienced through food. No where impressed me more than Portland, Oregon, which is a paradise of truly amazing ingredients.  

After ten years in the pastry business, I left traditional employment to make time to have a family.  Staying home with my kids I happily went from crème brulee to cheerios. I spent the next four years connecting to hard working, exhausted, intelligent, and inspiring parents whom I might have never met had I stayed in high end restaurants. These people were not the moneyed and sophisticated clientele that I had cooked for my entire career, but they were purposeful and educated in their choices. I wanted to create a special product that they could enjoy anytime and feel good about.

Bees & Beans began as a tiny project making salted caramels for my family and friends. Salted caramels weren’t anything new, but they found their place in people’s hearts due to their pure ingredients like local honey and organic cream and butter.  After some observation I noticed that the bite size caramels were rarely eaten singly and more typically by threes and fours!  I started saving myself time by cutting and dipping bars of caramel. That was the beginning of the Honey bar.

From there the business took on its own life with its own momentum. Local ingredients formed natural combinations and found their ways into my candy bars. I employed the talents of friends and advice from peers.  I have enjoyed every step of creating a business that has truly captured my imagination and inspires me daily.