It has only taken Eileen Piasecki Couch 15 years to get out of the kitchen ”“ maybe because it just smelled so good in there.
Pine Island Herb & Spice Co. took up so much of her family”™s space, the former microbiologist turned herb specialist ended up putting an addition onto her Westtown home to accommodate her budding business. Two young boys made the stay-at-home entrepreneur happy to be creative, bringing in extra income and having family time all at once.
But children grow up, and Piasecki Couch”™s business was taking off: The time had come to get out of the kitchen. Piasecki Couch leased 1,500 square feet of space in the hamlet of Pine Island in the town of Warwick, funded entirely by family sweat equity, in early 2007. This week, she will unveil a storefront enterprise there.
Piasecki Couch”™s herbal grand opening is Thursday, March 13, and Friday, March 14, where she”™ll be serving coffee and fresh apple turnovers from Soons Orchards from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Piasecki Couch credits farm stands and family-owned grocers like Pennings Orchards and Adams Fairacre Farms, known to carry and showcase regional products, for a great measure of her success.
“They were a few of the businesses that helped give me my start, and your product has to be one our local stores are proud to sell” says Piasecki Couch. “The small-business owner would be lost without local support.”
Her products”™ presence in stores and her Internet-based business, www.pineislandherb.com, helped her lease space in the Black Dirt region”™s tiny hamlet, where she will use the front of her new space for a retail shop. It”™s aroma time when you walk through the doors, the air filled with great smells and attractive shelves filled with all natural products that constitute the key ingredients for Pine Island Herb & Spice”™s soups, chili, dips and rubs. For those who believe variety is the spice of life ”“ or who want to cook like the pros ”“ the store is fragrant with possibilities.
With no salt, artificial sweeteners, flavors or chemicals, the goal is to make cooking easier, taste better and be healthier. Shelf life is between 6 months to a year, depending upon the product.
“That”™s true of any spice,” says Piasecki Couch. “Keeping them in a dark, cool place is the key to longevity.” Some of her flavorful offerings include pasta blends, bottled herbs and spices, dried herbs, powders and vegetables.
Piasecki Couch’s new storefront business is warm and welcoming, with myriad products attractively arranged on country-style bakery racks and cupboards. Above, the walls are adorned with oil paintings. She”™s a member of the Wallkill River School of Artists, and “Yes, they are for sale … even though I”™ve grown quite attached to some of them.”
Behind the quaint façade, the back rooms are where the business of blending and taste-testing take place. A separate area is filled with packaging materials, labels and work orders pinned to bulletin boards. Everything is done by hand.
“A packaging machine costs between $30,000 and $40,000,” said Piasecki Couch. “Right now, this is working for us. We get the job done and it”™s done beautifully.” She employs two people to help seal, label and pack the products for shipping.
One touch of feminine creativity is the spice and herb mega-blender: a canary yellow cement mixer. (Don”™t worry, it”™s cement-free, only used for mixing spices and herbs.)
“A ”˜professional”™ mixer about the same size costs nearly $10,000,” she says. “This does the same job, is easy to clean and care for, and cost one-tenth the price. It gets the job done and gets it done just as well.”
Piasecki Couch would like to add dried goods from nearby growers to her cornucopia of offerings. “Most of my dried products come from California,” she notes. “I”™d really like to find partners here in the Hudson Valley to work with. I have found one farmer who may be working with me to produce dried mushrooms. I hope someone reading this will contact me. I”™d love to connect with local growers who make dry products.”
Most farmers, says Piasecki Couch, are not licensed to process dry foods. For them, it”™s off to market with fresh goods, and hopefully home with an empty truck. But what if it”™s not empty? Piasecki Couch offers the dried-out alternative. “The process takes a few months to be licensed. You can expect unexpected visits from New York Agriculture and Market inspectors. They want to be sure everything is in clean, secure and fresh.” But it”™s a way for farmers to expand their horizons, she says, and another way for them to market their crops.
Piasecki Couch started taking salary for the first time this past January: After 15 years in business, she now earns $100 a week. “I”™m a millionaire,” she laughed.
What does this matriarch of mixing do when she”™s not thinking of new creations to make life tastier for homes and restaurants? She flies her own airplane.
“I kept passing the local airport when I lived in Sussex, New Jersey, and decided to check it out. It was instant love. I”™ve been flying my small two-seater at least twice a week for the past seven years. It gets up to about 140 knots per hour and it”™s exhilarating. For the first time, I”™ll be racing from Montana to Massachusetts this spring. The race is only open to women pilots, so I”™m very excited.”
