After years developing products for some of the world’s largest food companies, Christine found herself drawn back to the kind of food she grew up with: fresh, locally produced, and rooted in community.
The Butterfinger recipe she still remembers
Christine can still recite the Butterfinger recipe from memory.
Years ago, she worked in research and development for Nestlé International, helping create products for one of the world’s largest food companies. Armed with a master’s degree in food science, she built a career at industry giants like Nestlé and ConAgra, developing food products at a scale most people never see.
But the further she advanced in corporate food, the more the work increasingly felt at odds with her personal values.
“It just didn’t align with how I was living my life,” Christine says. “I was buying food at farmers markets but then making things that I wouldn’t feed my own family.”
That tension eventually led her somewhere entirely different: a small food co-op in Wooster, Ohio called Local Roots Market & Café.
Growing up with a different relationship to food
Long before she worked in corporate food, Christine learned about food around her family’s table.
Her mother cooked from scratch. Her father maintained a large garden. Tomatoes, salsa, and pasta sauce were canned and preserved at home. She loved cooking so much that she nearly attended culinary school before ultimately discovering food science.
After years working in the food industry, Christine stepped away from her career for thirteen years to raise her four children. During that time, she became a personal trainer and grew increasingly interested in health and wellness.
The experience reinforced values she had learned growing up. Food was not simply something to manufacture. It was something that could improve health, strengthen communities, and bring people together.
Finding a mission she could believe in
About five years ago, Christine accepted a role as Kitchen and Catering Manager at Local Roots Market & Café.
What began as a way for local farmers and producers to sell food year-round has grown into something much bigger. Today, Local Roots includes a local foods market stocked with products from regional producers, a café featuring rotating chefs and cuisines, and a shared-use commercial kitchen that helps entrepreneurs launch and grow food businesses.
For Christine, it offered something she hadn’t found in the corporate food world: the chance to see the direct impact of her work on the people and community around her.
The move required a significant sacrifice.
When she joined Local Roots, Christine says she was only earning roughly one-third of the salary she had made in the big food industry.
The pay cut was significant, but she doesn’t regret it.
“It made up for it,” she says. “This is an amazing place with super personalities, and nobody’s here for the paycheck.”
A market built around local producers
The market remains the heart of Local Roots.
Founded in 2009 by local farmers and food producers, the co-op was created to give the Wooster community access to local food beyond the seasonal farmers market. More than fifteen years later, customers can still shop for produce, meats, dairy products, baked goods, artisan products, and prepared foods sourced from regional producers.
For many Ohio food entrepreneurs, the market provides an important first retail outlet and a direct connection to customers.
A café that helps food entrepreneurs build an audience
One of the most unique parts of Local Roots is its rotating-chef café. Each day features a different chef and cuisine. Customers might find Indian food one day, Korean fusion the next, or Tanzanian specialties later in the week.
Christine sees Local Roots Café as an important stepping stone. Instead of immediately investing in a food truck or restaurant, entrepreneurs can test recipes, gather feedback, and build a loyal customer base. It gives entrepreneurs an opportunity to prove their concept before taking on the expense and risk of opening their own location.
A commercial kitchen designed for growth
The commercial kitchen opened in 2014 and now supports roughly 20 to 25 food businesses at a time. Some members use the space a few times each month to produce specialty products. Others operate there almost daily as they build full-time businesses.
Christine says The Food Corridor’s shared kitchen management software has helped bring greater organization to the kitchen’s scheduling process, making it easier for both staff and entrepreneurs to manage reservations.”It’s really helped us organize,” Christine says.
According to Kitchen Lead Mandee Glasgo, Local Roots has also benefited from increased visibility through The Kitchen Door, helping more entrepreneurs discover the kitchen and learn about its programs.
“We’ve increased inquiries through The Kitchen Door, and using the Leads Manager messaging feature, we’ve been able to streamline how we manage onboarding,” she says.
Still, the kitchen is only part of the story.
What makes Local Roots unique is that entrepreneurs don’t just gain access to workspace. They gain access to an entire food business ecosystem. Products can be sold through the market, featured in the café, included in catering orders, stocked in prepared food coolers, or showcased at community events.
The result is a pathway not just to make food, but to build a business.
Watching entrepreneurs succeed
Some of Local Roots’ success stories have been years in the making.
One of the earliest was Woo Town Bagels, which started out hand-making bagels in the Local Roots kitchen. As the business grew, it eventually moved into its own building, becoming one of the first examples of how the co-op could help entrepreneurs turn a small food concept into a sustainable business.
Another of Christine’s favorite success stories involves an entrepreneur who had little professional cooking experience when he first walked through the doors of Local Roots. After building a following through Local Roots, he eventually opened his Indian restaurant, The Curry Pot just a mile from the co-op.
Another business, Andio Sisters (known for their amazing charcuterie trays, boxed lunches, hot entrees and much more), used the kitchen and café to grow its customer base before purchasing a building and preparing to open a brick-and-mortar location while continuing to operate a successful food truck.
Another entrepreneur, Omagourd Handcrafted Tacos, launched a food truck while continuing to use the kitchen for preparation and storage.
For Christine, these stories represent the most rewarding part of the job. She spent years helping large corporations bring products to market. Today, she helps real people build businesses that directly impact their communities.
She is also quick to credit the team around her.
“We couldn’t have grown the kitchen into what it is today without my support staff,” Christine says.
Creating opportunities through local food
At Local Roots, Christine continues to help oversee programs that expand Local Roots’ impact throughout her Wooster community. The organization now prepares daily meals for the Boys & Girls Club, supplies food to a local hospital cafeteria, and sells products through a local movie theater. The team is also exploring additional opportunities with schools and other community organizations.
Christine has also helped develop relationships with organizations including the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank, The College of Wooster, and Ohio State ATI. Through those partnerships, Local Roots provides food for conferences, meetings, and agricultural events throughout the region.
Each partnership creates new markets for local food while generating opportunities for the entrepreneurs who produce it.
Earlier in her career, Christine helped large corporations bring shelf-stable products to the masses. Today, she helps local entrepreneurs bring fresh food to schools, hospitals, community organizations, and dinner tables across Northeast Ohio.
The scale may look smaller on paper, but Christine believes the impact is bigger: healthier food, stronger businesses, thriving local farms, and a more connected community.
That’s the food system she wants to help build.
Local Roots Wooster
Location: Wooster, Ohio
Follow: @localrootswoo on Instagram
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