Up until last year, you could only get spinach balls at a small restaurant in Steuben County.
Now, they've hit the national food scene, all thanks to a local entrepreneur.
They're from the Spinach Ball Company, they've been featured on QVC and could carve out a name for Fort Wayne across the country.
Trina Khadoo started making spinach balls in 1994 at the herb garden restaurant in Fremont- a place she ran with her mother, who created the original recipe.
"From the beginning, put spinach balls on the menu. And she always made them at fancy parties, and growing up, it's one of those things where we thought that we were going to start a restaurant and put them on the menu... And they were just a huge hit," Trina Khadoo says.
Such a huge hit, she and her husband Ramesh sold them at local farmers markets.
This past June, they showcased the balls at a food show in Washington D.C., where they met QVC producers.
"The person we met with at QVC is one of the major buyers for QVC. And normally, they send their people to do the ground work, but actually, she tasted the products, and she was like, overwhelmed. She was like, this is wow!" Ramesh Kadoo says.
Which led to a six-minute spot on QVC last month.
They say the sales were so high, they moved out of the small kitchen they were in, into a new warehouse next to the Fort Wayne airport.
"And so we just took the plunge and did it. We needed bigger space, more storage, our own facility, where we could wrap up production, and so that's why we took that step," they say.
Currently several stores locally sell the spinach balls, but it goes both ways.
Most of their supply comes from local companies, including olive oil from the olive twist in southwest Fort Wayne, who also sells the balls.
Not bad for a company less than a year old, and with just two employees and a handful of volunteers.
"The actual production, we're going to help out the community and hire some people. We have some big things coming up, and our production is going to go up tremendously," Trina Khadoo says.
The Khadoo's plan to hire at least ten people, and hopefully more in the next month, with a national distribution deal coming next week.
Emily Jefferies says people can't get enough spinach balls in her store, the olive twist, and so they keep ordering them.
"We like to focus on products that are made locally to complement our oils and vinegars, and she also uses our oil in the spinach balls," Jefferies says.
That's right, her local product, goes into their local product.
It also works at the Health Food Shoppe on North Anthony.
Deli manager Sarah Claycomb says their customers love them- Especially the gluten-free variety.
"Everybody loves them. We've sampled them a bunch of times and people buy them like crazy when they try them. They're delicious," Claycomb says.
Jamison Meats manager Paul Jamison says they started carrying spinach balls last year, and plans to sell more.
"We had originally picked it up at one of our locations and over time have picked it up at all three," Jamison says.
In Fort Wayne, you can also find spinach balls at Fort Wayne Custom Prescription, in Columbia City at Brew-Ha Coffee and the Schoolhouse Shop in Chesterton.
It's a prime example of 'We Made It Here.'
You can find out more at: www.spinachball.com
Now, they've hit the national food scene, all thanks to a local entrepreneur.
They're from the Spinach Ball Company, they've been featured on QVC and could carve out a name for Fort Wayne across the country.
Trina Khadoo started making spinach balls in 1994 at the herb garden restaurant in Fremont- a place she ran with her mother, who created the original recipe.
"From the beginning, put spinach balls on the menu. And she always made them at fancy parties, and growing up, it's one of those things where we thought that we were going to start a restaurant and put them on the menu... And they were just a huge hit," Trina Khadoo says.
Such a huge hit, she and her husband Ramesh sold them at local farmers markets.
This past June, they showcased the balls at a food show in Washington D.C., where they met QVC producers.
"The person we met with at QVC is one of the major buyers for QVC. And normally, they send their people to do the ground work, but actually, she tasted the products, and she was like, overwhelmed. She was like, this is wow!" Ramesh Kadoo says.
Which led to a six-minute spot on QVC last month.
They say the sales were so high, they moved out of the small kitchen they were in, into a new warehouse next to the Fort Wayne airport.
"And so we just took the plunge and did it. We needed bigger space, more storage, our own facility, where we could wrap up production, and so that's why we took that step," they say.
Currently several stores locally sell the spinach balls, but it goes both ways.
Most of their supply comes from local companies, including olive oil from the olive twist in southwest Fort Wayne, who also sells the balls.
Not bad for a company less than a year old, and with just two employees and a handful of volunteers.
"The actual production, we're going to help out the community and hire some people. We have some big things coming up, and our production is going to go up tremendously," Trina Khadoo says.
The Khadoo's plan to hire at least ten people, and hopefully more in the next month, with a national distribution deal coming next week.
Emily Jefferies says people can't get enough spinach balls in her store, the olive twist, and so they keep ordering them.
"We like to focus on products that are made locally to complement our oils and vinegars, and she also uses our oil in the spinach balls," Jefferies says.
That's right, her local product, goes into their local product.
It also works at the Health Food Shoppe on North Anthony.
Deli manager Sarah Claycomb says their customers love them- Especially the gluten-free variety.
"Everybody loves them. We've sampled them a bunch of times and people buy them like crazy when they try them. They're delicious," Claycomb says.
Jamison Meats manager Paul Jamison says they started carrying spinach balls last year, and plans to sell more.
"We had originally picked it up at one of our locations and over time have picked it up at all three," Jamison says.
In Fort Wayne, you can also find spinach balls at Fort Wayne Custom Prescription, in Columbia City at Brew-Ha Coffee and the Schoolhouse Shop in Chesterton.
It's a prime example of 'We Made It Here.'
You can find out more at: www.spinachball.com
