Meet Our Founder
Donna Marie’s interest in opening a gluten Free (GF) bakery started with a passion for baking in general. All her life, she has enjoyed baking and always thought about starting a bakery of her own. Later in life and as a hobby, she started making custom decorated cakes, up to and including the multi-tiered variety, for family, friends, and neighbors. She also took some decorating classes. It was an enjoyable outlet for her baking interests and taught her a great deal about the decorating craft. But as for opening a bakery, the timing was never quite right, and the idea remained on the back burner. During the early 2000's, several things changed that lead to ultimately opening Donna Marie's Gluten Free Bakery.
First, in the mid 90's, Donna started following a diet program for her family (Feingold.) It eliminated all types of artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives from the food that they ate. Following this diet helped her to become aware of just what kinds of things they put into our bodies and how it affected them. She also became more in tune with allergies/sensitivities and how they affect the foods choices we have.
Then, around 2007/2008, her neighbor (Heidi H.) was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Donna started trying to come up with ways to make traditional baked goods, gluten-free for Heidi. She was happy to hear that what she made had a good taste and texture similar to wheat-based baked goods. It was suggested by Heidi that Donna should open a GF bakery, as there weren't any around. The idea of starting a bakery now seemed like a real possibility, and research into the process began.
At the same time, NYS and our local community college (MCC) offered a couple of entrepreneur classes (under a scholarship program,) and Donna decided to apply - she was accepted! Things seemed to be falling into place and the timing was right. The opportunity was there, and the decision was made - she would finally make her idea a reality and open a bakery! So, on June 12th, 2009, Donna Marie's Gluten Free Bakery opened as the first dedicated gluten free, peanut free bakery in Rochester, NY.
Update 2022: We now have two bakery locations serving the Rochester NY,/Monroe county region and beyond. We also provide to area stores like Wegmans, and others, as well as restaurants, cafes and pizza shops. Additionally, our products are made available through caterers, distributors, and more. In addition to an all-GF menu, the bakery has a large selection of dairy free products and even a few vegan items.
So that's how the bakery came into being. Donna hopes everyone enjoys what the bakery has to offer. She will always do her best to make her baked goods as traditional tasting as possible. At Donna Marie's, "It's Gluten Free, Not Taste Free!"
Testimonials
Donna Maries is wonderful, the cookies were so fresh and the banana nut muffin mmmm mm. She is even sure to list what is in the products including if products contain: milk, egg etc
Janet
Donna Marie's is a dedicated GF facility. That's a significant difference for those of us who are extremely sensitive, because it means that no gluten is allowed in Donna Marie's
Gillian
"Just came home from the bakery. Tasted what I bought and it is delicious. The sandwich bread you can cut and it doesn't crumble like the "other bread". Seems so good to be able to eat cookies, muffins and cupcakes
Delores