This Is Something I Need To Say
For the past 18 months I’ve worked day in and day out, fought tooth and nail, and exhaustively stressed to find a way to launch the Dollop Frosting line. I’ve done the legwork many times over to get this product line off the ground. I’ve made numerous mistakes, yet I’ve persisted. I’ve created the recipes, converted the formulations, organized production, run the numbers, talked to advisors, and researched, researched, and researched. I’ve taken all necessary steps to launch the frosting line in spite of each brick wall that I found constructed in my path. I felt shattered each time I’d hammer one down just to discover another right beyond it. And with each sturdy brick wall I wondered… why? Why?? Why am I struggling so? What am I doing wrong? Is this frosting line not meant to be? Why can’t I find a partner? A manufacturer? An answer? My frosting is amazing. Amazing. I’m not just tooting my own horn here. When I exhibited at the Fancy Food Show people loved it. The buyers loved it. The distributors loved it. Everyone who’s ever tried my frosting line has loved it. I recall moments that I’ve stood in my kitchen tasting batches of frosting samples while struck with pangs of regret that others were unable to taste and revel in the deliciousness for themselves. And I’ve wondered… why? I’m a spiritual person. I believe in the energies of the Universe. And I’ve spent a lot of time soul searching, meditating, and listening to my intuition. So I knew something was blocking me. Something within me was blocking my path to launching the frosting line these past long 18 months. Initially I thought the blockage was my fear in being able to find money to fund the launch coupled with the fear of losing that money. And that's certainly part of it. It’s a lot of money I need. And it’s a risky business. But when I asked the Universe this morning at 5:54am to show me what was blocking me I received a different answer. A real answer. The real answer. What is blocking my path to launch is my own lack of confidence. I have lacked the confidence to put a line of frostings that are so clearly “unhealthy” on store shelves out of fear that I will be misunderstood. That the message of the Dollop brand that I worked so hard to create will be misunderstood. I fear that people will call me a sugar-pusher. That they’ll view me as the enemy to the obesity epidemic. That no one will want to buy $8 jars of amazingly gourmet frostings made with real ingredients because frosting is “bad” for you. I fear that I’ll be looked at as a hypocrite for living a healthy lifestyle myself while selling jars of sugar to others. I fear that people won’t “get” what I believe the Dollop brand stands to mean. Fear. Insecurity. Lack of confidence. The continuation of these obstructions will never allow my frosted path to see the light of day. And so it’s time to clarify. To myself, and hopefully to you. The most recent theory in this country with the release of the new film Fed Up, is that sugar is the devil. More devilish than the devil even. Abstain from sugar. Sugar is cocaine. Crack. Evil. The problem I see here is that we're just doing the same thing over and over again while choosing a new food victim. Fat, carbs, meat, gluten, now sugar. Vilifying foods isn't the answer. At least it wasn't for me. When I was 21 I reached the brink of my eating disorder. It took a 3-month bout of inpatient therapy at New York Presbyterian hospital for me to finally round the curve towards recovery; a long curve, as it was. The next ten years were a struggle. Some days I felt great about myself; others, beyond terrible. I toed the line of relapse, desperately trying to find a dietary lifestyle that would work for me. Paleo, slow-carb, lo-carb, non-fat… I wanted to find the way that made me feel at peace, both inside and out. I grew up, as I believe most people do, with a lot of harsh feelings tied to food. I saw it and heard it everywhere around me: the guilt and shame. Women everywhere espoused feelings of guilt before eating a solitary cookie or shame at wanting the corner piece of cake, while a bevy of “should’s” and “should not’s” preceded each and every bite. But this is not how I want to live. Vilifying foods leads to guilt and shame. Guilt and shame do not work for my life. And I predict they do not work for anyone else's. These days I feel lucky because I believe I’ve found the answer to gaining a sense of peace with food. I believe it’s an answer that very few people find, which is unfortunate, because I believe that every person can find it. Which brings me back to the frosting. Since it’s thanks to the frosting, that I found peace. Stay with me. I’ve always loved frosting. Always. But I always felt ashamed for loving frosting. And in truth, I sometimes still do. Every time someone says “frosting is bad for you” I feel needles of shame prick holes in my tough skin. You can tell me it’s bad, you can make me feel guilty, but you can’t make me stop loving it. I’ve come to find that when I remove the guilt of eating what I love, remove the shame, and step out of hiding, the only amount that I really want to eat of that frosting or that cookie or that ice cream, is just a dollop. When I’m not ashamed, I don’t want more. I don’t need to dig in for bowl after bowl or spoonful after spoonful to cover those feelings of shame. Instead, when I allow myself to openly taste what I want to taste, I find that all I really want is a dollop. Welcome, Dollop Gourmet Frosting. I know frosting isn’t “healthy”. I’ll never tell you it is. But it is good. And part of enjoying life is enjoying what’s good. Don't even use the word "moderation" anymore if it draws up feelings of guilt. Just have a dollop. A dollop will do ya' just fine. And that’s the message I want to bring to the world with the Dollop brand. The message I’ve been struggling to impart and accept as my own, without guilt or shame that you'll think I'm trying to make the world unhealthy. Because my impassioned mission is exactly the opposite. So here I am, proclaiming it to you:Dear People of the World,
I want to make real products, with real ingredients, for you. Because we all deserve to enjoy what’s good, without guilt, and without shame.
And hopefully you'll come to find as I did, that just a dollop will do ya’.
Heather Saffer
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