Michelle Allen, owner of confectionery cafe MMELO Boutique Confections – We’re in the process of setting up our consumer-packaged goods division and developing a warehouse space to support that. A Columbus native, Allen went to OSU before heading to New York to work as a producer for 14 years. There, girl would meet boy, fall in love, and move to Spain. During the couple’s 13 years in Spain, Allen started and sold a natural hair care products company and became a mother. While her son was in nursery school, she started studying food science and recipe design… her self-described “child’s palate” inspired her to start a modern confectionery brand. For Michelle Allen, life is like a box of chocolates. Literally. Allen wears many hats every day: wife, mother, business owner, food designer and confectioner. But when you factor in her smarts, talent, and determination, you immediately discover the recipe for her success. The owner of Mmelo, A confectionery food producer that specializes in all-natural, high-end pastries and sweet treats for the retail, wholesale, and corporate space. My mother used to tell me I was extraordinarily lucky just to be born and doubly lucky on a planet this spectacular! Go roll around it she would say…. That really has been the guiding principle of my life. Life too short not to take advantage of the opportunities and experiences life offers, and that’s exactly what she’s doing, despite operating a small, independent business during the worst pandemic in a century. Food science becomes culinary passion A former film production company executive, Allen and her British director husband moved to Barcelona, Spain, after 9/11. She started studying food science and says two things spurred her interest in creating all-natural treats: her own predilection for sweets, and her son’s autism, which drove her to investigate how diet and health interact. “I learned the structures of sugars and chocolates and ended up building my brand around what I learned,” she says. “I knew there were dyes and things in food that didn't necessarily need to be there. My son is autistic and ADHD, so we were conscious of his diet. I started working with natural ingredients and with the science, and started making treats he could have. My company was born out of that.” By 2015, Michelle and her family returned to the States, settling in Columbus, Ohio, her hometown. She created Mmelo as a pop-up, despite never running a food business before. She made a lot of “epic” mistakes and called the venture a massive learning curve. “That’s the entrepreneurial path,” she says. “When you create something that didn’t exist before, you know you’re going to make mistakes. The trick is to figure out how to navigate through it and grow.” The power of the popup! And grow she did—eventually opening two brick-and-mortar locations, plus a commercial kitchen and retail arm and ultimately changing the business model to facilitate and grow her brand. But, she’s still a firm believer in the power of the pop-up, especially where up-and-coming women entrepreneurs are concerned. “It's a fairly low-cost way to get your product in front of customers, and learn what they do and don’t respond to,” she says. At our core, the ‘subtext” of Mmelo is building wonder and community around food. I’m always thinking about how to bring products to consumers that showcase the spectacular promise of the resources available to us. The sublime pleasure of passion fruit and dark chocolate for example! A pop-up is a great opportunity for you to talk to people about the experience of your product, your process and your goals. And without making a massive capital investment - risky at the very best of times!. You can see if they’ll invest in your idea; there's nothing else influencing them—it’s just you in front of them, with the product, in an environment aligned with your brand's messaging and values.
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