Achatz Pie Company
A Friend of the Farmers
Achatz Pie Company
A Friend of the Farmers
If you asked Wendy Achatz about the pie making business, she would tell you that it’s a lost art. Lost in the fact that pies are often not made lovingly in the kitchen anymore, but in a warehouse by high-production machinery. When we find ourselves in the grocery store checking expiration dates we also stare at an ingredients list that we struggle to pronounce – let alone – know what we are about to eat. So, when we think of organic food, pie may not be the first that comes to mind, but that’s exactly what Wendy has strived to bring to the market.
Achatz started off making pies in the kitchen of her husband’s family’s catering business and selling them at the local farmers market. She had no idea that customers would be lining up to buy her out every week, and the times that she did have pies leftover, she traded with farmers to buy blueberries and apples to go straight back into the pies. After selling over 600 pies one Mother’s Day weekend, Wendy and her husband, Dave, decided it was time to recognize the business potential. Shortly after, Achatz Pie Company was born and started bringing natural ingredients and handmade freshness to southern Michigan.
All pie ingredients are locally sourced in Michigan and have led Wendy to search for the purest, freshest, and natural organic ingredients from local farmers.
“Achatz Pie Company wants to be a friend of the farmers, we want to know our suppliers, and our farmers by name,” says Achatz. “We want to visit their farms. We want to see people that have transitioned from traditional farming using GMOs and pesticides to organic farming practices.”
Admittedly, this process is not an easy one, especially for farmers who do not have the customer base to afford to make this transition, but Achatz Pies Company is willing to help in the process. “We help them through making that transition because a lot of farmers want to make the switch but worry that they don’t have a customer base to support it,” says Achatz. “We are able to offer them a steady purchasing stream and support as they ramp up.”
Farm Facts
Proprietors
Wendy and Dave Achatz
Location
Macomb County
Shop & Supply
Currently 6 pie shops in Michigan and over 1,000 grocery stores supplied around the country.
Products
Homemade Pies, Pot Pies, Coffee, Soup, Local Homemade Goods.
Vendors
Ingredients locally sourced from Michigan farmers.
Achatz started with one production location and eventually grew to six, supplying to over 1,000 grocery stores across the country. You can find the original Achatz Pie Company in Macomb County on a 10-acre apple orchard. The quaint yellow pie shop has the rustic homegrown feel with every table dressed with fresh flowers from Wendy’s home garden and homemade goodies lining a central shelf showcasing the lost art.
Wendy is continually looking for natural and organic products to use for her pies. Recently, she came across an Amish farm in Mio whose milk comes from grass-fed cows. Unfortunately, the farm was not getting credit for their organic milk since the milk truck that serviced the farm would add the milk into a large tank, mixing it with milk from other farms.
Wendy recognized the potential right away and brought them on as a supplier. “I told them they were producing something very precious, as milk from grass-fed cows is full of CLA (Conjugated linoleic acid). It’s very high in the good things like CLA that humans need.”
She is also environmentally conscious in farming in the most natural ways, “A cow that’s been eating green chlorophyll grass is essentially eating a diet produced from sunshine. It’s just so healthy and you’re also participating in the carbon sequestration process as well.”
All pie ingredients are locally sourced in Michigan and have led Wendy to search for the purest, freshest, and natural organic ingredients from local farmers.
Achatz Pie Company is also having the Amish farm go through SQF (Safe Quality Food) Certification. “There’s a significant amount of training and paperwork that my employees need to have to be able to handle food safely, and it’s great. It’s a lot of work, but we also require all of our vendors to go through that same certification process before we can buy from them,” Wendy explains.
“The farm is so thankful that they have a buyer now for their grass-fed milk, and one who is knowledgeable about it and appreciates the extra effort and work.”
While the Achatz Pie Company is Wendy’s first priority, she does envision converting parcels of her own land into farmland and has been consulting with the Six Rivers Land Conservancy on conservation easement and restoration projects.