Caitlin Burr of C’Mon Betty

You’ve tried pickle relish before as a classic accompaniment to a hamburger or hotdog. But zucchini relish? Watermelon rind relish? Until you’ve encountered Caitlin Burr’s unique condiments from her canning company C’Mon Betty, you might not know they’re even possible – or how delicious these sometimes-overlooked ingredients can be.

Each jar contributes to Caitlin’s mission of “using fresh surplus produce, supporting local farmers, enhancing the local circular economy and offering tasty accompaniments for any occasion.” She picked up canning experience when her pandemic garden delivered a bumper crop of zucchini, and used it to start a business with coaching support from the Michigan Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and the Ann Arbor SPARK Small Business Support Hub, both funded by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

As a sustainable food entrepreneur, Caitlin is growing plans to branch out beyond her home county and plant her business in new ground across the state.

Roots and Branches

“I grew up in Oakland County. Both my parents were teachers in our school district, so I was really, really involved in school activities, sports, student government, theater, choir and all those good things.

My first job was waiting tables. I went to Albion College, then got a school counseling master’s degree at Western [Michigan University]. I worked as a school counselor for several years out in Idaho, but I wanted to be back close to family, so I moved back to Michigan and got a job at the University of Michigan. I’m still actually working at the university in epidemiology and public health. C’Mon Betty is a very big side project at the moment.

Initially my idea was to do a cookbook. I wanted to do something quicker, which is why it’s funny that I chose a canned item; that took me a year and a half to launch too. My zucchini relish recipe was developed out of necessity when the zucchini in my garden was pretty prolific, and I needed to use it up. I love watermelon, and as a food waste prevention enthusiast, I didn’t want the rinds to go to waste. Both recipes were given as Christmas gifts to friends and family, and I got great feedback that encouraged me to launch C'Mon Betty with these recipes. 

Relish is an ideal product for a circular economy cannery because how the vegetable looks when it goes in the food processor doesn't matter. I’m able to work with farmers and other partners to procure ugly produce that they couldn't sell otherwise, even though it will taste the same. I’ve developed partnerships, particularly with Green Things Farm Collective. I don't need the traditional size of zucchini that most people want to buy at the farmer's market or grocery store, so when they harvest a giant zucchini, they know I’ll buy it. I also work with No Label Juice to procure watermelon rinds. Once they have juiced their watermelons, they contact me and I pick up the rinds to make relish. 

Washtenaw County is really special because there's a lot of smaller grocery stores that support local food systems. Agricole Farm Stop in Chelsea was the first place that gave me the “yes” that they would take my product. Meeting with that team, they liked my zucchini and watermelon rind relishes enough to put them on the shelves. They also said, ‘Hey, since you’re new, do you want to also have a pop-up and meet customers?’

There was a hot sauce vendor there who's been in business for 10 years. I got to sit next to somebody with a lot more experience than myself, meeting with folks in the Chelsea community and having conversations. My whole business model is based on sustainability and food, so it was fun to talk about why my particular products are the ones that I make and introduce folks to things beyond your traditional pickled relish.

Growing and Grooving

It’s a one-woman show right now. Every day looks different because I’m in charge of everything. I’m the CEO and founder, but I’m also cooking in the kitchen and making the product. I’m developing new recipes. I’m manning the farmers market booth.

I’m also part of the Ann Arbor Sustainable Food Business Coalition and their A2ZERO community collaborator program, and I serve on the board of directors for SCRAP Creative Reuse. It’s a nonprofit that has an arts and crafts thrift store but also teaches how to upcycle craft materials to keep those out of the landfill.

As a food business owner, being part of the Michigan State University Product Center has been critical in getting all the food safety testing done that I need. They’ve held my hand through all the FDA processes. I also was fortunate in working with Washtenaw Community College and with NextCycle Michigan and their accelerator program as a sustainable business. I was working with them over the summer, right before I launched.

Lately I’ve been partnering with Growing Hope Incubator Kitchen, part of a nonprofit that runs the farmers market in Ypsilanti, with an attached kitchen. Young food entrepreneurs have a place to start if we don’t have our own brick and mortar. Developing a relationship with them has been huge. I’m in their farmers market for the winter for the next couple weeks. That’s really been wonderful.

This year will be very telling in terms of what scaling up really looks like. I have a lot of irons in the fire. A new farm stop in Jackson that I'm excited about is opening soon, called River and Rail, and I'm hoping to be able to partner with them.

Bits and Pieces

Having an SBDC coach has been wonderful. Meri Dembrow is absolutely fabulous, and I've been working with her for a little over a year now. She breaks it down into manageable chunks and provides accountability. It’s so helpful to have somebody who knows what they're doing making sure that the financials are good, making sure that you're actually going to be profitable and that it is a true business. I’ve loved having that relationship.

If you’re starting a business, it's going to be way more work than you ever think it's going to be, especially if you’re in a one-person-doing-everything situation. There are absolutely resources out there. I stumbled on the community college program, but the timing was amazing. I imagine that other programs like that exist, both locally and statewide.

As a small business owner, you likely start because you’re passionate about something specific that you feel everybody else needs, and you don’t necessarily know business planning or financial planning. There have been entrepreneurship and business 101 classes that I’ve been able to take, both online and in person, that have been really helpful.

There’s always a need for more funding for startup folks. I think Ann Arbor SPARK is a great program, but they're very tech-heavy, and I'm very low-tech. There's a lot of funding going into the technology space, and maybe not so much for folks doing other… not necessarily traditional, but just less futuristic things.

Learning and Dreaming

I never would have started my company if I didn't live here in Washtenaw County, with all of the support to the energy and environmental infrastructure here. I also started teaching canning classes at the Michigan Folk School, which is a unique, one-of-a-kind place. It's a jewel of the county, and part of the Washtenaw County Parks system. They teach any kind of homesteading skill you would want to learn: blacksmithing, leather work, archery, gardening, beekeeping and all kinds of things. A gentleman donated his farmland after he passed with the stipulation that it stays a public property. It’s a wonderful space.

C’Mon Betty – she’s a baby right now. I dream of being the gold standard for what sustainable food entrepreneurship looks like, because that’s the critical pillar of my company. Right now, I’m only selling in Washtenaw County, but I’d love to be statewide. I have a lot of recipes in development that I'd love to add to my product line. I’d like to write the cookbook that was the initial catalyst for this and share what ‘circular economy’ and ‘supporting local’ looks like.

About the name… everybody’s like, ‘Who’s Betty?’ Betty is everybody. It’s an ‘ism’ of my mom’s. It just came out of her brain one day. She will say, ‘Come on, Betty!’ when cheering on anything, just as an enthusiastic thing. She could be screaming at the Lions. She’s doing some positive self-talk. I said it out loud while I was in my garden one day, and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, that's what I need to call this. C’Mon, Betty!’”

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