Jen Low went from food journalist to food maker. After working for 10 years as the food editor for Canadian House & Home, she changed roles and decided to be the one on the other end of the recipe: Creating it instead of writing about it. Low, who went to chef’s school, created an aromatic, all-natural concentrate from goji berries and natural flavourings that cafe baristas could use to make a cappuccino-type drink. After several years in development, the Gojiccino was launched last January.

Shedoesthecity: When did you decide that instead of being a food editor, you wanted to make food (and drinks) for a living?

Jen Low: Sometimes I think I was a would-be food entrepreneur who took a long side-trip as a food writer. When I was a food editor, I developed tons of recipes; the deeper I got into hands-on cooking, the more I wanted to go in that direction. I guess I’m just an artisan at heart.

SDTC: Tell us more about Gojiccino!

JL: Think of it as “goji espresso” in a bottle. It’s sold to cafes, juice bars, and restaurants. Baristas froth the concentrate with dairy, soy, or almond milks to make a hot latte-style drink called a Gojiccino. It’s not a fruity drink. It tastes a bit like a mochaccino with an herbal finish—and it’s pretty delicious. It’s caffeine-free, and I don’t add sugar or preservatives or any artificial colours or flavours.

SDTC: Where did the idea for this come from?

JL: I went to northern California in 2005 on a food media trip and heard a lot about how goji berries were being added to mainstream foods like teas, energy bars, trail mixes, etc. At first I didn’t know for sure what they were talking about, and then I realized that this “superfruit” was actually a big part of my upbringing. My mother has always been into Asian herbology; since I was a kid she’s made health tonics, some using goji berries. The tonics were basically long-simmered teas. So I filed this goji trend away in my brain for future use.

A little later, in 2007, I was thinking of leaving my magazine job, but didn’t know what to do next. I knew I wanted go into food in some capacity but I also wanted it to be with something proprietary. I resurrected the goji berries idea and started to experiment with them, and changed things to suit my palate. I wanted a good-tasting drink, not medicine. I’m a coffee drinker, so over time I suppose it was natural for me to move my trials with goji from the long-simmering tea approach into the coffee realm. Eventually I came up with Gojiccino concentrate with a beautiful bold flavour and body for making latte drinks.

SDTC: How do you make it?

JL: We make it in a commercial food production plant in Guelph, Ontario. I can’t tell you the details of production because it’s a trade secret, but I can tell you it starts with lots of premium goji berries.

SDTC: Where is Gojiccino carried right now?

JL: It launched in Hamilton first, at Earth to Table Bread Bar. Now it’s also in select Toronto locations including the three (going on four) Fresh restaurants, The Big Carrot Organic Juice Bar (on the Danforth), and Live Food Bar (on Dupont). And Gojiccino has a cottage country location, the Red Brick cafe in Sundridge, Ontario. Those are some of the initial spots. I’m just beginning a bigger sales expansion.

SDTC: Are there plans to expand your market to other Canadian cities?

JL: Absolutely! We’re actively searching for new juice bars, cafes, restaurants, and tea bars where Gojiccino would be a fit with their customer base. I’d love to be Canada-wide soon. The product is also in the midst of going into the U.S.

SDTC: How hard is it to start a business on your own?

JL: It’s both really easy and really hard at the same time. The easy part is that you’re, hopefully, basing your business on something you already have a passion for. The hard part? I’d say it’s the perpetual chicken-and-egg nature of setting priorities when growing a business. I’m constantly wondering how to accomplish one thing when I need something else to happen first, which needs the other thing in place to make it stick! There’s no manual. You make up the rules as you go along.