Dr. Dionne Baker is the founder of award winning DeeBee’s Organics
By Mark MacDonald
VICTORIA – Dr. Dionne Baker was in the kitchen with her two children over a decade ago making snacks when “the light went on”.
What she saw in front of her opened her eyes to the possibility of making healthy treats and building a business that would truly make a difference for her family and communities everywhere.
Thus DeeBee’s Organics Inc. was created, and the company’s products are being enjoyed throughout North America. Judges for the 23rd Annual MNP LLP Vancouver Island Business Excellence Awards in February voted the firm as the Food & Beverage Production Business of the Year.
“That was very exciting for us, and I was thrilled,” says Dr. Baker. “For me it’s really meaningful to be acknowledge locally. We do a lot of business locally, and help people with mentorship, but we do export a very significant amount of our product to the U.S. and the rest of Canada. “Sometimes local people don’t know what we do, so it’s nice to be acknowledged by our community. It’s very meaningful for all of us.”
DeeBee’s Organics features Superfruit Organic Freezie Pops and Gelato Pops in a variety of flavours, which are sold by over 15,000 retailers including Whole Foods, Thrifty Foods, Choices Market, Red Barn Market, and national markets including larger grocery chains like Sobeys, Loblaws, Walmart, Costco and Kroger. Wegmans and Thrive Market. They are also sold at Costco, although for the time being, not in their Canada West division. If customers can’t find DeeBee’s, they are available through all distribution networks in Canada and can be requested through a store manager.
They are also working on a new secret product and currently discussing distribution with a major local grocery chain.
Head office remains in Victoria and their main factory is in Italy. DeeBee’s Organics now has 40 employees, and is growing 100 percent year over year, Dr. Baker states.
“We source a lot of our fruit from Europe, and we fly back and forth a lot,” she says. “We have to buy from hundreds of farms, and we don’t have enough locally. Our new products will be made in Canada.”
DeeBee’s Organics has its products sold by over 15,000 retailers across North America, and has its head office in Victoria
Dr. Baker took her undergrad at the University of British Columbia and Masters and PhD at the University of Toronto, with a medical sciences focus on maternal fetal toxicology, studying the effects that exposure to drugs and chemicals had on fetal development and growth.
With that, it’s not surprising that she became a “mom on a mission”, and when her son was younger, they provided him a diet free of anything artificial, and all additives.
“He ate from the earth and had a healthy diet, with no artificial flavors, colors or added sugars,” she says. “One day I was in my kitchen with my kids and they came up with an idea to make ‘tea-sicles’ – Tea-popsicles.
“I remember standing there, thinking, ‘wow’, I could create a company where I could make healthy treats for kids and not only building a company that is successful, but also giving back and empowering individuals on our team and community,” she adds. “So what we’ve done has really been about what I was showing my own children. That’s been by guiding light.”
DeeBee’s Organics doesn’t make any frozen products now – they are frozen by customers once they bring them home.
The firm is also a non-GMO certified ‘B’ Corporation, which means they are considered a leader in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable and regenerative economy. B Lab measures a company’s entire social and environmental impact, and DeeBee’s was selected as B Corp ‘Best For The World ChangeMakers Of The Year’.
Dr. Baker is also very proud of DeeBee’s DreamLauncher program, which uses company time and resources to fuel personal passion projects with extra stock options, matched funds, and paid time off to start a charitable project related to each individual’s dreams of giving. DreamLauncher acknowledges that everybody has unique passions and callings, and its supports and contributes to these dreams by helping team members achieve their philanthropic goals with paid time off, resources and financial support.
Is she surprised at the company’s success?
“I wouldn’t say surprised, because we’re working so hard together as a team,” she says. “I have a massive amount of gratitude for the growth, but when you see commitment to community like we’ve tried to do, you can grow quickly and profitably. I’m just proud of our growth.”
