GREENVILLE — Jessica Denham took a chance when she started her new food business in May.
Just a few months later, that decision has landed her at the Great Darke County Fair, where a steady stream of customers and positive word-of-mouth have made her first year at the fair better than she expected.
“I have had so many positive people coming saying that they’ve heard about it, and everything has been positive,” Denham said. “That is the best advertisement, everybody talking about it. I’ve had some people come back a couple times during the day.”
Part of the appeal, Denham believes, is that she is offering fairgoers something different.
“It is not junk food. It’s whole food,” she said.
Denham is a local business owner who only launched the venture in May after thinking about the idea for several years.
The decision finally came while she was returning home from Florida.
“I’ve been thinking about doing it for a couple of years, and I just finally pulled the trigger on our way home from Florida,” Denham said.
She found a trailer in Georgia and Chad made the return trip south two days later to pick it up.
That decision put Denham on a fast track from starting a new business in May to serving customers at one of Darke County’s largest annual events in August.
For someone in her first year of business and making her first appearance as a vendor at the Great Darke County Fair, Denham admitted the experience can sometimes seem daunting.
“It’s better than what I thought it would be,” she said. “It’s a little overwhelming, the Darke County Fair, but all the problems that I have are very good problems.”
One of those good problems is keeping enough fresh ingredients on hand to meet demand.
Denham makes a trip each morning for fresh fruit before opening for another busy day at the fair.
“Every morning I go, and I get fresh fruit, so it is nice and fresh,” she said. “We are busy.”
Sometimes, the customers don’t want to stop coming.
“I have to shut my window at 10:45 at night because people just keep coming up,” Denham said. “We have a great location. We couldn’t ask for a better spot.”
The response has given Denham confidence that there is room in the local food-truck and event market for what she offers.
“I think I can get into more events because what I have is just so different,” she said. “I’m not selling the same thing as everybody else. I have my own product, and I’m not really competing with anybody.”
Her calendar is already beginning to fill beyond the fair.
Denham plans to set up at a cross-country meet the Saturday following the fair and at the Harvest Extravaganza. She also expects to participate in Illumination and is considering setting up on Sundays during fall ball at the Greenville softball fields.
“I would love to do everything that I possibly can,” Denham said. “For my first year, I think I’ve been fortunate enough to get into a lot of events.”
Good weather also helped make her first Great Darke County Fair experience successful.
“It’s been beautiful,” Denham said. “We couldn’t have asked for better weather.”
Denham also credited the Great Darke County Fair Board with helping make the transition into her first fair go smoothly.
She said her experience bringing in the food trailer, stock trailer and camper was handled well by fair officials.
“I know you see a lot of negative stuff online, but I have nothing negative to say about the fair board,” Denham said. “Everybody has been very good, very transparent, communicative. It’s been really good.”
For a business that was little more than an idea a few months ago, the Great Darke County Fair has given Denham an opportunity to introduce her food to thousands of potential customers and to learn firsthand what people think of it.
So far, their response has her looking forward to what comes next.
“We have had such a positive response,” Denham said. “It’s been great. I’m excited.”
