A Charlottetown resident turned her illness into a business opportunity

Brenda vanDuinkerken's rise to success is textbook: person finds problem; person creates solution; consumers rejoice. It began 14 years ago, when vanDuinkerken's health was deteriorating. Just 35 at the time, she was losing weight, malnourished, and exhausted; after a series of tests she was diagnosed with celiac disease. Little did she know that she was on the cusp of creating a major specialty-food business.

Celiac disease is a digestive disorder affecting the small intestine and the body's ability to absorb nutrients because the body can't tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, and barley. Symptoms include abdominal bloating, weight loss, and fatigue. The treatment: a gluten-free diet. "The problem for me was there was no variety in the market for gluten-free food; everything tasted awful," says vanDuinkerken. "I'd always go off the diet because I wanted food that tasted good."

In her Charlottetown home, vanDuinkerken began developing her own gluten-free recipes. At the time she and her husband, Wayne, owned a seafood export business, Fisherman Pride Inc. "I became more and more passionate about these recipes," she recalls. "People who can eat regular breads take good-tasting food for granted. I was finally healthy because the food I was making for myself tasted good and allowed me to stick to this diet. I knew there was a business here." So in 2004 the vanDuinkerkens sold Fisherman Pride, shifted focus, and began selling packaged mixes for breads, muffins, and cookies under the name Duinkerken Foods Inc.

Today Duinkerken Foods baking products are distributed throughout North America, sold in stores such as Sobey's, Atlantic Superstore, and Bulk Barn. "I have customers from Alberta calling supermarkets out there asking to have my products," says vanDuinkerken. "There's a major need for our food in the market."

Duinkerken Foods was recently certified by WEConnect Canada, an Ottawa-based organization that supports female entrepreneurship. The certification helps open doors for more contracts because members have exclusive access to North American supply chains. VanDuinkerken expects that, thanks to the certification, her products will soon be distributed in Loblaws stores and SuperValue stores in the U.S.

Last year the company sold more than 500,000 of the $4.99 baking mixes, a number that vanDuinkerken expects to nearly double by the end of 2009. And she isn't slowing down. Plans are currently in the works to export Duinkerken Foods to China. "The need is there. I know because I'm the market," she says. "If people don't feel deprived, they will stay on the gluten-free diet."