NORTHERN
HARVEST: TWENTY MICHIGAN WOMEN IN FOOD AND FARMING
MIMI WHEELER
Born on the small island of Morso in Denmark to parents who ran a small grocery store to serve their community, Mimi told me, “I
loved the community of people. . . . I knew that when I started my business I
wanted to create a community coming to my little store so people would meet
each other and have face-to-face contact. . . "
In this moment of social distancing, we all yearn for
that sense of community and that contact, and it’s slowly returning as the virus abates.
From childhood Mimi valued home-cooked food. “I think I’ve always been a little bit of a
foodie.” She moved to Michigan with her American husband in
1980 and for many years followed her passion for community with a career in
social work.“Throughout
these years I had this dream of starting my own business.” When that time came Mimi followed another passion--chocolate. She invested in essential expensive tempering equipment, consulted with top chocolatiers in New York and in France, and traveled to Ecuador to buy fair trade cacao from the growers there. Grocer's Daughter Chocolate took long months and years of dedicated labor to become the success it was and still is. She achieved her dream.
Years later, Mimi sold her business to Jody Dotson Hayden. Her passion now in her retirement is the time with her grandchildren
but also annual trips to Guatemala where she
helps support a local school. To read
more of Mimi’s story—also Jody’s story and those of the other 18 amazing women--Northern Harvest is now available everywhere from your favorite bookstore.
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