ECA Review Business Profile Magazine

Business Profile 2018 s t e t t l e r
Page 27
Bringing
Amazing
Meals
Home
Any busy person knows that a
good, hearty meal can sometimes be
hard to come by.
That is why the owner of Teresa’s
in Donalda came up with the more
than perfect solution to this problem.
Teresa Kneeland has been surrounded
by food her entire life. She
was raised on a farm near Donalda
where her parents operated a small
grain and hog operation. Cows and
chickens would often roam about the
property as well.
A large garden would help feed her
relatively large family as money
would run tight.
As a young girl, she associated food
with both happy and sad memories.
“I loved the memories, smiles and
laughter that form around a shared
meal,” said Kneeland. “One of my
fondest memories as a child was
when the harvest crew would gather
in a dusty field to eat. We would sit,
eat and laugh. I loved those moments,
the togetherness. Many rural folks
will tell you the same
stories.”
Her mother had a job
off the farm so it was up
to Teresa to start
cooking. She was
responsible for canning,
cooking, and baking as
early as 10-years-old.
She never pursued
post secondary education
in foods but still
followed her passion,
creating unique and
colourful dishes that are made of
mostly local ingredients.
“We use as many local products as
we can. We deal a lot with the hutterite
colony out here and they’ve
been amazing to me. Local butcher
shop in Bashaw we deal with as well.
We try to source as many local products
as we can,” she continued.
She was a single mom who was the
owner of a grocery store which failed
but that failure pointed her in the
direction of following her passion for
cooking.
She dabbled in catering and then
worked out of her own kitchen before
entering cooking venues. In 2012, she
built the building she works out of
today.
To her, a dish is not just a meal but
an experience in and of itself.
“I gauge my success on a product
through how people talk about it
after and if they aren’t saying it’s
wonderful and amazing I go back to
the drawing board. I make sure I get
that reaction and we do. My staff is
amazing as well,” said Kneeland.
This past year was when the business
headed in the direction of frozen
meals.
They take all main and side dishes
from the catering menu and put them
into frozen food containers that
anyone can take home.
“It started out that I was making a
little bit for seniors around Stettler
because they don’t eat well and it
kills me if people don’t eat well,”
laughed Kneeland. “I dabbled in it
and then last year I had my business
partner approach me and asked me if
I wanted to dive into this and we did.”
Kneeland has a goal of having multiple
stations set up across Alberta
within 5 years.
Teresa’s offers catering, frozen
meals, and desserts, with a retail
front to boot.
Anyone can find her food at four
other locations for on-the-go
frozen food as well as an
online store
(TERESASFOOD.com).
They run a junior high
cooking program for the
school in Donalda where
they serve the entire school
which happens once a week
in January.
Teresa’s has 6 full-time and
10 to 12 part time workers on
staff for all of your culinary
needs.