Lily Leedom has been obsessed with salt for as long as she can remember. After a trip to Paris where she discovered a market filled with colorful and flavorful salts, she was inspired to embrace her own inner love of salt and make her own.
While breathing in the salty air of Duxbury Bay in Massachusetts, it occurred to her to start experimenting with evaporating the water in her own kitchen. Filling her stove with multiple pots of Duxbury Bay water and after many experimentations, she created Duxbury Salt, the very first product sold at her now thriving, specialty salt store Saltery.
Since opening Saltery, Leedom and her small team have created more than 50 salt infusions, salt seasonings and blends including, among others, Truffle Salt, Garlic Lover, Maple Sugar, Winter Savory, Everything Salt and Black Garlic.
While Leedom’s journey began as a personal obsession, it’s now grown into a successful venture built on hard work and flavor. Despite starting her business in 2018, she still spends her days knee deep – both literally and figuratively – in the water, and then in the kitchen; making, mixing and infusing salt with all-natural botanicals and herbs. “Each pinch of Saltery has been hand-crafted by me, in-house, for our amazing and loyal customers,” she said.
For Leedom, it’s all about discovering incredible flavor and empowering others to embrace their inner salt passion. “Hands down, the best part is watching fellow salt lovers experience their ah-ha moment when trying Saltery flavors for the first time,” she said. “The creative and collaborative process by which we create the flavors has also been a highlight. We’ve brought customer’s suggestions to life many times, and it’s a true delight to partner with, and get to know, so many wonderful people.”
The Saltery founder says she knew they were onto something when they landed on the shelves at Whole Foods. “A successful product doesn’t necessarily and automatically translate to a successful business. When I got back to my authentic inner salt lover and started creating more and more original blends, and people started buying them en masse, I knew there was a successful product there.”
With a small yet committed team, Saltery focuses on quality and customer service. “My teammates have been with me from the beginning and are integral throughout the whole process. The uniting values are an obsession with quality and customer service and commitment to doing whatever it takes to get the job done.”
And that means brainstorming new flavor offerings, of which more are on the back (and front!) burner. Every flavor that gets released has gone through endless taste tests to get it just right.
Leedom said another goal is to partner with cooks, chefs and other salt lovers on fun and inspiring projects. “We’d love to be in every spice cabinet across the globe,” she said. “Embrace your inner salt lover; all it takes is a pinch!”
AUTHOR
Elizabeth Hazard is a writer, producer and photography editor. Her work has appeared in various publications and she writes frequently about art, culture, fashion and history.
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