12 People You Need to Know in 2014: Susie Farbin and Diana Hicks

The rise of the healthy food movement has been a boon for MaMa Jean’s Natural Foods Market LLC, and its owners have ridden the wave.

“We’re not getting any younger,” co–owner Diana Hicks says of the need for healthy, organic foods, typically defined as free of pesticides, growth hormones, artificial preservatives and high fructose corn syrup. Partner Susie Farbin adds, “Springfield needed a full–line natural grocery. Our focus is on food – to be able to find clean sources of food and eat well.”

Farbin says at MaMa Jean’s – named after Farbin’s mother and the inspiration for the company, Jean Farbin – food sales make up about 60 percent of revenue, helping to boost total revenue nearly 35 percent in 2012 and another 38 percent in 2013. Founded in 2002, the growth of MaMa Jean’s allows the company to now offer more than 4,000 items that include food, produce, supplements, pet supplies and health and beauty products.

“We’re very picky about what comes in,” Susie Farbin says. “We don’t buy the things that are just trendy.”

Building on its growth, the owners opened a third MaMa Jean’s store in April 2013 at 3530 E. Sunshine St.

The partners are working to open a fourth “store,” though it won’t carry its typical products. MaMa Jean’s is delivering its branding to the Discovery Center of Springfield’s model town, dubbed Discovery Town.

“It’s going to be a MaMa Jean’s educational market for children and adults on the importance of eating healthy,” Hicks says of the faux grocery store.

The partnership with the nonprofit Discovery Center mirrors a commitment to the community shared by Farbin and Hicks. About 40 percent of all produce and 85 percent of all meat sold at MaMa Jean’s is sourced from farmers within approximately 100 miles of Springfield.

“If something’s local, it would be their first choice,” Farbin says of customer attitudes. “They have more confidence to eat the products and use products that are local.”

The owners of the largest women-owned business in the Queen City, according to Springfield Business Journal research, have continued to expand a customer appreciation program launched in 2006, allowing regulars to build points toward store credit. The program has built a following of 30,000 customers.[[In-content Ad]]