Gluten-Free Lopaus Point Waffles Developed by Upper Arlington Mom

On Feb 7, 2022

Gluten-free waffles from Lopaus Point Waffles

When Upper Arlington resident Stacie Skinner’s son was 8, he was diagnosed with food allergies that forced her family’s focus on a natural, organic, whole-food diet to be even more mindful. As a working parent, Skinner started looking for convenient products that fit his needs—and often came up empty-handed.

“I saw this big void in the market; there were products out there, but they didn’t taste good and they definitely had no nutritional focus,” she says. “I was just really surprised and disappointed in what I saw was readily available.”

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Her experience in product development and R&D for local food manufacturers, and her natural entrepreneurial spirit, drove her to fill that gap herself, Skinner says. She decided to focus on one specific product—frozen waffles—in 2016 after her son tried an option already on the market that he declared to be disgusting.

The resulting product, Lopaus Point Waffles, are free of seven of the nine major food allergens identified by the FDA, including gluten/wheat, dairy, peanuts and soy. The thick, Belgian-style waffles, which are available in four flavors, are also free of added sugar. Skinner named the brand for the Maine village where she grew up eating home-cooked meals prepared by her own mother and the joy they experienced while cooking together there.

“‘Joy’ is my favorite word,” Skinner says. “It’s been my favorite word since I started this company. If you look at old stuff, like from 2016, I was already signing my name with ‘joyfully obsessed,’ because this is the best job I could have ever dreamed of in my life.”

The brand launched from a gluten-free shared kitchen space on the West Side (now closed), Skinner says, which leveraged partnerships to find job placements for people with learning differences and developmental disabilities. Now with its own manufacturing facilities in Groveport, Lopaus Point continues to focus on providing an inclusive environment for employees with special needs through a partnership with Goodwill Columbus.

“It makes the culture of our company really different … and it’s celebrated here,” Skinner says. “It’s the most rewarding thing.” The brand’s manufacturing facility never had to shut down due to the pandemic, she adds, which was especially helpful for her special needs employees.

“If they don’t come out from their group home to work, they are literally shut down [and isolated]. They can’t get in a car and just run to pick up milk or something; they’re truly locked down,” Skinner explains.