JoJo’s Freeze Dried Goodies will be on sale at the White House gift shop later this spring.

Fans soon will be able to buy Pasco-made treats at the Huntsville Airport and Spaceport in Alabama, about 10 minutes away from the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.

The handmade goodies are already sold at 17 other airports, including the Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco.

Tri-Citians also can now get their fill of JoJo’s goodies closer to home with the recent opening of its new storefront in Pasco, where they can choose from the wide variety of freeze-dried candies, gummies, cookie dough, ice cream sandwiches and bars, pickle chips, jalapeños, corn, as well as fun dips and gourmet peanut butter with cookie chunks intended to be eaten by the spoonful.

Visitors to 3306 N. Swallow Ave., Suite 206, at the Tri-Cities Airport Industrial Park also can sample new concoctions, meet the staff and see some of the freeze-dried magic happen.

Owner Sarra Hendrick and her family hosted a grand opening April 11 at their space where they have been batch-crafting their confections this past year since largely moving operations out of the front room of her home.

“I never thought this would be my life,” she said, reflecting on the breakneck past three years that JoJo’s has been in business.

From living room to warehouse

The former certified nursing assistant, banker and nail tech who found her first fame making custom press-on nails that she sold all over the world, including to a number of famous drag queens, got into freeze-drying while pursuing a microgreens business.

Although freeze-dried microgreens were a flop, Hendrick’s mom, Johanna Merritt, encouraged her daughter to try batches of candy. It was to be the first of many times that mom’s advice ended up being right on the money.

Hendrick first dabbled in freeze-drying fruit. With votes of confidence from family and friends serving as guinea pigs for her first attempts, she decided to pursue getting the front room of her family’s home certified as a commercial kitchen.

Their first major event was at the Hanford High School holiday bazaar. Hendrick gave in to her mom’s suggestion and freeze-dried several candies to stock their table.

“It went crazy. We made so much money on candy that we went and bought another freeze-dryer that night,” she said.

In honor of her mom’s winning idea, she decided to name the budding business after her.

Within JoJo’s first month, What’s the Scoop ice cream shop in Kennewick picked up some of their candies as toppings and a week later they had a candy room in the former Living the Dream Stop and Shop in Kennewick.

A couple of months later, her mom’s business sense struck again – this time with the suggestion that they approach Tri-Cities Airport about featuring their goodies in the gift shop.

The manager was ecstatic about what JoJo’s had to offer and brought them onboard. Soon after, the contractor the airport uses to manage its gift shop reached out about opportunities to expand into other airport gift shops across the country.

“In just one year, I was able to purchase 11 freeze-dryers from cash we made from events,” Hendrick said. The Harvest Right freeze-dryers JoJo’s uses retail for $3,500 to $4,000.

Meanwhile, new orders kept coming in from airport gift shop clients, prompting Hendrick to find production space that would take the back end of the business out of her living room.

That led them to the Tri-Cities Airport Industrial Park and 1,500 square feet of space.

Fast forward to a few days before Christmas 2024 when Living the Dream announced it was closing its downtown shop (You can still find the business at markets and pop-ups throughout the Tri-Cities.)

“We had just built a (500-square-foot) mezzanine in our shop and had just got our final inspection a week before, so it ended up working perfectly. We transitioned into creating a storefront under the mezzanine and were able to move shipping up there,” Hendrick said.

Freeze-dried hype

Those who have never tried JoJo’s freeze-dried sweets might be wondering what to expect.

“Freeze-drying adds a major crunch … it’s great for people with braces or dentures because it can just melt in your mouth. It throws a whole new spin on it and changes it up with different taste and texture,” Hendrick said.

“Normally a Skittle would be chewy, but freeze-dry it and it expands it and turns it into a crunchy little ball. A gummy worm is going to puff up and be crispy and crunchy,” she said.

Sweets aren’t the shop’s only offering.

JoJo’s pickles have been a smash success with five freeze-dryers dedicated just to pickle snack production.

“They run 24/7 and we’re not even keeping up with the demand. I buy 32 5-gallon buckets (of pickles) per month and we’re still not keeping up,” she said. “Never did I think my life would revolve so much around pickles.”

Leading up to the recent Regional Home & Garden Show in Pasco, Merritt told Hendrick that they should make ketchup and mustard pickles. Reluctantly, she did, posting a video of their production to JoJo’s social media channels the night before the show.

“It went viral and hit 1.4 million views overnight, literally selling our website out (of pickles). We had 200 orders that weekend on top of the expo,” Hendrick said.

Calling the White House

Riding on that wave of success, Merritt announced that she was going to call the White House gift shop and see if they would stock their products.

Hendrick was doubtful, then shocked when an email appeared in her inbox a couple days later from the White House gift shop purchaser saying how much he had enjoyed talking with her mom and that he wanted to work with them.

“Anyone who spends five minutes with my mom – she just talks her way into anything,” Hendrick said.

JoJo’s goodies will get some minor repackaging to a red-white-and-blue theme and will be available in the White House gift shop by the beginning of May. These specialty packages bearing the White House insignia also will be available in their Pasco store.

Mom’s lesson? It never hurts to ask.

The momentum didn’t stop there. That same weekend of the home and garden show, Hendrick’s airport gift shop contact reached out on behalf of Huntsville Airport and Spaceport in Alabama.

The gift shop was hoping to add freeze-dried goodies that could be marketed as souvenir astronaut food. Several of JoJo’s existing products will be renamed and repackaged as Sarra’s Space Treats, complete with a galactic theme.

“Think moon rocks and astronaut ice cream,” Hendrick said.

It will be JoJo’s 18th airport location, in addition to dozens of boutiques, ice cream and candy shops across the country.

JoJo’s makes a wide variety of freeze-dried candies, gummies, cookie dough, ice cream sandwiches and bars, pickle chips, jalapenos, corn and more.

| Laura Kostad

Joy, love and family

JoJo’s is still entirely family-run and operated by Hendrick, her parents, brother, in-laws, husband and daughter.

“It’s really, truly a family affair … We’re always doing something together,” Hendrick said.

“I’m very grateful I get to work with family. Of course, we argue and don’t always get along, but it wouldn’t be possible without them,” she said.

This past year, Hendrick underwent ulnar nerve surgery in each arm a month apart to repair damage from years of doing nails. She had limited mobility and couldn’t lift anything.

“My family was here every single day helping me build this business. They have literally been my arms,” she said. “We’ve come so far. We’ve built up our own ministry in a way through candy and spreading joy and love.”

Looking to the future, Hendrick said, “We have other things in the works, but every day is a new day. I take things one day at a time. I never know what I could wake up to in my inbox.”

JoJo’s Freeze Dried Goodies: 3306 N. Swallow Ave., Suite 206, Pasco; 509-205-2454; bossfarmsllc.com.