To many devoted customers on the east side of the county, Trim Healthy Cafe’s move to Centerville was sudden and unexpected. But regional cafe manager Nate Musson said Centerville has always been in the plan.
“We kind of got lost at the four-way,” Musson explained. “The store wasn't very visible.”
So starting Tuesday, July 5, Trim Healthy Cafe was open in Centerville selling their retail products. On Monday, July 11, they began offering coffee, sippers–like Starbucks refreshers but with healthy supplements like vinegar and organic lemon juice, said Musson–and gluten-free, sugar-free baked goods and deli sandwiches.
Trim Healthy Cafe left their location at a strip mall off Highway 46 in Bon Aqua–near the intersection with Highway 100–and into a space at the entrance of Custom Manufacturing Solutions, a manufacturing facility across the street from Chappell’s.
Since CMS and Trim Healthy Cafe are two businesses under the same ownership umbrella, the move is more like a homecoming. New Zealand natives and Hickman County transplants of more than two decades, Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison and their husbands, started CMS after their 2012 book, Trim Healthy Mama, sold like fireworks on the Fourth of July.
The book sales jumpstarted development of family-run CMS, which has been operating in Hickman County for about 4 years according to Bowan Barrett, Pearl’s son and general manager of the manufacturing plant.
CMS manufactures many THM products including protein cookies, no carb baking blends, coffee, and xylitol, erythritol and stevia blends, which are commonly used as a sugar substitute for diabetics and dieters. The company also offers commercial baking, packaging, and manufacturing services, as well as warehousing and order fulfillment through their distribution hub in Nashville to clients such as inventors, artists and entrepreneurs.
According to Musson, Barrett and Allison always wanted Trim Healthy Cafe, their first retail store based on the clean eating philosophy they advocate in their books and cookbooks, to be closer to where the products are actually made. The Hickman County location is just ground zero for a company that has not only made a national name for themselves online, but is starting to grow their physical footprint.
Earlier this year, the Trim Healthy Mama brand expanded with their first franchise restaurant in Austin, Texas. “It's a lot larger; it's a much more robust operation,” Musson said. “It has a full kitchen and it's just a little bit bigger.” Two Fort Worth locals and THM customers, Corinne Cavanaugh and Renae Graves, opened the Blue Butterfly Cafe in spring. It’s a fast casual bakery for those practicing or interested in clean eating–a diet that accepts whole foods and avoids processed foods–and it’s modeled after Trim Healthy Cafe.
Musson said they’re hoping to expand to Atlanta next.
There’s no telling how much tourism occurs due to Trim Healthy Cafe’s presence in the area as well. Barrett and Allison had 96,000 Instagram followers, 518,000 Facebook followers and more than 1,300 reviews of their podcast, The Trim Healthy Podcast.
“They have a cult following,” Musson said. “People are obsessed with them.” He said this usually translates to significant business from their out-of-town customer base, which he refers to as “pilgrim traffic.”
Musson credits great local relationships for making the move to Centerville happen. Relationships with locals seem to be a priority for this company that recently commissioned seven art pieces for their Fort Worth location with Hickman County artist, Suzanne Musson.
“We're getting a ton of good feedback,” Musson said. “Everyone seems very excited about us being down here in Centerville.
Trim Healthy Cafe’s menu features items that fit every diet; it’s keto-friendly and diabetic-friendly with sugar-free, gluten-free, and dairy-free options.
