To the time-pressed and hungry, Sarah Pike’s mac ’n’ cheese is a marvel. It’s crunchy on top (toasted panko—a.k.a. Japanese breadcrumbs), creamy beneath (five-cheese sauce) and gratifyingly easy to bake in its eco-friendly wrapper. It’s one of the specialties of Good Tastes Kitchen, a wholesale, catering and meal delivery service that Sarah, 32, founded in Newburyport, MA, in 2008. She grew up on an organic farm in Maine, aware of the connections between healthy bodies and healthy environments. These days, in the summer, her large backyard garden is a tangle of tomatoes, herbs and Swiss chard.

Though she never pursued formal training, she always knew she wanted to work in the food industry. But it was the maddening experience of making quiche with a disgruntled toddler glommed on to her leg that provided the “Aha!” moment. “I remember thinking, I can’t cook the way I want to,” she says of life with Ben, now 2. “And I didn’t like the options I had in the frozen food and prepared aisles of the supermarket. They didn’t live up to my standards.”

Sarah started Good Tastes Kitchen as a delivery service but has since expanded into wholesale sales and a Mac & Cheese of the Month Club that ships nationally. (Up next: Cookie Dough of the Month Club.) Each season, she builds a menu on what’s fresh and, where possible, organic and available locally. Artificial ingredients are never used. “Wholesome, all-natural foods fuel us in so many ways,” Sarah says. “We are able to think better, work harder and play harder.”

She’s adamant about “convenience food” not equaling “environmental hazard.” Most meals are packaged in biodegradable containers and delivered in a white biodiesel van, printed with a blue-ticking motif, that a staffer affectionately dubbed “Tess-the-Tastemobile.” Kitchen scraps are composted.

Sarah is also sensitive to her staff’s need for work/life balance. Operations manager Lori Coombes says she’s able to adjust her schedule to attend 15-year-old daughter Olivia’s games by day and volley recipe ideas via email by night. Sarah rarely insists things be done by such and such a time—unless it’s tasting new recipes. She digs in with gusto. “Sarah’s a toothpick,” laughs Lori, “but oh, she loves to eat.”          

Good Tastes Kitchen: Newburyport, MA
Mission: To make and deliver fresh meals in eco-friendly containers
Founded: 2008
First profitable year: 2009 (projected)
Employees: 2
2008 revenue: In excess of $50,000 in five months