Comfort Foods was originally founded by Mark Harden in 1989. Mark had been in the restaurant business for fifteen years and had opened a Mexican themed fast food drive through restaurant about a year earlier. Things were going well until a national competitor drastically lowered their prices nationwide; unable to compete, he was forced to close. Mark had about 600 lbs of his original recipe taco and enchilada sauce mixes left from the restaurant. At the time, Mark and his wife, Evonne, had a family of four children, all under ten years old. After much thought they decided to repackage the bulk spices in small single serve bags to sell to gift stores and arts and craft fairs. Over the next twenty plus years – Comfort Foods established nation-wide distribution and experienced tremendous success. Driven by the success and growth of the Desert Garden Flagship Brand. Comfort Foods became a Nationally Recognized Specialty Food purveyor. In 2012, Mark decided he was ready for his next entrepreneurial endeavor and sold Comfort Foods to Jill Blashack Strahan, an entrepreneur from Alexandria, Minnesota. Today, Copperleaf Kitchen – Comfort Foods Division is a multi-faceted food company that continues with our Mission and Values – founded from the original beliefs and now carried on by Blake Harden, Mark’s Son.
