18 airports sell these special Pasco treats. The White House Gift Shop is next
A Pasco candy business is growing at the only speed it has ever known: Breakneck.
JoJo’s Freeze Dried Goodies, with its robust online presence, a dedicated social media following and feisty “let’s freeze dry that” attitude, celebrates its new candy store this week.
At the same time, it is preparing to ship product to its most prestigious account to date, the White House Gift Shop.
Owner Sarra Hendrick moved JoJo’s out of her home and into a manufacturing space east of the Tri-Cities Airport about a year ago, fueled by soaring demand from a growing list of airports — 18 and counting — that stock JoJo’s.
The Pasco space was supposed to be a manufacturing spot, where Hendrick and her team freeze-dry candy, pickles, ice cream sandwiches and other potential treats.
As with much about Hendrick and her business, the candy store came about by necessity.
She incorporated as Boss Foods LLC in late 2022 and built JoJo’s in the Pasco home she shares with her husband, James, and daughter, Lillie, now 6.
To keep customers from coming to their house, JoJo’s needed a public address and a candy store. It leased space in downtown Kennewick until the building where it leased space sold and it had to move.
Short notice
In need of a new physical address and a way to serve the public, Hendrick realized the manufacturing space in Pasco would have to fill the role.
She retooled and the result is a proper candy store in front, separated from the production area by curtains.
JoJo’s candy store carries its own freeze-dried treats, its house-made peanut butter line and a line of nostalgic candies Hendrick named for Lillie, who helps with packaging and other tasks.
The store began serving the public several months ago. The grand opening will be at 11 a.m., Friday, April 11, at 3306 N. Swallow Ave., Suite 206, in Pasco.
Yes, that White House
For most small business owners, a grand opening would be enough to keep everyone hopping during the lead-up.
But Hendrick has other big things on her mind this week. JoJo’s is processing its first order from the White House Gift Shop. Yes, that White House.
She is impatiently waiting for the specially-designed bags so they can be filled with treats and dispatched to Washington, D.C.
She credits her mom, JoJo Merritt, with securing the White House Gift Shop gig.
Hendrick explains that she put her mom in charge of marketing last summer. Merritt is a native New Yorker who trained as a legal secretary and is teeming with ideas. “Listen to your Mother” is a personal motto.
And the White House was at the top of her list of places she thought JoJo’s belonged.
“It’s like a game to me,” she said.
Merritt Googled contact information for the White House.
She called and asked an operator at the White House if she could send a package of samples. She could not. But she was referred to the White House Gift Shop. The shop is rooted in the Truman Administration but is privately owned today.
She called and was referred to the lead procurement officer. The message made it through and the buyer was intrigued enough to email Merritt’s astonished daughter.
Hendrick, however, was busy readying herself for JoJo’s first-ever booth at the Home and Garden Show at HAPO Center in Pasco.
She was also managing fallout from another of her mom’s initiatives: She’d reluctantly made a video about freeze-drying ketchup and mustard pickles.
The result is a freeze-dried pickle chip that tastes like a McDonald’s hamburger. Hendrick posted it and the internet, safe to say, liked it.
Her video was going viral just when Hendrick was concentrating on the home show and mulling the email from the White House Gift Shop.
It racked up 1.5 million views the first night and eventually reached 7 million. Hendrick silenced her bleeping phone and concentrated on the home show. She’d deal with the White House Gift Shop afterward, she figured.
JoJo’s took home Best Booth honors.
Monday morning email
Monday morning, she replied to the email from the White House Gift Shop purchasing agent.
They worked out a deal for JoJo’s to produce a series of freeze-dried treats with patriotic and pastel themes.
Hendrick leveraged work she’d already put into one of her airport ventures, a space-themed offering designed for the Huntsville, Alabama, Airport, a nod to its connection to NASA’s Marshall Space flight Center and the famous space camp complex.
She directed her graphic designer to create cherry blossom themed bags for the gift shop. Once it was approved, she placed an order, now pending. She’ll package product for the gift shop immediately.
It should land in Washington, D.C. quickly, though not in time for the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which wraps up this weekend.
Merritt promised the White House Gift Shop won’t be the last big name outlet for JoJo’s. She believes it should be in every major candy store there is.
Her favorite Google search? Biggest candy stores in America.
She’s in touch with candy stores at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota and regularly contacts candy shops in Times Square, Mall of America and elsewhere.
Greens, not treats
Sarra Hendrick is a banker by background with an entrepreneur’s eye for detail and planning.
She did not set out to get into the freeze-dried treats business when she bought a dryer. She intended to dry out greens for pesto and other cooking ingredients. The results weren’t good. She abandoned freeze-drying greens, but not the spendy freeze-dryer.
Her family began freeze-drying various items with varying success.
Merritt had the idea to try candy, inspired by a post on social media she’s scrolled past.
Soon, puffed up Skittles, Starbursts and other candies were drawing attention. A business was born and additional freeze-dryers were purchased.
The operation overtook the family home. The electrical system had to be upgraded to support 11 dryers in commercial kitchen in the house and the eight in the garage.
Merritt, ever the sales person, began dialing anyone she thought should sell the products, including the Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco. Her efforts netted a deal with an airport vendor representing more than 40 U.S. airports. It was added in Pasco, then an ever growing number of other airports, a number that has reached 18.
10 airports
At 10 airports, Hendrick and her family cried uncle. Their home could no longer contain the activity. She posted a plea for ideas online. Her neighbor, Jessie Schuh, happened to spot it.
Schuh and her mother, Tina Beverly, own Wild Olive’s Charcuterie Kingdom in Pasco’s industrial east side. The space next to Wild Olive’s was available. We should be neighbors for work too, she suggested.
Hendrick checked it out. The building is new and set up to handle the power demands of a bank of freeze-dryers.
She made a mental map of how it would lay out and decided it was perfect. She made an offer to rent from the owner. One year ago, she got the keys , just hours before she was scheduled to have the first of two surgeries on her arms.
The surgery went ahead and Hendrick’s family executed her instructions. Less than a week later, she’d set aside thoughts of recovering from surgery and painkillers because she had to meet with inspectors to maintain her state and federal certifications.
With one exception, all of JoJo’s treats are freeze-dried and packaged at the new Pasco spot. The exception is the line of peanut butters produced under the name James Nut House.
That work is still in their home.
The separation keeps allergens away from JoJo’s production line, she said.
This story was originally published April 9, 2025 at 12:00 AM with the headline "18 airports sell these special Pasco treats. The White House Gift Shop is next."