Denisha Jones is building her Sweet Peaches Cobblers empire one treat at a time

Courtesy photo

During the pandemic, Denisha Jones found herself craving some peach cobbler. After realizing that grocery store options just weren’t cutting it, and restaurants weren’t satisfying her cravings, she took matters into her own hands and made her own. “I really wanted my grandmother’s peach cobbler,” says Jones. After the seventh try, she hit it right on the nail.

That’s when her business Sweet Peaches Cobblers LLC was born.

From there, she started hosting pop ups around the city and at her parents’ home inviting friends and family members to get a taste of her now famed Nana’s kitchen peach cobbler. “The vast majority loved it. I would go live to share people’s reactions; they would be singing and dancing before eating it,” says Jones. 

It wasn’t long before word spread quickly, and Jones was spending weekends fulfilling countless cobbler orders all while still working her full-time job. “Being a baker was not my ideal dream job,” says Jones. “The cobblers took over my life.”

Thankfully, she didn’t have to face that whirlwind alone, because running the business became a whole family affair. Alongside her husband, siblings, and a few other relatives, each of her children help out wherever they can.

Sweet peaches customers in store // Courtesy photo

Her son makes peach cobbler cinnamon rolls, eldest daughter Damyah does the bookkeeping, middle daughter Kaylee makes peach cobbler cookies, and her youngest daughter Lucy is their brand ambassador. “Kaylee can tell you the recipes back and forth from memory,” laughs Jones. “Everyone takes pride in it and it’s a great feeling being able to build generational wealth.”

Time to expand

As orders kept rolling in, Jones knew it was time to expand the brand and venture towards having her product in retailers, giving her customers the opportunity to have the cobbler they’d come to know and love, frozen and ready to bake at home. However, Jones says the demand a piping hot cobbler is still pretty high. “Every Saturday and Sunday I still get calls from people wanting fresh cobbler.”

For a lot of her customers, the cobbler has become a close second to the ones they grew up with which keeps Jones going on the days when it gets tough.

“The community helps to encourage me more than I encourage myself,” she says. “I’m always getting reviews and messages from people saying, ‘I haven’t had a cobbler like this since my mom passed away.'”

You can currently find her cobblers on shelves at local grocery stores like Hy-Vee, Cosentinos Market, Price Chopper, Sun Fresh, and Schnucks in Jefferson City and St. Louis. In addition to her cobblers, her apple and peach fillings can also be found at Louisburg Cider Mill. She’s also currently onboarding for a few local stores including Made in KC early next year.

Stadium status

Since catching up with Jones earlier this year, her business has expanded far beyond local grocery stores and has recently found a home at Arrowhead Stadium. In addition to her traditional cobblers, Jones also offers peach cobbler egg rolls. Yes, you read that right.

“Most young people didn’t grow up with peach cobbler like we did, so they won’t eat it,” says Jones. “I wanted to create products that were not traditional and basically deconstructed.” 

Jones’ eldest daughter Damyah pitched the idea of selling egg rolls to the stadium this past summer and they hit the ground running at the start of the season. On their first day, they sold 500 egg rolls and even sold 200 egg rolls at the Renaissance World Tour finale this past October.

“It felt good to come in and sell a product that many have underestimated,” says Jones.

Peach cobbler egg rolls // Courtesy photo

Jones isn’t slowing down anytime soon. She’s set her sights on Sweet Peaches becoming a global brand. Within the next 5-10 years she hopes to expand to retailers overseas, having her cobbler filling on top of a peach cobbler sundae at Dairy Queen, and not having to run all parts of the business. “I don’t have to doubt myself because I’m in a place where God trusts me with this vision, so I’m going to walk in it,” says Jones. 

We’re excited to see what’s next for her and we’ll definitely be keeping our eyes peeled for her new blueberry lemon cobbler that’ll be hitting grocery store shelves next spring.