Lynne Budig is a well-known member of the La Porte County community. You may not recognize her, but odds are that you’ve had some of her cookies. As the owner and founder of Della Nonna’s, Budig has found success in her business, even through tough times.
First started in 2009, Della Nonna’s is Italian for, “Of the grandmother.” Budig first got the inspiration from her own grandmother with whom she used to baked cookies with while she was growing up. Although she’s known for her cookies, she also bakes brownies, bars, and other Italian desserts.
“My inspiration was my nonni. Nonni is Italian for grandmother,” Budig said. “We grew up baking and nonni used to bake all the time. She was known as the cookie lady. She taught me and my cousins how to make all her Italian cookies. That’s how I learned how to bake, but it was my friend Jennifer who convinced me to open my own business.”
Before starting her own business, Budig was a full-time assistant in the La Porte School Corporation and served as a substitute teacher. Shortly before she started Della Nonna’s, the corporation was doing some cutbacks, which is what caused her to begin substitute teaching. Budig decided substitute teaching wasn’t a good fit, which is when her friend encouraged her to begin a baked goods business. From there, the rest is history. With orders and profits increasing each year, Della Nonna’s has been nothing but a hit.
“I didn’t expect it to take off, but it did immediately,” Budig said. “Every year my sales have increased, and orders just keep climbing. I started from doing just a few orders to having several orders for 1000 cookies just this year. It’s a lot, but I have plenty of friends and family who volunteer to help me during the busy times.”
Della Nonna’s is a family affair. All Budig’s children, family, and friends pitch in to help however and whenever they can. Budig’s sister even stayed with her for three days over the Christmas season to help with the bulk of orders during the time.
Della Nonna’s isn’t like other bakeries. Most traditional bakeries have a storefront downtown somewhere that people can walk into parous the baked goods. Della Nonna’s however, is run from Budig’s home in her licensed kitchen.
“I’m only one of four bakers here in La Porte that have a licensed kitchen in their home. I’m very fortunate to have started when I did. With COVID-19, they’re no longer licensing home kitchens, but it’s allowed me to help a lot of people during this time,” Budig said.
Although she is often busy with a plethora of orders throughout the year, Budig jumps on any chance she gets to give back to those who support her.
“I try to give back as much as I possibly can. I put ads in a lot of the school yearbooks, I help with fundraising in town, I give a lot of gift certificates away to students to help with athletics. It’s something I enjoy doing,” Budig said.
Budig makes cookies for all types of events of any size. A lot of her large orders mainly come from corporate events like the Hoosier Star, Renolit Corporation’s Annual Family Picnic, and lots of golf outings. In between that she makes cookies for birthdays, graduations, holidays, and everything else in between. Della Nonna’s has become such a hot commodity that people are beginning to place orders for graduations and weddings in 2022.
“It’s always great when you have the big events go off without a hitch. I also love making cookies for cancer awareness and other good causes. But the most rewarding feeling is when you give a child their birthday cookies and they squeal with excitement when they see them. That’s awesome to me, probably more than anything,” Budig said.
With so many years of success, it’s hard to see where Budig might go from here. Many business owners would look towards expanding to a storefront, but not Budig. She intends to stay right where she is and take some different approaches to grow her business.
“I want to work on my artistic skills. Cookies are going from your basic decorating to pieces of art. I’d really like to be able to work on my skills and try some different art mediums,” Budig said. “As far as opening a store, it’s hard to do. There are off times in the cookie business, and when it’s slow, it’s very slow. It’s hard to account for that overhead and you always have to keep someone at the store, even when you’re not getting orders in. I like being able to finish my work and go spend time with my family. Mostly I like staying where I’m at because of the balance I have with family and being able to make good memories with my family and sons.”
Della Nonna’s can be found on Facebook at Della Nonna’s Cookies and on Instagram at dellanonnas. Follow her on social media to see all of her creations and to stay updated on some new treats she has coming for the fall.