My name is Ross Flournoy, and I’m a partner at Tom’s Tiny Kitchen. (Tom is my father.) We make all-natural, gluten-free pimento cheese and cheese dips.
Way back in the summer of 2011, my mom and dad were broke AF; my dad got laid off and couldn’t find another job (he was 63, which made it hard). He started futzing around in the kitchen with his mother’s (my grandma, Colie) pimento cheese recipe, and began selling it every Saturday morning out of an Igloo cooler at a farmers’ market in Memphis. People seemed to like it, and he sold out every Saturday; he made just enough money to cover my folks’ utilities.
This week, Tom’s Tiny Kitchen launched in 150 Walmart locations, which means you can now find our pimento cheese in over 250 grocery stores in 12 states across the southeast, from Texas to Nashville to Louisville to Asheville, NC. (We’re also in about a hundred Kroger locations.) It’s hard for me to believe that what started as a small endeavor just to keep the lights on in our house has made it this far.
I couldn’t be prouder of my mom and dad. Life kicked them in the teeth pretty hard, but instead of rolling over, they (with some help from my sister and me) built something that’s pretty incredible.
If you live anywhere in the South, I urge you to head over here, where you can find a list of stores where our stuff is available — you should definitely give it a try. I’m a bit biased, but it’s some pretty amazing stuff, made by a pretty amazing guy.
Tom & Jill Flournoy
