Growing Business Fruit Queens Set to Reopen in New Location

By Kelsey Mako

It is March 2016, and Tiara Baity has 54 dollars to her name. She has recently given birth to her daughter and broken up with her daughter’s father. At the same time, Baity’s cousin in Georgia has just met someone, dubbed the “Fruit King,” selling fruit cups for three dollars and suggests Baity do the same until she can get back to her previous job as an Uber driver. Baity says no way.

After listening to her cousin run monetary figures, Baity becomes a little more open to the idea. With the 54 dollars, she purchases one watermelon, one cantaloupe, one honey dew, three pineapples, one bag of grapes, two containers of strawberries, and a fifty pack of plastic cups. “I took everything that I had and started. I went against what my judgement was saying. My judgement was saying no.”

Today, Tiara Baity is the founder and CEO of Fruit Queens, LLC. She now sells a range of healthy food products that expand well beyond the organic fruit cups and is currently transitioning her business into a mobile food trailer, set to open in 2021.

Baity started her business on a Wednesday, advertising three-dollar fruit cups on Facebook. Every day from Wednesday to Saturday, her fruit cups sold out, and the growth did not stop there.

In 2018, Baity was able to move her operation from her home to a 750 square foot commercial space in a warehouse. Shortly after, she started catering large parties. Her first was a royal table spread for a local church function.

In 2019, Baity started a salad line after noticing a decrease in demand for fruit from September through the final months of the year. “I have a key knack for noticing trends and the behavior of people.”

2020 has brought about change everywhere, and Fruit Queens is no exception. At the beginning of the year, Baity launched a sandwich line. When the pandemic hit, Fruit Queens was very busy, as many people were trying to eat healthier to avoid getting sick. Baity provided health tips and recipes on the Fruit Queens Facebook page.

Running Fruit Queens has not come without challenges. In September, Baity moved out of the space she was renting because the warehouse conditions were not up to health and sanitation codes. Despite the loss, she knows she made the right choice and plans to reopen when she finishes building her food trailer. “I have integrity. In the four years I have been open, I have not had one issue with customers having anything in their product. I take pride in my work.”

Baity also described barriers in the form of color lines to starting a business. “Often times, black owned businesses have to bootstrap their way to the top. We don’t necessarily get the funding that another ethnic group may get. It takes a while to get to the top.”

In the future, Baity aims to franchise Fruit Queens and make food products available via apps. On a more personal level, Baity hopes to one day hand the business down to her daughter. “She has been my baby, and the business has been my baby.”