New owners, same dream for organic market

When Ed and Peggy Callahan opened DreamPort Harvest Market, they had just completed rejuvenating the orchard they purchased off Lakeshore Road on Port Washington’s southeast side.

On Tuesday, they sold the organic market and the downtown Port building in which it is housed to Danielle and Brandon Kohn of West Bend, who are rehabilitating an orchard in their community.

For both couples, the market represents a chance to realize a dream.

But for area customers seeking local, organic produce, nothing is expected to change.

“The name will stay the same. They will have the same staff members, the same produce,” Ed Callahan said. “We’ll still be here to help with the transition.”

“In the future, I think, we’ll grow to add more offerings, but for now we’ll keep it as is,” Danielle said.

“I think there are opportunities to add more,” Ed said. “Port is growing. It’s a unique place.”

For Danielle, the market is the realization of a dream she has held since childhood.

“I have wanted a store since I was little,” she said.

And, her husband added, “Danielle’s into health food. I’m into farming. Together we make a business.”

They had owned several convenience stores but sold them in mid-December, intending to take some time to figure out what was next for them as they continued to rehab their orchard, named Adina Orchard, which they’ve been working on for two years.

This year, Adina Orchard — the name is a mashup of their two daughters’ names — will open to the public, selling pumpkins, squash and other produce on site.

The Kohns’ neighbor Bethany Thied Wray, who works at DreamPort Harvest Market, told them the Callahans were looking to retire from the business and put the couples in contact with each other.

They had been to the market in the past, Danielle said, adding they sought it out in part for its gluten-free bakery and organic produce.

The rest, as they say, is history.

“Sometimes you have to seize the opportunity when it’s standing in front of you,” Brandon said.

Their experience running convenience stores will translate well at the market, the couple agreed.

“We have retail experience. We have food service experience. We have customer service experience,” Danielle said.

For the Callahans, it’s time to give up the market they started in 2021 as a way to sell the apples they grow on their Port orchard, Dream Apple Farm, the cider they press and the jams they cook.

The market has its roots in their decision to bring the “very distressed” property they bought in 2012 back to life, Ed said.

“It took two years just to clean up that property,” he said.

In 2014, the Callahans created a test orchard, and in 2017 and 2018 they expanded it, adding 1,000 apple trees and selling their produce at the Port farmers market.

But the orchard outgrew the farmers market, and during the pandemic the couple held pop-up markets in their current space with other farmers selling their produce on tables in the room. A year later, on May 6, 2022, they opened DreamPort Harvest Market as a full-time organic market.

“Since then it’s really grown,” Ed said, noting they carry produce from more than 20 organic farms throughout the state.

“Some of our small farms we’ve outgrown,” he said.

But as always, he said, the goal is to end each weekend with all the fresh produce sold.

They’ve added baked goods made with products grown on the farms they represent, as well as savory items such as empanadas and soups.

Every year, Ed said, the market has grown significantly and so, too, has the workload.

“It’s a lot of work to run a small business market like this and our farm with 1,500 organic apple trees,” he said. “Running the orchard alone is definitely a full-time operation.”

So they searched for someone willing to retain the things they felt are important — an organic market that is also a community hub.

“We think that’s important,” Ed said. “That’s something we wanted to create when we opened the market. This is different than what you get at a big box store. It is a community space.”

DreamPort Harvest Market will continue to be the outlet for their apples and cider,  he said, and he and his wife are close enough to offer advice and help if needed.

Brandon said that’s a plus.

“We’re really excited about the continuing relationship with Ed and Peggy,” he said. “They’re great at what they do. ”