Many consumers are blissfully unaware of the work that it takes to get a product on the shelves of their favorite local market. 

The brand’s Original Date Syrup, Chocolate Spread, and Sweet Chili Sauce made their debut at upscale grocery chain Erewhon in September, while an exclusive 11-ounce bottle of Chocolate Syrup hit Sprouts Farmers Market shelves earlier this month.

Selling products at Erewhon and Sprouts is part of a new era of rapid expansion for Date Lady.

This Springfield, Missouri-based company with 25 full-time and 40 total employees believes these new commerce avenues have the potential to add another $1 million in sales by the end of next year.

“It means opening up distribution warehouses in several different locations where we didn’t have that yet,” Sundlie tells Fast Company. “It means being able to knock on several more brick-and-mortar stores and say, ‘Hey, look, we’re already here in this distribution warehouse in this region.'”

This strategy has already worked, even without a dedicated salesperson. 

“We’ve already gotten some stores based on that as well,” she says. “This is a huge feat for a consumer packaged good to get into different distribution regions. You’ve got to get that one big chain in order to make that happen.”

The road to this brick-and-mortar win wasn’t always linear or smooth. In fact, Sundlie never even intended to start Date Lady. 

When she was living in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, in 2005 for her husband’s job, she stumbled upon pure date syrup at a local market.

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