Stonewall Kitchen, Vermont Coffee Company Donate $19K+ to Vermont Foodbank
Stonewall Kitchen and Vermont Coffee Company have donated$19,720 to Vermont Foodbank. A large portion of the contribution comes through a wholesale partnership, where 5 percent of Vermont Coffee Company’s 32-ounce Friend Blend sales are set aside for the cause.
“Vermont Coffee Company started on the basis of roasting coffee for friends,” Stonewall Kitchen Chief Executive Officer John Stiker said. “It became the company’s mission of how business is done. Coffee is a social stimulus that brings people together where a community is formed. This holiday season, we’re proud to support such a worthy organization that helps so many in need.”
Vermont Foodbank has three distribution centers that serve over 225 food shelves across all 14 counties in Vermont. The Vermont Foodbank is able to turn Stonewall Kitchen’s donation into the equivalent of nearly 33,000 meals.
“The Vermont Foodbank continues to distribute millions of pounds of food to meet the unprecedented need,” Vermont Foodbank CEO John Sayles said. “With 2 in 5 people in Vermont having experienced food insecurity in the past year, it is crucial that we continue to work together to make sure our neighbors have the food they need and want. The support of Stonewall Kitchen means that our neighbors have access to the food they need to thrive during these challenging times, as we work together to fulfill the promise of a Vermont without hunger.”
To learn more about Stonewall Kitchen’s Family of Brands, visit stonewallkitchen.com. To learn more about how you can help Vermont Food Bank visit vtfoodbank.org or check your state and local resources to support a food bank near you.
Stonewall Kitchen is a leading specialty food, home goods and personal care producer headquartered in York, Maine. Founded in 1991 by partners Jonathan King and Jim Stott, the two established the Stonewall Kitchen brand by selling jams and jellies at local farmers’ markets with a flavorful line of distinctive and high-quality products. Over time, they expanded the brand to include sauces, condiments, crackers and baking mixes, always focusing on innovative product development, beautiful packaging, and exceptional guest service.
Today, Stonewall Kitchen is the premier specialty food and home goods platform in North America, home to a family of premium quality brands including the flagship Stonewall Kitchen brand; the Michel Design Works brand of elegantly designed and crafted personal and home care products; the Vermont Coffee Company brand of high quality, non-GMO, certified organic coffee; the Urban Accents brand of globally-inspired spice mixes, seasonings, and sauces; the Village Candle brand of fragranced candles, gifts and accessories; the Tillen Farms brand of pickled vegetables and cocktail cherries; the Napa Valley Naturals brand of olive oils, culinary oils, balsamic vinegars and wine vinegars; the Montebello brand of artisan organic pasta imported from Italy; the Vermont Village brand of organic apple sauce and apple cider vinegars; and the Legal Sea Foods brand of restaurant-quality seafood sauces and condiments.
The company boasts more than 19,000 stores nationwide and internationally; a thriving catalog and online division; café in York, Maine; and eleven retail Company Stores throughout New England. As winners of 34 prestigious awards from the Specialty Food Association and the recipient of the coveted Outstanding Product Line Honors three times, Stonewall Kitchen is proud to be one of the most awarded specialty food companies in the country.
Vermont Foodbank is the state’s largest hunger-relief organization, providing nutritious food through a network of more than 300 community partners – food shelves, meal sites, schools, hospitals, and housing sites. Food insecurity has increased dramatically as a result of the pandemic and economic conditions. Vermont Foodbank and its network have been on the front lines, working to ensure that everyone has the nutritious food they need. Last year, the Vermont Foodbank provided over 17 million pounds of food to people throughout Vermont. Vermont Foodbank, a member of Feeding America, is nationally recognized as one of the most effective and efficient nonprofits and food banks in the nation.
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BarTrack, Arryved Team Up to Streamline Bar, Taproom Operations
Quality management and data technology company BarTrack and Arryved, the leading point-of-service provider for craft food and beverage establishments, have created an integrated partnership for front-of-house bar and taproom operations. The two data-driven companies will host a live webinar on Dec. 13 at 1 pm ET for management teams to learn more about how to utilize these tools as a tandem solution to save an average of $5,000 per week. Click here to register for the webinar.
BarTrack’s beverage and quality monitoring insights integrate with Arryved’s sales and revenue data to provide breweries, bars, and restaurant management teams with industry-leading, one-of-a-kind reports they can use to pinpoint where, when, why, and how waste occurs and strategize improvements to management efficiency and increase revenue.
BarTrack’s system, featuring the first beverage sensor with no moving parts and no obstructions to draft lines, provides real-time metrics on a dozen beverage-specific variables affecting beverage quality, including flow and keg levels, line temperature, pressure, cooler health, line cleanliness, and more. Arryved’s sales data seamlessly integrates with the BarTrack interface to illustrate reasons for waste that occur as a beer is poured.
Current users of the integration see an immediate impact using BarTrack and Arryved, increasing pouring efficiencies from an average of 47% to as high as 97 percent by the end of the first month – an average of $5,000 in savings per week.
“We’re excited to partner with Arryved because we both offer tools built by the industry, for the industry. Like Arryved, we develop solutions based on the key insights we received from owners and operators with decades of experience,” said Brett Danielson, co-founder, and CEO of BarTrack. “Customer success is a tremendous part of both of our solutions and frequent check-ins and strategizing is key, we both focus on providing high-level customer support.”
Equipped with BarTrack’s draft monitoring system and Arryved’s POS, management teams have access to insightful real-time data over every pour from inventory to sale. Insights are specific to the minute and to the ounce, making it possible to determine where losses and waste occur and if the losses are related to inventory management processes and equipment or human error.
Apocalypse Ale Works, a craft brewery in Forest, Va., reduced its pour cost from 12.8 percent to 7.5 percent, a 5 percent total deduction, after only 3 months using BarTrack and Arryved in tandem.
“We are a low staff, family-run business. These tools and reports are a game-changer when it comes to the success of our draft beer program and visibility into business operations. We were able to identify specific problem areas and develop detailed strategies that ultimately eliminated areas of waste, improved our beer quality, and boosted our overall revenue,” said Austin John, owner of Apocalypse Ale Works. “In the first month the system had paid for itself. Arryved and BarTrack are the two front-of-house solutions that every brewery should invest in.”
Grist Brewing Company, based in Highlands Ranch, Colo., increased its pour efficiency from 54.6 percent to 85 percent in the span of three weeks using the integrated BarTrack and Arryved solution. The brewery’s average pour cost dropped from 12.8 percent to 7.6 percent, equating to $6,359 of lost potential revenue to $1,392, an average of $20,000 in savings per month.
“In a short period of time we have dramatically reduced our pour costs through identifying principal causes of waste and creating a specific plan to successfully remedy those causes,” said Chuck Norman, Grist Brewing owner. “This is the solution for breweries to start re-examining their draft program in the taproom and take a revised approach to maximizing potential profits and improving brand integrity through quality.”
The webinar on Dec. 13 at 1 pm ET will feature additional discussion about these case studies and provide actionable recommendations for teams looking to implement process improvements that improve beverage quality and minimize draft waste.
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Wine To Water Restores Volunteer Program After Pandemic Pause
More than two years ago, global clean water nonprofit, Wine To Water was forced to put a growing volunteer program on pause due to the global pandemic. The program is open again with an expanded reach, bringing water filtration and well construction, thereby reducing bottled water dependence or a complete lack of clean water. The program is led by the dynamic former Texas A&M educator and anthropologist, Judy Nunez.
“The Wine To Water team springs into action whenever there is a need for clean water, but the pandemic made it challenging for many nonprofits to recruit and support volunteers outside of their own communities,” said Doc Hendley, a CNN Hero and the founder and international president of W|W. “Volunteers are critically important to the work of nonprofits because the donation of services allows other donations to go further and be applied to the cause served.”
W|W has several upcoming service trips including one to the Dominican Republic in December, where volunteers will build filters in the local factory. They will also deliver a filter to a home and share in the experience of the family taking their first sip of clean water. On a recent trip to Nepal, the mission included rehabilitating a well, painting a water tank, and visiting with school children. These experiences are designed to immerse volunteers in the community and culture in a way that is enriching for both the volunteer and those receiving the services.
A water emergency is occurring somewhere in the world at this moment, so there are ongoing relief efforts in the United States and around the world requiring volunteers. Wine To Water’s volunteer program involves students in a broader way. Nunez is working to grow student programs in colleges across the country, especially for domestic relief projects.
W|W leads emergency response to water crises. Part of its ongoing mission is the Filter Build program, which provides another volunteer experience. These filters have increased the capacity of W|W to provide clean water to those in immediate need.
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