TA Associates to Acquire Stonewall Kitchen
“Stonewall Kitchen, known for its high-quality artisan products, has been beloved by consumers around the world since its founding more than 30 years ago,” said Tim Alexander, a managing director at Harris Williams. “The company has thrived in partnership with Audax, and we are excited to see what it achieves in its next chapter with TA.”
“Stonewall Kitchen is building a one-of-a-kind family of brands that spans multiple categories. The brands possess a unique level of cohesiveness from a product positioning and brand ethos standpoint, and when combined with the power of the platform are generating strong growth relative to the categories in which they compete,” added Ryan Freeman, a managing director at Harris Williams.
“The successful expansion beyond food and into high-growth personal care and home fragrances categories speaks to Stonewall Kitchen’s platform strength,” added Kelly McPhilliamy, a managing director at Harris Williams. “The company is successfully executing an exciting strategy that delivers continued runway for growth.”
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.
Stonewall Kitchen is a 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 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; the Michel Design Works brand of elegantly designed and crafted personal and home care products; and the Legal Sea Foods brand of restaurant-quality seafood sauces and condiments. The company boasts national and international distribution; a thriving catalog and online division; a cafe in York, Maine; and 10 retail stores throughout New England.
As winners of more than 30 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.
Stonewall Kitchen’s origins are explored in the March issue of Gourmet News.
Belgian Boys’ Female CEO Gets Recognition
By A.J. Flick
The company name may be Belgian Boys, in honor of two boyhood friends who couldn’t find beloved treats as adults in New York City, but “there was always a woman behind the boys,” said Anouck Gotlib, CEO of the Brooklyn startup.
“We were not going to change the name of the company,” said Gotlib, also a Belgian native who heads a company that employs more women than men. “Women work better, honestly.
“We do not actively recruit only women, but we have a lot of women on our team.”
Gotlib credits the inspiration behind Belgian Boys to quality products, the women-led team and passion for the company’s success, in addition to a balanced work life from the top on down to allow for family life.
“It’s having empathy and understanding. After 5 p.m., I’m not going to answer the phone, so shouldn’t anyone else on the team,” she said.
“And if you can’t have fun at it, it’s a problem. We don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
Gotlib’s work ethic and Belgian Boys’ success haven’t gone unnoticed. Gotlib was among 27 women business leaders chosen for the EY Entrepreneurial Women North America Class of 2021. For 14 years, the program has identified women entrepreneurs leading successful organizations. It provides access, advisers and resources to help grow their companies and become leading market innovators. Gotlib was the only food CPG leader to be selected.
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“Belgian Boys is on a mission to turn up the happy, one treat at a time,” according to EY. “From breakfast to after-dinner dessert, the business makes goodies that bring smiles to eaters of all ages. Belgian Boys delivers whimsical packaging, indulgent flavors and a healthy dose of fun to stores across the United States.”
“I was in shock,” Gotlib said, recalling when she heard about the honor. “They get me. I get them. It’s really nice and I’m very inspired to be with all of the other women.”
Gotlib doesn’t take full credit for Belgian Boys’ growth, giving kudos to the entire team.
“We’ve really grown in the past few years, especially the five before the pandemic,” she said. “We have amazingly talented people. When you’re surrounded by people smarter than you are, what you can do is learn from them.”
Innovation continues, which will be seen in February with the company’s signature product, Stroopwafel, getting upcycled.
“Usually there are a lot of crumbs that go to waste,” Gotlib said. “We took the crumbles and made them into new stroopwafels. We believe it’s one of our best products we’ve ever launched.”
Read the full story in the January issue of Gourmet News. Don’t miss out on stories like this by subscribing now!
Southport Grocery & Cafe’s Good Food Awards Draw a Community
By Lorrie Baumann
Southport Grocery & Cafe offers its guests a seat at the table for breakfast and lunch as well as a few shelves of specialty groceries in Chicago, Illinois’ Lakeview-Southport Corridor on the north side of the city. The location is just two blocks from Wrigley Field. “That’s important because it brings energy to the neighborhood. We have a lot of people who come in before the game because they want breakfast before they go to the afternoon game,” said Lisa Santos, Southport Grocery’s Owner and Chef. “It’s a magnet. When they [the Chicago Cubs] are doing well, you just can’t beat it – it’s a nice add-on.”
The 2,500 square foot cafe seats customers at around 22 tables, which expands to 40 in the summer when an outdoor area is available. The menu emphasizes breakfast, but Southport also serves sandwiches and salads. “We kind of call our food ‘comfort food but with a little bit of a twist,’” Santos said. “It’s still approachable but something a little bit different.”
With a staff of 25, the cafe has full-time bakers who make most of its breads as well as a preservationist who makes the pickles and mustards. The specialty grocery shelves stock a carefully edited selection of candies and chocolates, pastas and sauces, pancake mixes, and some craft beverages. “We make some drink starters,” Santos said. “Craft cocktails are really popular right now.”
Santos curates the products in favor of small, local producers who make products that are different from what her own staff makes to sell. “I have to look at pricing and margin, but I do the first first – the taste, where they’re from,” she said. “If it’s really good and really special, my company will buy it.”
The neighborhood around Southport Grocery & Cafe is a family-friendly urban center with a mix of independent businesses along with some retail anchors, and Southport Grocery draws its clientele mostly from that immediate neighborhood. “Sometimes you look down the row along the banquette, and it’ll be all women and their kids,” Santos said. “Another day, it’s all men having business meetings.”
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After she’d finished culinary school, she started drawing up a business plan for a cafe of her own, but she got a little stuck on her first pass through it until her friend Darleen read through it and made a suggestion. “I couldn’t figure out how we were going to differentiate ourselves from other businesses,” Santos said. Then Darleen pointed out to her that she had noticed that when the two of them went on business trips together, Santos had wanted to spend some of the time they could spare away from conference sessions and appointments poking around in artisanal grocery stores. She suggested that what Santos needed in her plan was a few shelves for some artisanal grocery items. “It is true. I did not come up with it – she did,” Santos said. “It was really a way to differentiate against other restaurants.”
Something else that differentiates her business from most others is that Southport Grocery & Cafe has been winning Good Food Awards since 2013. With seven Good Food Awards already to its credit, Southport Grocery has two products among this year’s finalists for Good Food Awards, Backyard Relish and Bread and Butter Cauliflower. Past winners have all been for pickled and preserved products or for mustards, which are sold on the grocery shelves and served in the Cafe. “We wholesale a little bit to other small Chicago places,” Santos said. “We can pretty much sell what we make.”
She entered her first products into the Good Food Awards in 2013, when her preservationist at the time heard about the program. “The things that they stand for, we stand for as well,” Santos said. “It’s more ingredient-driven and sustainable practices-driven. That kind of production of foodstuffs reminds me of what my grandmother did.”
The awards matter to her customers as well as her staff, according to Santos. “People love the things that we preserve,” she said. “The Good Food Awards just give us a little bit more national recognition that we’re doing what we say we’re doing. It’s like street credibility.”
Participation in the Good Food Awards and in the Good Food Mercantile trade shows that are produced by the same organization, the Good Food Foundation, also gives Santos the opportunity to associate with like-minded people, and that’s helpful to her business as well, she said. “This business is hard. It’s the passion behind the products that gets me going, and when people love your products, it makes you want to keep doing it,” she said. “When well-known national people [like Alice Waters and Ruth Reichl] who have believed these things for so long – it just reminds you why you’re doing this.”
