Cheesemakers Hammered by COVID-19
America’s artisanal cheese makers are being hard-hit by the impacts of COVID-19. With many small cheesemakers heavily dependent on sales to restaurants, their distribution channels have been decimated by the closures related to the virus. With a reported 58 percent decrease in overall sales, many businesses do not have the financial reserves to sustain themselves for months. Thirty percent have either laid off or furloughed employees, and 48 percent have reduced employee hours. Managing cash flow, obtaining financial support, as well as managing staff add complex challenges that have resulted in many applying for debt relief or financial assistance to stay afloat in this new reality.
This comes from a survey conducted in May 2020 by the American Cheese Society. Titled “COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on the American Cheese Industry: Business Operations,” the survey compiled data from nearly 1,000 members including producers, distributors and buyers. “It is important for us to understand how our members and their businesses are coping during this pandemic, as well as how ACS and consumers can help support the industry,” said Marianne Smukowski, Board President of ACS. “The unwavering dedication that the community has had in ensuring the safety of employees and consumers has been heartening during these uncertain times.”
In many cases, members are using this as an opportunity to pause and improve business models, as well as explore new methods to package and distribute their products directly to consumers. The survey shows that 57.5 percent have identified new distribution methods for their products with 51 percent seeing an increase in overall e-commerce sales.
Since COVID-19 shuttered the country, ACS has provided a wealth of resources to support the cheese industry and has made the decision to shift its previously canceled 37th Annual Conference & Competition to a virtual event; more details will be provided at a later date. Other resources include weekly Fireside Chats with Executive Director Karen Lundquist, information on food safety, a letter template for members to write to their local representatives, shifting business models, financial relief, navigating home and personal life, and more.
You just need to inject medicine directly into the shaft purchase levitra online of male organ. It is a very quick objective test that can help an individual identify the important factors that discern personalities and determine occupational achievement. buy sildenafil australia So, they prefer breaking on line viagra the relations rather than living aimless. It is quite normal for experiencing Erectile viagra online why not check here Dysfunction condition. “At the ACS, we are acting quickly to share the creative work our members are doing to sustain their businesses and their communities,” said Lundquist. “Building awareness of the importance of sharing local cheesemakers’ critical role in our food chain, bringing finely crafted products from farm to table, and preserving our American artisan cheese traditions.”
Looking to the future, ACS members agree that there will be a new normal for the artisan cheese industry. Rising to the challenge to find new ways to innovate, they hope to see a positive impact from economic stimulus packages and community efforts on their operations.
American Cheese Society will continue its mission to support its members through developing educational resources and safe networking opportunities to connect the community during these difficult times. In celebration of May’s American Cheese Month, the organization asks consumers to think small and buy locally from artisans and producers.
For American Cheese Society Resources on COVID-19 visit cheesesociety.org/addressing-covid-19/.
Meet Better Booch: Flavor-Forward Kombuchas for the Health-Conscious
By Lorrie Baumann
Better Booch premium, small batch kombucha is based in downtown Los Angeles where company co-Founders Ashleigh and Trey Lockerbie brew their kombucha and can it in-house. “We’re on a mission – we flavor using only loose-leaf tea, herbs, botanicals and adaptogens,” said Ashleigh, Better Booch’s Chief Marketing Officer. “It’s 100 percent tea-forward kombucha. We don’t use juices, powders, sugar – anything like that – to flavor.”
Better Booch currently offers nine beverage flavors. The best seller is Morning Glory, which is black tea with marigold and peach. Ginger Boost is one of Ashleigh’s favorites. It’s made with rooibos tea and lemongrass with a ginger tea. Gold Pear is made with turmeric, tulsi, some basil, and a dash of black pepper to activate the turmeric.
“We’re about to launch two new flavors: Hola Horchata, which is a take on the Mexican classic treat with cinnamon, jasmine and rice in an oolong tea base and Hibiscus Healer, with hibiscus flower, white tea, cranberry and blueberry,” she said. “We’re really excited about the new additions to our line. We feel that they fill gaps in our current lineup in a really nice way. After all, who else is making a horchata kombucha? Just us!”
Each flavor is individually brewed in its own tank and the flavor descriptions refer to flavor notes as well as actual ingredients, so a kombucha that’s said to taste like blueberry or cranberry has those flavor notes, but there’s no actual fruit added! This keeps sugar levels low in the beverages. Each 8-ounce serving – half the contents of the 16-ounce can or bottle – contains only about 5g of sugar. It’s one of the lowest sugar contents on the market,” Ashleigh said. “We list flavor notes on the front of the bottle, but everything is done with teas, herbs and adaptogens.”
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“One of our main goals is to be inviting to people who’ve never tried kombucha,” she added. “We’re trying to offer something refreshing and enjoyable to people who’ve never tried it so they can get to know all the benefits. Better Booch’s mission is to make the healthiest choice the obvious one. The idea is that if we can make something that tastes as great as it makes you feel, we’re on the right track.”
Ashleigh and Trey discovered kombucha while they were touring the country as musicians. Touring isn’t the healthiest lifestyle – a lot of late nights and fast food. There aren’t a lot of healthy options around the country if you’re traveling a lot,” Ashleigh said. “We were looking to set up a more holistic, healthier life, so we researched ways to live sustainably and healthy in the long term. That’s how we found kombucha.”
After retiring from their touring in 2012, the pair founded Better Booch to start commercial production of the beverage they’d been brewing at home. “We started brewing in our kitchen, playing with different ways of flavoring it, and we were really surprised at how delicious it could be because what was on shelves then wasn’t very innovative,” Ashleigh said. “We started bottling it and selling it at farmers markets.” On their first time out, they met a buyer from a local Southern California grocery chain who picked it up immediately for his 12 stores. “It kept growing from there!” she said. “It’s continued to be our passion and we really bootstrapped it for the first five years.”
Since then, the Lockerbies conducted a funding round to expand their canning line. With the new canning line, the company is transitioning its packaging away from the glass bottles into aluminum cans and will be introducing a four-pack of 12-ounce cans in the third quarter of this year. Consumers are welcoming the change, and can sales are growing rapidly, according to Ashleigh. A 16-ounce can retails for $2.99.
Better Booch also just hired Jordan Schulman, an industry veteran, as its new Vice President of Sales, and the company is ready to extend distribution of its brand outside California. “We have a really great growth strategy with Jordan on board, and we’re really looking forward to what’s next,” Ashleigh said.
For more information, visit www.betterbooch.com, www.instagram.com/betterbooch or email info@getbetterbooch.com.
Boring Residents Offer Sweet Tradition
By Lorrie Baumann
The co-Founders of Hip Chick Farms have uprooted themselves from the California company they started in 2013 and embarked on a new venture that will specialize in snack products focused on wellness. A Boring Life, the new company started by Serafina Palandech and Jennifer Johnson, launched its first products last year and is now introducing nuts and fruits preserved in honey to the market.
“My family is from Montenegro, and when we go back there, we come back with jars of nuts and fruits in honey, which is a traditional way of preserving the produce for them,” said Palandech, who is Chief Executive Officer as well as co-Founder of A Boring Life. “There’s nothing like that here.”
Their new product has already achieved retail distribution in specialty markets, where it’s being embraced as a partner for cheese. “It’s unlike anything out there. Pour it over a piece of brie for a beautiful appetizer,” Palandech said, adding that consumers also enjoy the raw honey products at breakfast time.
The company’s name is a reference to Boring, Oregon, a community near Portland where the couple are now making their home after the sale of Hip Chicks Farms, which produced frozen chicken products. With that business behind them, Palandech and Johnson began thinking about how they’d start a new food business in the small Oregon town that offered the benefit of being near where Palandech’s family had been living for the past 15 years. “I love creating companies. I love creating brands,” Palandech said. “Jen [Johnson] is a chef, and she wanted to create snack products focused on wellness.”
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Those first products, introduced last year, are packaged nuts with enough hemp extract in each blend to offer 25 mg of full-spectrum hemp extract per 1-ounce bag. There are two snack blends: Roasted Almonds with a Hint of Lavender and Roasted Almonds, Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt. The lavender in the blend comes from their new home farm, where Palandech and Johnson grow about 1,000 lavender plants on a couple of acres. “It’s a very popular crop in the area because it grows so well in our little microclimate in Oregon,” Palandech said. “I’m good at making food and making brands. Farming, I don’t think is my expertise, but lavender is very forgiving.”
The newest product uses raw honey sourced from hives on their property along with honey raised on another 800 hives around Klackamas County, Oregon. Almonds and walnuts for the products come from a third-generation farmer in California, and most of the fruits are sourced from Oregon growers, Palandech said. “There is a thriving and supportive food and beverage industry here that we’ve been able to tap into, and I love being part of it,” she said.
The raw honey products are packed in 7-ounce jars. Boring Bees combines the honey with figs, apricots, dried blueberries, walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews and pumpkin seeds. Hot Honey is raw honey with chiles and walnuts, and Lavender Honey is raw honey with dried lavender and almonds. The suggested retail price for each 7-ounce jar is $6.99.
Distribution for the honey products is through DPI. For more information, visit www.aboringlife.com.