Posted by Lynsie Watkins
Mon, 19 May 2008 13:31:00 GMT
Just an observation…
The other day I was in the grocery store (Harris Teeter) and I noticed something odd. Over the past few years, but especially the past few months, I’ve noticed the grocery chain’s introduction of locally made food items. I’ve seen things like jams and jellies, mostly. There’s Route 11 chips, of course…and lately, there’s even been an artisanal bread maker from Richmond selling sandwich loaves. It’s pretty fantastic to see at least some locally made foods for the choosing.
Sadly, I’ve noticed something else-quite appalling, really. The locally produced food has been moving, slowly and methodically, to the back of the store. In one case, there’s even a stand of jams that’s currently sitting in a dark "employees only" entrance. (Specifically next to the fish counter, on the right hand side closest to the juices and "fresh" fruit.) If I were deciding between my cheaply priced Smuckers jam and the normally priced locally made jam, there’s no doubt that the latter’s creepy location would deter me entirely from even approaching. This, to me, is devestatingly sad. As far as I’m concerned, what the grocery store is saying to me is, "We don’t care about this local food because the markup isn’t as high, so let’s sell as little as possible so that we can drop the account and stick with our cheap ingredient-based staples." Sigh. It really does make me sad. What are we going to do when gas prices get so high that Smuckers will inevitably have to raise their prices? I don’t want our turn to purchasing local food to be one of obligatory action, but instead one of well-thought out choice in an effort to support our local farmers.
What can we do? We can start by approaching the manager of any grocery store, and requesting specific brands of food. We can ask our friends to do the same. The way it seems to go is that the manager/buyer will respond to a collective request. But be sure that if we ask for it, and then we don’t make an effort to buy it, "it" will be gone quicker than you can find it!
Posted in Sustainability | Tags artisanal, bread, food, grocery, in, jam, local, season, store | no comments
Posted by Lynsie Watkins
Thu, 08 May 2008 01:18:00 GMT
You know something’s good for the planet if you, yourself, can digest it with out a problem. Don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this, but at Perfect Flavor, all of our packaging is either biodegradable, compostable, or recyclable. This includes our ice cream containers, our tasting spoons, our straws, knives, even our trash bags are made out of PLA, or corn (polylactic acid). These components of our business, according to our standards, MUST be Earth friendly since they get thrown “away,” not digested. (Where is “away” anyway? Could it be a very convenient form of denial??)
At Perfect Flavor, we want a zero waste model in any way that we can manage. When our containers and implements are tossed in the trash (currently there are no recycling programs available for PLA in Virginia that I know of) they biodegrade in a landfill over the course of a few years, during which time they break down back into the original materials from which they were created. The result is the first man-made material that supports a true cradle-to-cradle model. Dirt-PLA-Dirt. And while they decompose, they don’t even emit any harmful toxins into the environment. While I’m proud of the lengths we’ve gone to ensure that our business is as environmentally conscious as possible, there’s a green achievement of ours that gives me more pride and hope for the future than anything else.
Our foam.
That’s right. Something as simple as foam makes me smile from ear to ear. Our foam is more than just your average garden variety foam. It’s green, biodegradable (compostable), and what’s more-we’re the only company using this foam for food packaging in the US. We always knew we wanted to ship our ice cream, mainly because we wanted our business to be a viable one, and shipping our ice cream seemed to be the best way to reach our market.
If we could, we would only sell in Central Virginia, but since our ice cream is such a high end specialty product, it’s not an every day sort of purchase, and therefore could not be supported by everyone, everyday.
If we have to ship, we decided, let’s do it with as much integrity toward our business and our environment as possible.
We needed an insulated shipping container, but all we could find were polystyrene models, which once made, can take 10,000 plus years to biodegrade in a landfill—not exactly a good fit for us and our ideals. However, we knew that people were using corn starch peanuts instead of poly peanuts. Not only are the corn starch peanuts better for the environment, but they also make really great crafts! You can lick the ends and fuse each piece together to create a whole host of stick figures and peace signs. We thought that surely where there were peanuts there would be foam. We were right and wrong.
There was foam out there made of corn, but no one was using it yet. In fact, we were the first ones to ask for it. After months of research, we had a breakthrough. We found GreenCell Foam, and contacted them immediately. Yes, they would make it for us, however since we were the first food business to ask for it, they set us up with a packaging design firm, KTM Industries. For more than six months, GreenCell Foam was tested using our product and our requirements. The end product is a fabulous chunk of corn foam that we can eat, mold, or just throw in our backyard compost pile. After all, once it rains, the foam will be gone, and dirt will be in its place.
Currently, Perfect Flavor is the poster child for GreenCell Foam. We use it in every package we send off, and we encourage recipients to take the foam and throw it in their backyards, too. If one feels daring enough, we invite our customers to take a little nibble out of a corner, after all-it isn’t every day that one comes across digestible packaging!
I’m constantly on a quest to encourage other business owners and plain old citizens to make the switch to green packaging. For more info, please contact us or go to KTM’s website. If you’d like a sample, please visit our store to purchase sample packs for home and business use. We want this to be accessible to anyone interested, so please get in touch! If you’re feeling really moved, please visit our supplier’s page to order.
lynsie@perfectflavor.com
Posted in Sustainability | Tags biodegradable, environment, green, packaging, sustainability | no comments
Posted by Lynsie Watkins
Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:59:00 GMT
It's funny. We always thought it would be a good idea to create a company that was serious about sustainability, but really FUN when it came to giving our customers free range to choose the perfect gift themselves! It turns out other people think so, too.
From start to finish, base to mix-ins, our customers are part of every aspect of their ice cream design process. After designing their very own batch of chocolate almond toffee ice cream, they can even name it anything they want.
Such is the story of a woman named Erika, who came in just last week, a few months pregnant, searching for the perfect favor to hand out at her baby shower in May. She's pregnant with her first baby and is so excited! What she wants is a gift that says thank you to her friends and family, but in a truly personal way. And that's what she got. She chose two different flavors of sorbet, a gallon each, and split them up into small 4 oz. serving size portions. Erika wants to name each flavor something different, and since she knows she's having a boy, she's going to put a personalized sticker on the lid of each sorbet container. Each of her guests will get a little cup of sorbet, flavored with fresh local produce that's in full growing season by mid-May.
It was such a thrill and accomplishment after all our hard work to be a part of this celebration in her life! I'm sure her guests will love her personalized flavors and gifts, and I look forward to many more of her celebrations.
Posted in Business, Sustainability | no comments
Posted by Lynsie Watkins
Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:08:00 GMT
Imagine that! Can something be short in duration, size, quantity, but be sweet, enjoyable, and worth living for, too? Of course it can.
I've had some amazing people walk into my shop over the last two weeks since opening my doors. People like Elizabeth Massie, whose enthusiasm at the prospect of supporting art and culture through the act of eating is hopefully as contagious as the black plague! Yes, the ice cream I make is expensive compared to all other brands. Could the reason for this be that it is also different from everything else out there? Is it possible that my ice cream's sole purpose of existence is to educate, or re-educate people, rather, on the act of enjoyment in simple, deluxe pleasures?
A lot of people walk through my doors and gasp literally out loud at the relatively small serving sizes I offer and their related prices. How much is it worth to be fulfilled physically and mentally by something as simple as food?
In France, Italy and especially India food is seen as a healing resource. Something to be celebrated, enjoyed, and worshiped. It is well worth the price for a high quality/high cost food delicacy. For some sad reason, we have lost that idea here. It shouldn't be about how big, how much. It should be about what, where, when, how, why. What is it I'm about to eat, where did it come from, when was it made, how was it created, and most importantly: why?
I make my ice cream because I want desperately to offer something that is simple, pure, healthy, delicious and good for everything and everyone it involves. So, is it worth spending your money on something that feeds your body, soul, and the earth? I think so.
Besides, what could be better than sitting outside on a warm Spring day, savoring a delightfully sized portion of bittersweet chocolate gelato? mmmmmm.....
Posted in Business, Ice Cream, Sustainability | no comments
Posted by Lynsie Watkins
Mon, 30 Apr 2007 16:18:00 GMT
Sweet Briar College is a diamond in the rough, or should I say pearl in the oyster? It is a women's college situated in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains located near Amherst & Lynchburg, Virginia. This beautiful college sits on a little over 3,000 acres of rolling hills, wooded hiking trails, and old farmland where horses still live and play and cows once grazed.
Sweet Briar College is about 45 minutes from the Perfect Flavor headquarters, and it also just so happens to be where I was lucky enough to go to school. I love Sweet Briar, and what's more, I love what Sweet Briar represents: a love for the environment.
Colin and I recently went down to SBC to hand out free ice cream, give out amusing shirts, and most of all,spread the word about what it is we do at Perfect Flavor: Sustainability. While I wasn't shocked in any way at SBC's progressiveness (and aggressiveness) in its recent steps to protect and maintain our beautiful environment, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there's a lot going on in terms of enviro-protection, eco-friendly practices, and sustainability education.
Upon arriving, I met with Wayne Stark, Director of Career Services, who informed me that SBC President Elizabeth Muhlenfeld had just recently signed on to be part of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. This commitment is a promise made by College and University Presidents to attain a position of climate neutrality within two years of signing the agreement. For more information check out this article. I'm sorry, but the only words for this are: "THIS IS HUGE!" The University of Virginia, which is located in Charlottesville, VA, just 6 miles east of Perfect Flavor headquarters, actually turned down this opportunity. It will be costly, it certainly will require lots of change at SBC (and with all other colleges and universities who have signed on) but it is guaranteeing a safegaurd against global warming that no other program on the college level can ensure. We are saving ourselves from ourselves, and President Muhlenfeld has a made valiant and honorable commitment to protect SBC and our world for all the years to come. Thank you, Betsy!!!
Posted in Sustainability
Posted by Lynsie Watkins
Wed, 21 Feb 2007 22:21:00 GMT
...or rather their farmers, that is.
Message reads: "HELP! We at Perfect Flavor are searching this great state of Virginia for dairy farmers who have got extra milk to supply to us. Can you help?" End message.
That's right. We get our milk locally, and only locally. We get our milk from small farms, unpasteurized, the natural, and not to mention, good ol' way. As I was told just last week from a colleague,
"What you're doing at Perfect Flavor is new. To my knowledge, it's never been done this way before. You're blazing a trail for everyone else, so just remember this: it's going to be difficult, but NOT impossible."
He's right, and more and more I'm beginning to realize this. What we're doing is not easy. We're not calling up Sysco or Shenandoah's Pride to get our ingredients and milk. We're contacting farmers. Farmers whose office phone number is the same as their home number. What does this mean? It means that when we call to speak with them during our business hours, they're out on the farm! It's hard to reach them sometimes, which means that we have resorted back to the ancient methods of our ancestors: snail mail=). Life's tough when you're trying to start a business that's based on sustainability and good livin'.
At Perfect Flavor, our goal is to get everything that we can possibly get locally, no exceptions. What we can't get locally, like vanilla beans, we get organically. One of the things I hear over and over again ringing through my ears is an expression Colin used at the onset of our planning for this business: "Do well by doing good." It's easy...why go to a big dairy distributor for our "ultra-pasteurized vitamin-enriched milk" when we can get it straight from the source? Sure, that means a few extra steps for us to take, like pasteurizing the milk ourselves, but when you've got the big picture in mind, it's well worth the effort.
When we first introduced the concept of Perfect Flavor and our goal to make every item from scratch, we found Colin's kids asking questions like "Is this homemade?" at the beginning of every meal. Now that we're buying produce from the very same local farms for our own family that we're using for the business, I predict the kids will start asking..."Did this come from Polyface Farm or Best of What's Around Farm?" (ya know, the one Dave Matthews dreamt up).
Besides supplying our business with healthy, fantastic ingredients that benefit our environment, our economy, our agriculture, and ourselves, we do have another goal in mind. We hope that by offering a list of all of our local suppliers with their contact information, that you the consumer will take action to become more active in your community, through your local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program or just by picking up the phone and calling a farm near you, or better yet, walking up to the doorstep of that farm you pass by all the time on your way home from work, and asking if they'd be interested in supplying YOU. Visit your local farmers' markets, shop locally owned and operated restaurants and food stores. Know not only what you're eating, but where it came from.
It's easy, healthy, and productive. Remember: if you do well by doing good, you'll be joining our team in the fight for sustainability, and we're not such a bad team to be on!
Posted in Business, Sustainability
