PAGE 4 — 2011 Addison County Guide to Local Food and Farms
Photo courtesy Jessie Raymond
Local processing on the rise
By Tamara Hilmes and Andrea Suozzo
ADDISON COUNTY — When Francie Caccavo started making croutons in her kitchen over 20 years ago, she knew she wanted to use only the best ingredients. Local grains, Cabot butter, organic herbs and Grafton and Shelburne Farms cheddar were Caccavo’s tools of the trade, and the endeavor blossomed into a successful business.
the added obstacles, some Addison County entrepreneurs say it’s worthwhile.
Bristol Works!
Kevin Harper and Robert Fuller, two of three businessmen behind the upcoming Bristol Works! development that will take over the former Autumn Harp space in Bristol, use only high-quality, local ingredients at the Bristol Olivia’s Croutons Bakery and Café, which they co-own. The In 2009, Caccavo’s homemade business pair plans to expand their baked goods brand outgrew her kitchen and moved into an into commercial production in the new Bristol 8,000-square-foot renovated barn and began Works! manufacturing space. producing as many as 1500 bags of croutons “We’re both very excited about the idea of per day. Caccavo was now producing on a mass taking what we have here at the bakery and scale for resale all over the United States, but expanding it,” Harper said. “We hand make despite the spike in business, one thing stayed everything seven days a week and it’s all made the same: her ingredients. from scratch and a vast amount of it is from At Olivia’s Croutons, it’s go local, or go home. local, raw materials.” In recent years, the The idea, Harper said, is to take farm-to-table and local a handmade product and drop it foods movement has been “This is first and into a retail environment without trickling down through foremost about losing any of the original quality. Vermont, from Hardwick Bristol Works!, Harper hopes, in the north — featured in the grower, and will provide the infrastructure the 2010 book “The Town creating viable needed to get this type of local that Food Saved,” — to processing underway. business opporAddison County, in the “We hope to build on the tunities that will heart of the state. Bristol Bakery brand as a way Now, Addison County help make family to get the word out of quality entrepreneurs and farmers local ingredients in products for alike are following suit, farms in Vermont distribution up and down the getting into the nitty-gritty sustainable.” Champlain Valley,” Harper said. of increasing the county’s “We’ll launch with an enterprise — David Dolginow that takes the values and reliance on homegrown food. products from the Bristol Bakery In January, Vermont retail kitchen and move it into legislators churned out the “Farm to Plate the commercial kitchen where we can produce Strategic Plan,” which provides a roadmap greater volumes without taking away from the to inspire new infrastructure and growth in quality of the product, then we’ll package and Vermont’s food and farm sector. The plan aims distribute.” to create new jobs and to make healthier, locally The Bristol Works! complex will house a large produced foods more easily accessible to the commercial kitchen that Harper plans to lease average Vermonter. out to other local producers in addition to using In this part of the state, the Addison County it for his own products. In this way, Harper is Relocalization Network (ACORN) is taking looking to bolster local processing on a broader a lead in beefing up the local food market, and scale rather than focusing solely on turning a others are already hopping onboard. profit. One of the key ingredients to a stronger “By leading by example we can attract local foods market is the processing of local entrepreneurs and small-scale food purveyors ingredients into more viable products. Several who might be making it in their kitchen Addison County names are making strides in or barn and need a true, commercial-scale the processing sector, including Shoreham’s manufacturing space,” he said. “It’s part of a Vermont Refrigerated Storage, the Bristol larger manufacturing scheme — the idea of a Bakery and Café in Bristol and Olivia’s Croutons shared infrastructure system.” in New Haven. And by sharing equipment like steam or water Relying on locally grown ingredients for large- kettles, small-scale food manufacturers can get scale production poses a number of challenges. access to commercial equipment they need at a Availability — both in terms of quantity and lower cost. time of year — is always an issue, and crop “Think of it as a large, flexible commercial ... continued on page 5 consistency can be hit or miss. But despite