I love to drive out into the country and visit our suppliers. It is one of my favorite things to do at Anna’s Gourmet Goodies. While we don’t visit with everyone who makes products for our cookies, there is something special about getting to know the people who work so hard to make the ingredients we use. They are doing the work that most folks probably think little about on a day to day basis. Cathy, June, Dewey, Terry, Frank, Ray, and many others go about their daily task to bring the staples of life to our table. They are doing the real work.
As we always like to do just before Christmas, Anna and I headed out on our day trip together, visiting, sharing and thanking those people who helped our business during the year. This past December, we decided to visit the suppliers for our Artisan Cookies, Lindley Mills, Latta’s Egg Ranch, and Homeland Creamery.
Our first stop was at Lindley Mills. I’ve been buying flour direct from the mill since about 2003. I cannot remember ever walking in the door and seeing anything other than a beaming smile from June and Cathy (even when I don’t have cookies in hand). They don’t check email on their phones or hide behind some terminal (they don’t have Internet access at the mill). They always have time for catching up and asking about our business.
While we are there picking up our comparatively small order, they’ll be loading semi-tractor trailers with product bound for large bakeries and distributors. Everyone will be greeted with the same warmth and genuine caring. Dewey gets off the forklift, throws a couple of 25 pound sacks on his shoulders, and carefully loads up our vehicle by hand. As always, he smiles and wishes me a nice afternoon.
I’ve had the opportunity to sit and visit with Joe Lindley and I understand exactly why the people at Lindley Mills are like they are. His philosophy of building sincere, long term relationships with his customers is not some business strategy, it is simply who they are and how they live. He works hard to build and run his business so that the business can take care of the people who work hard for him.
Our next stop was the Homeland Creamery in Julian, NC. Terri was still out to lunch so we visited with Cookie (that’s her name, seriously – imagine that). She works at the retail operation, along with her ‘adopted’ sister and her sister’s daughter. Practically everyone who works there comes from the local community or their church. The Bowman Family that runs the dairy is a sixth (heading into seventh) generation of farmers caring for the animals and the land. This is truly a community and family business.
Talking with them, you get a sense that working at the Creamery is not simply another job, but a way of life that you probably won’t find in corporate retail operations. It’s a mild day in December with just a touch of rain falling, but there is a steady flow of customers driving miles from the nearest town for a scoop of ice cream. Everyone is served with a smile and leaves with a smile.
Terri came back from lunch and we visited for awhile, talking about business and our plans for 2012. It was going on 2:00 p.m. and ‘The Girls’ were beginning to make their way to the barn, heavy with milk and looking forward to getting a little relief. In a few days, when much of the world is fast asleep looking forward to Christmas morning, ‘The Girls’ will wander toward the barn around 2:00 a.m. and a group of farm hands will do the work of taking their milk, just as they do every day of the week, 365 days a year.
Our final stop was at Latta’s Egg Ranch. When we arrived, Frank Latta had left, but Ray was there just finishing up the afternoon’s egg packing. Ray has been working on the farm since he was old enough to walk. I’ve watched him stand over the light table, carefully inspecting each egg for cracks, embryos or other imperfections before they get packaged.
It is the same routine that happens every day, 365 days a year at Latta’s egg ranch. On Christmas morning, they’ll be out gathering the eggs before breakfast, just as they do every day because chickens lay eggs every day. And someone has to care for them. Frank, Ray and the rest of the Latta family do just that.
Visiting with our suppliers and getting to know the people that work there, is an incredibly valuable part of our business. They are doing real work, every single day that adds value to our business and touches the lives of many people. Not just in our local area, but around the country.
At Anna’s Gourmet Goodies, our customers place orders on our website, over the phone and by email. We have never met or spoken to many of our customers. But I want you to know that despite using technology to facilitate the transaction part of our business, we understand and value those people who ‘do the work’. We try to connect with them. And we put that same effort and passion into the cookies we make. Each one by hand – weighed before it is baked. Packed with love and care, and sent off to someone, somewhere, with the hope that when they take that first bite, they’ll feel that connection back to those who are doing the work, every day of the year, to put food on our table.