Our Member Deals Spotlight shines brightly this week on Vermont Nut Free Chocolates! From April 14th – 20th, Co-op member-owners can enjoy a 20% discount on Vermont Nut Free Chocolates’ full line of confections! Read on to learn more about the inspiration behind this line of allergen-friendly treats and the family that makes the magic happen!
Vermont Nut Free Chocolates was founded in 1998 by the mother of a little boy with a potentially life-threatening peanut allergy. Gail and Mark Elvidge first learned of their son Tanner’s allergy when he suffered a reaction at 8 months old. They were shocked, concerned, and frightened to see this reaction in their small child. To ensure their son’s safety they began to thoroughly read ingredient labels and discovered that the hardest product to find for a nut allergic child was chocolate.
Gail & Tanner Elvidge
Many chocolate companies manufacture products that contain nuts which makes their other products unsafe for nut allergies because of cross-contamination on shared production lines and facilities. Not wanting Tanner to miss out on a childhood indulgence, Gail began making homemade chocolate that was guaranteed safe. The combination of love for her son and passion for chocolate inspired Gail to create Vermont Nut Free Chocolates, a company dedicated to making quality tree nut and peanut-free confections. Vermont Nut Free Chocolates is now located in Colchester, Vermont, and is proud to continue its production in a dedicated nut-free facility with over 30 devoted employees.
They are proud to have a dedicated peanut and tree nut free facility that uses only the finest nut free ingredients available. Their products are handmade and hand-wrapped in Vermont, the old-fashioned way, in small batches to guarantee quality and freshness.
Be sure to visit their website to check out their collection of recipes for chocolate cakes and frostings using their allergen-friendly chocolate!
This delicious casserole makes a perfect dish for your Easter brunch, or any occasion when you need to feed a crowd. You’ll find ham and potatoes featured in our Weekly Sale from April 14th – 20th, so it’s a perfect time to give this recipe a try! The original recipe did not include ham and it’s easy to leave it out if you prefer. It’s a fan favorite of our Produce Manager, Kira, who declared it “the most decadently delicious”!
Looking to give your workout routine a spring makeover? Or perhaps you’ve set some new fitness goals and you’re ready to take that first step? We invite you to check out this month’s featured Co-op Connection Business — Middlebury Fitness! Flash your Co-op member-owner card and you’ll receive 50% off the enrollment fee and your first class or workout is FREE! Read on to learn more about what this community wellness center has to offer:
Middlebury Fitness is a community health and wellness center founded in 1997 that puts its members’ needs first. Their facility features a wide variety of the most current strength and cardio equipment by the leading brands in the industry. Is group fitness your thing? They offer a variety of live and remote programs and group fitness classes to meet the diverse and ever-changing needs of their member base, ranging from ages 13 to 93. Click here for their class calendar and descriptions. Other services and amenities include personal training, free equipment orientations, athletic performance training, Dietician consultations, saunas, and more!
The crew at Middlebury Fitness is incredibly proud to be so active in this great community and annually receives recognition and awards for various initiatives. For the past four consecutive years, they have received the United Way of Addison County’s “Partner Award” for an annual event that has raised $60,000 for our local friends and families in need since 2014. Wow!! They were also the 2018 recipients of the prestigious BOB (Best of Business) award in the Health Club category by Vermont Business Magazine.
At Middlebury Fitness they understand that you have options when it comes to your health and fitness needs. They aim to meet and exceed their members’ expectations every day and believe they have some of the most attentive, caring, professional, and knowledgeable instructors, personal trainers, and staff you will find. Their ultimate goal at Midd Fit is to ensure that each of their members achieves their personal fitness goals while experiencing exceptional customer service in a supportive atmosphere of fun and camaraderie.
If you are a current member, they’d like to extend a sincere THANK YOU for being a part of the Midd Fit family! If you are not yet a member, please visit and let Middlebury Fitness guide you through your fitness journey today! And don’t forget to mention that you’re a Co-op member-owner!
We’re shining a bright Member Deals Spotlight on Sunja’s this week! This local business has been keeping our shelves stocked with authentic Korean kimchi since the early 1990s. In fact, their team tells us that our Co-op was one of their very first retail accounts! All of Sunja’s nutrient-dense, probiotic-packed products are 20% off for member-owners from March 17th – 23rd, so it’s a great time to stock up and save! Read on to learn more about the inspiration behind this local woman-owned business carrying on the Korean kimchi-making tradition for Vermonters to enjoy:
The seed for Sunja’s Oriental Foods was first planted in 1993 when Sunja Hayden began offering cooking classes in her small Northfield, Vermont community. Participants couldn’t get enough of her healthy, delicious traditional Korean foods, which inspired Sunja to began producing food for a retail market. Another motivating force was her awareness of the fact that so many foods we consume contain unhealthy chemical additives and preservatives. Sunja understood the critical role of all-natural, preservative-free, non-GMO foods for health and wellness and wanted to share more of her traditional foods with her community.
According to Sunja, “I started my company in 1993 because of my affection for healthy eating and my desire to serve my family and friends good, real, healthy food. My love for preparing delicious and healthy meals soon transformed into a desire to do the same for others. I believe in the importance of natural foods with live enzymes, which help the digestive process.”
Sunja making a batch of kimchi in the early days of launching her business.
Here at the Co-op, you’ll find a lineup of several varieties of Sunja’s kimchi. This traditional fermented Korean dish is typically served as a condiment at every meal and there are hundreds of varieties of Korean kimchi depending on regional and family preferences. Kimchi is raw, living food that is rich in flavor, high in nutritional value, and naturally fermented to create rich probiotics from the live beneficial bacteria present on the vegetables. The fermentation process also makes the nutrients in the vegetables more bioavailable and easily assimilated by our bodies. The end product offers a robust source of beta-carotene, calcium, iron, and Vitamins A, C, B1, and B2. It also boasts a long list of potential health benefits including improved gut health, digestion, and immunity.
Sunja’s kimchi is produced in Waterbury, VT, and the fresh vegetables are sourced locally whenever possible. Sunja is proud to support local farms and is very particular about how the produce is grown for her kimchi, specifying that her kimchi is made with the freshest vegetables and does not contain any preservatives, sugar, MSG, or additives of any kind. Sunja’s products are also naturally gluten-free and vegan and are third-party verified by the Non-GMO Project.
Whether you’re new to eating kimchi or a seasoned pro, we think you’ll love the recipes on Sunja’s webpage! They’ll provide plenty of inspiration for ways to enjoy this Korean superfood!
If you’re a lover of Vermont artisan cheese, then you’re likely no stranger to the producer basking in the glow of this week’s Member Deals Spotlight — Jasper Hill Farm. And we think you’ll be thrilled to hear that from March 10th – 16th, Co-op member-owners can enjoy a 20% discount on their full lineup of award-winning local cheeses! Read on to learn more about the brothers behind this epic operation, their innovative approach to cheesemaking, and the legendary underground cellars where they age cheeses to ripe perfection:
Deep in the heart of the dairy country of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom is a dairy farm like no other. A glimpse of the main barn, painted deep-space blue with cows in astronaut attire and a moon made of cheese, provides the first hint that you’ve landed somewhere unique. Brothers Andy and Mateo, along with their wives, Victoria and Angie, knew they needed to do something different when they purchased this derelict dairy farm in 1998 — the same year that one-third of the neighboring dairy farms in the community sold their cows under intense financial pressures. Small-scale farms like this were becoming more difficult to keep up and running – a 50 cow farm like theirs would have to compete with average herd sizes of about 900 cows out west, as all of that milk is priced by the same commodity market. But the brothers were eager to find meaningful work in the place that they loved and wanted to demonstrate the ability to make a good living milking 45 grass-fed Ayrshire cows on a rocky hillside in Vermont.
Brothers Andy & Mateo Kehler. Image by Colin Clark.
Over the next 5 years, they worked hard to patch up the barn, build up their herd, improve their pastures, construct a creamery, and carve out a cave that would provide the ideal conditions for aging European-style natural rind cheeses. By 2003, they were ready to sell their very first cheeses and quickly amassed a strong following in the burgeoning American artisan cheese market. An interesting call from neighboring Cabot Creamery would change the course of their plans and set them down a path that involved creating opportunities for other local cheesemakers to get their product to peak potential. Like most cheesemakers, Cabot lacked a space dedicated to cultivating natural rinds. In fact, their warehouses were focused on keeping surface mold away from cheese. The Kehlers were nearby, hungry to grow their business, and most importantly, had a temperature and humidity controlled space designed to grow natural rinds. The result was Cabot Clothbound Cheddar and the awards and accolades soon followed, as one of the first batches took home Best of Show at the 2006 American Cheese Society Conference. Andy & Mateo recognized the potential in these kinds of collaborations and drew up plans for an expanded aging facility beneath one of the pastures of Jasper Hill Farm.
The Cellars at Jasper Hill
Two years later, they formally opened the Cellars at Jasper Hill — a 22,000 square-foot aging facility featuring seven vaults specifically calibrated for various cheese types. This allowed them to partner with a network of other local cheesemakers and reduce the barriers to entry for those interested in value-added production. According to their website, “ripening work for natural-rind cheeses takes up more than 70% of the labor for a batch of cheese, over its lifetime. By pooling these efforts, farmstead producers could spend more time focusing on the true drivers of cheese quality: milk production and cheesemaking. Instead of sending hundreds of small boxes through the post, refrigerated trucks now pick up pallets of cheese destined for regional and national distributors. The Cellars is now the final stop for cheeses coming from six different creameries. Its mission is to be the standard-bearer for quality and innovation in the artisan cheese industry.”
The award-winning Harbison. Image by Bob Montgomery
Andy & Mateo have a knack for distilling the local landscape into their cheeses. They took this approach to new heights in 2013 when they opened a state-of-the-art laboratory on their farm, complete with a staff of food microbiology experts. The idea for this new endeavor was sparked by their partnership with Harvard scientist Dr. Rachel Dutton in 2010, who was using cheese as a model to research how small microbial communities interact. One of the profound discoveries of Dr. Dutton’s work was the notion that the environment (cows, cheese caves, pastures) and methods (washing, salting, managing acidity) were as important to the development of cheese rinds, if not more so, than the ingredients. Microbes, including yeast and bacteria, are critical partners in the cheesemaking process, turning milk into solids, and those solids into cheeses with distinctive aromas, flavors, and textures. American cheesemakers have very limited options when sourcing the cultures for their cheeses, as there are only three domestic suppliers of these critical microbes, all of which are multinational chemical corporations, including DuPont and Cargill. This significantly limits the number of available cultures and stifles the individualism that artisanal cheesemakers crave.
The happy grass-fed cows of Jasper Hill Farm. Image by Blake Noyes.
With strong science to support Dr. Dutton’s findings, a new lab, and a team of microbiologists lending their expertise, Jasper Hill Farm has been able to experiment with creating their own microbial cultures, which are sourced directly from the milk produced by the cows on their farm. They have also found that their raw milk cheeses, like Winnimere, contain all of the microbes needed to produce a fantastic cheese, thus avoiding the need to add microbial cultures. While this all may sound very high-tech for something as rudimentary farmstead cheese, Andy and Mateo are quick to point out that a cheese will never be better than the milk that it’s made from, you can’t make good milk without healthy animals, and you can’t have healthy animals without a healthy landscape filled with nutrient-dense forage. The microbial ecology of raw milk is the sum of these practices on a farm.
The proof of success lies in the supreme quality of the cheeses coming out of the Cellars at Jasper Hill. Their cheeses have garnered a long list of awards including ‘Best American Cheese’ at the World Cheese Awards and ‘Best in Show’ at the American Cheese Society for Harbison; an American Cheese Society ‘Best in Class’ for Bayley Hazen Blue, and two Top 20 nods at the 2020 World Championship Cheese Contest for Highlander and Lait Bloomer. If you’re worried it might all be going to their heads, a quick trip to their YouTube channel will reassure you that they’re not taking themselves too seriously. The music video parodies are a must-see, as is a clip of their Bayley Hazen Blue being shot into Earth’s outer atmosphere with the help of a weather balloon, an HD camera, and GPS tracking software. The cheese was successfully lofted 100,000 feet up and then retrieved where it parachuted down a couple of towns to the west of the Greensboro, VT launch site. Talk about stellar cheese!!
The Bayley Hazen Blue Moon launch. Image by Ryan Nolan.
There are few things more alluring than the smell of freshly-baked bread mingling with the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee and baked goods, all of which are part of the experience when visiting Burlington’s Great Harvest Bread Company Bakery and Cafe. But when a trip to Burlington isn’t in the cards, we’re thrilled to say that you can still get your fix for that incredible fresh-baked bread right here at the Co-op. Great Harvest Bread Company is basking in the glow of our Member Deals Spotlight this week and all of their lovely loaves are 20% off for member-owners from March 3rd – 9th. Read on to learn more about these Burlington-based millers and bakers of wholesome whole-grain bread and goodies:
Burlington’s Great Harvest Bread Company first opened its doors in 2003. At the helm were co-owners Sara and Ethan Brown, who had first met at a Great Harvest Bread Company bakery in Montana (the business is a franchise of the Montana-based company of the same name) and dreamed of opening their own. They set up shop on Burlington’s Pine Street in a former maple syrup factory and became hands-on owners with Ethan stone milling the whole wheat flour, baking the bread, and serving customers while Sara managed the business and its employees, made soup for the café in her nearby home kitchen (equipped with a caterer’s license), and tended the hillside garden she planted in front of the bakery.
By 2018, the Browns were looking for a change and found eager new buyers in Chris Brown (no relation) and Joanne Casale. According to a feature in 7 Days, Chris is a seventh-generation Vermonter with plenty of experience in the food scene, having previously worked at Keurig Green Mountain. Joanne is also no stranger to food service – her family ran an Italian eatery in upstate New York where she grew up. The couple picked up right where Sara and Ethan left off, continuing the tradition of house-milled, long-fermented, freshly baked bread and baked goods. They freshly mill 100% whole grain, pesticide-free, non-GMO flour every day on their Meadows stone mill at the back of the bakery. Using long fermentation times and hands-on traditional methods of baking, they create breads that are truly one-of-a-kind, simple, wholesome, and delicious.
Here at the Co-op, you’ll find a full lineup of their breads, including Farmer’s White, Honey Whole Wheat, Dakota, High 5 Fiber, and Nine Grain. Try them all and let us know your favorites!
Drip, drip, drip….we can almost hear the maple sap beginning to collect in pails in sugarbushes across Vermont and our Weekly Sale from March 3rd – 9th celebrates the start of sugaring season with a handful of ingredients well suited to a hearty maple-themed breakfast! You’ll find local, organic, dark robust maple syrup quarts from Shaker Maple Farm; local apples from Champlain Orchards; local, organic granola from Patrick’s Artisan Bakery; local, organic Rogers Farmstead yogurt; local Brio coffee; and ham steaks that are just begging for a maple glaze. This recipe pulls together many of those ingredients into a Vermont breakfast spread that also doubles as a decadent dessert when you swap out the local yogurt with a scoop of Strafford Organic Creamery’s ice cream or Larson’s Farm & Creamery gelato.
In this era of pandemic isolation, where most of our social interactions occurred on a screen and our only occasion to put on real pants was a grocery and take-out run, it’s easy to see how our self-care and grooming routines may have fallen by the wayside. Now that we’re beginning to collectively emerge from this period of hibernation, returning to in-person meetings and safe social gatherings, we happen to think it’s a great time to visit our featured Co-op Connection business for March – Honey Wax Bar! They offer a generous 10% discount to card-carrying Co-op member-owners through the Co-op Connection program, so what are you waiting for?! Read on to learn more about Honey Wax Bar and the skilled esthetician who is excited to help you feel your confident best, no matter the occasion:
Honey Wax Bar founder and owner Hannah Zeno felt called to this line of work by a desire to make all things beautiful and an understanding that real beauty begins within. Her path to becoming a holistic esthetician began by studying nutrition and coaching at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in NYC and an extensive yoga teacher training program to learn more about the foundations of balance and strength. She studied esthetics for almost a decade with continuing education in makeup, oncology, chemical peels, and most recently lash lifting and microblading. Hannah strives to transform her clients into the most outstanding and glowing version of themselves, helping them feel beautiful from the inside out.
Holistic Esthetician Hannah Zeno, photographed by Elisabeth Waller Photography
Formally known as Honey Holistic Esthetics, Honey Wax Bar is Middlebury’s local go-to waxing and permanent make-up beauty bar. They offer a range of services, from waxing to brow tinting to lash lifting and microblading, all intended to gently assist you along your journey to feeling your absolute most radiant self. Whether you are preparing for your honeymoon or in search of a quick pick-me-up, Honey Wax Bar provides the services to make you more confident in your new bikini or outfit behind closed doors. Located right in the heart of Middlebury, VT overlooking the river, Honey Wax Bar prides itself on its convenient booking system, especially for Middlebury College Students who can book their waxing appointment in between classes.
According to Hannah, “it is a pleasure to work with women and men who come to me looking for a change and want to explore more about the world of health and beauty. When a client makes an appointment, we focus not only on their immediate needs but also long-term beauty goals. My clients are the reason I’m at Honey!” To view their full menu of services, visit them online at honeywaxbarmiddlebury.com. To book an appointment now, text Hannah Zeno at 802-989-9122 or request an appointment online.
We’re shining a bright Member Deals Spotlight on Benito’s this week! Their full line of fresh Vermont craft hot sauce is 20% off for Co-op member-owners from February 24th – March 2nd — just in time to cook up something spicy for Mardi Gras! Read on to learn more about this unique business with a deep commitment to our local food system:
Benito’s Hot Sauce has been spicing things up from the Green Mountains of Vermont since 2008. What started with a pepper growing and fresh hot sauce-making hobby for family and friends ultimately led founder Ben Maniscalco to begin making sauces for the rest of us. He began cooking and bottling the sauce at the Vermont Food Venture Center in Fairfax, Vermont in the Fall of 2008 and eventually moved into his own facility in Morrisville, VT, in 2015. As the business grew, Ben steadily added new sauce varieties to create a well-rounded lineup with a range of heat levels and flavor profiles.
Benito’s Founder/Owner Ben Maniscalco
Maniscalco feels a deep sense of commitment to the local food system and has been able to develop strong relationships with a network of local farmers throughout Vermont. His aim is to source as many of his ingredients as possible from local growers. In 2021 Benito’s sourced over 10,000 pounds of organic Vermont grown chiles, other assorted veggies, and certified organic maple syrup from six local Vermont farms. All of Benito’s sauces are made with non-GMO and certified organic ingredients and avoid the use of filler ingredients like xanthan gum, extracts, pepper mash, pepper resin, corn starch, flour, corn syrup, or any artificial flavors or preservatives. All Benito’s hot sauces are cooked, bottled, labeled, and sealed by Benito himself.
Benito’s is also committed to giving back to their local communities whenever possible. In 2021, they were able to donate over 1,000 meals to the Vermont Foodbank to help Vermonters in need during this exceptionally challenging time.
According to his website, Maniscalco says that “ultimately, the purpose of what we do at Benito’s is not about big-name recognition. I have no desire to become the next Tabasco sauce. I am simply about producing a fresh and unique product that is always made with high-quality local ingredients. I love to hear that people are experimenting with our sauces and participating in the creation and stewardship of local food systems.”
Having a hard time deciding which sauce to try? Here’s a breakdown of Benito’s hot sauces and their heat and flavor profiles:
Original Naranja – for the seasoned hot sauce enthusiast but also a crowd-pleaser. It is a solid medium/hot and goes well on anything.
Joe’s #1 Jalatillo – has a jalapeno/tomatillo/garlic/ citrus lime flavor (great on Mexican food).
Mango Habanero – your classic summertime sweet-hot with an extra fresh flavor. No added sugar though, just fresh mangos in every batch.
White Hot – nicknamed “the guido killer”, this sauce is an onion, garlic, and ginger-based bhut jolokia (ghost) fortified torture trip…but with flavah!!!
Old Coy Dog – fresh Vermont-style take on a classic red southern-style hot sauce. We use the ghost chile but not all that much vinegar because we don’t make hot vinegar, we make hot sauce!
Local Tang – A Vermont favorite at farmers’ markets and local festivals. It combines Vermont-grown Fatali, Paper Lantern, and mild Trinidad peppers to produce an irresistible tangy heat that is perfect for eggs, tacos, and burritos.
Poto Rojo – our hottest blend made with Carolina Reaper Chile Peppers and organic Sicilian Blood Orange Juice. Yeah sure it is pretty warm, it has a bright southern sour flavor with a nice escalating heat.
Local organic Fresno chiles grown for Benito’s by Deep Meadow Farm in Ascutney, VT
Looking for something sweet for your sweetie? Whether you’re celebrating Valentine’s Day with your partner, observing Galentine’s Day with your best gals, or simply treating yourself to some self-love this Valentine’s Day, we think that a special treat from Daily Chocolate is a perfect way to celebrate. Our Member Deals Spotlight shines brightly on this local chocolatier and all of their decadently delicious products are 20% off for member-owners from February 10th – 16th. Read on to learn more about this sweet little chocolate shop hailing from Vergennes, Vermont, and the people who put the love into the chocolate:
Daily Chocolate opened in 2006, the creation of Florey Mahoney and her partner Chris White. Three years later, after planting firm roots at 7 Green Street, the shop was purchased by Jen Roberts and Judd Markowski, an extended family of the shop’s originators.
Jen continued to operate the Daily Chocolate for the next ten years, vastly expanding the menu, and growing its reputation for creating delectable and unique confections. Under Jen’s creativity, she expanded the wholesale markets throughout Addison and Chittenden Counties. Thanks to Jen, Daily Chocolate can be found at numerous coffee shops, farms, and healthy food markets. Helping Jen along the way was Christina Caniyo, author, apothecary, and chocolatier, who was with the shop since it first opened in 2005. Also, a regular at Daily Chocolate, Vergennes artist and chocolatier Bethany Farrell.
On December 1st of 2020 Daily Chocolate changed hands once again. Leading the shop into a new decade is artist and chocolatier Dawn Wagner.
Dawn’s first foray into chocolate was in the mid-’90s at Lake Champlain Chocolates. During her three years there she created some of the factory’s finer chocolates, produced entirely by hand, including many sculptures and other decorative pieces. After moving to NYC to pursue her theatrical career, Dawn continued to make chocolate both professionally for El Eden in the East Village, and privately through her own company cocoSNAP!
In 2016, after nearly 20 years in NYC working both Off and On-Broadway, Dawn, and her husband, actor Jeremy Holm made their triumphant return to Vergennes, Vermont. An old family friend to Jen’s husband Judd, Dawn immediately began working seasonally at Daily Chocolate beside Jen, and very happily joined the team full-time in the spring of 2019.
It is one of Dawn’s dreams-come-true to not only operate a chocolate shop but to be able to do it surrounded by friends and family in her home town.
Quality Ingredients
Daily Chocolate works hard to choose the finest ingredients for our recipes. We use natural, whole foods, free of artificial flavors and colors. Our chocolate is soy-free, and all of our recipes have been modified to remove corn syrup and white sugar. We are committed to shopping locally and organic whenever possible. We are happy to support our local farmers by using Monument Farms dairy, local Vermont maple syrup, & honey, Lincoln Peak Wine, and Cabot Creamery’s butter.
Sustainability
Daily Chocolate is committed to the wellbeing of our planet. Over the past few years, we have worked hard to reduce excessive plastics and increase recycled and biodegradable packaging and shipping materials. Please don’t forget about the luckiest chickens in Addison County, the recipients of the contents of the Daily Chocolate compost bin.
Ethical Practices
We are grateful for the equatorial farmers of West Africa and South America who grow the magical Theobroma Cacao plants that give us chocolate. We promise to source ethically and work with companies who comply with international standards, to end child and slave labor, and to pay these hard-working farm families a fair wage.
Creativity
Making Chocolate is like making theatre. It’s magical, a little mysterious, and when done correctly, it’s moving. Here at Daily Chocolate, we are committed to keeping our ideas fresh, our flavors inventive, and our look beautiful.
