Lynsie and I have been practicing our own version of transparency, which includes things like posting our recipes for gourmet ice cream on the company blog. But this slide (see to the right) is a new ballgame. People ask us why Perfect Flavor does this, and the answers are pretty straightforward.
First, we want people to know what we put into the ice cream, and into the company itself. These things are our competitive advantage, and hiding them negates them. We want people to know that we use only local and organic ingredients. We want people to know that our ice cream is made by hand, using the same recipes that harken back not just to your grandmother, but to Thomas Jefferson, and beyond.
Our assumption is that our customers are really very smart, well informed, and careful. They know what they want, and hiding information about how we do business works against us. Sooner or later, it all comes out, and so why have any secrets at all?
To that end, we’d like to nip the question “Why is this so expensive?” right in the bud. We’ve gotten it sporadically, mostly from folks who are used to buying a half-gallon of Bryer’s ice cream for a few dollars. When you compare the cost of Perfect Flavor against that, it’s liable to give you sticker shock.
Are we crazy to disclose the costs of our business so explicitly? Will it come back to haunt us somehow?
“Throw it away.”
Think about that for a minute. Yes, I’m serious, a full minute. Sit back at your desk or cubicle, and take a deep breath, and think about what that phrase means. What is away? Where is away?
You might find that away represents a convenient (and fallacious) mental shorthand for “not my problem anymore”. I have been forcing myself to conduct this exercise several times over the last year or so, especially in the stark light of launching our own green business, Perfect Flavor. By degrees, it changes your perceptions.
For me, this awareness adds a painful dissonance to the mundane act of putting anything in the trash. Because, you guessed it: away doesn’t exist.
In that spirit, I offer your a link to Grist’s recent feature on what to do with some of those hard-to-recycle items: computers, running shoes, cellphones, and so on.
Repeat after me: “Nothing goes away.”
Out in Mt. Sidney, VA, you’ll find Bonny Venture Farm, which Lynsie and I visited on Monday. It’s run by Kevin Hoschar, who is an organizational coach and teambuilding expert by day. In his spare time he manages to raise Cashmere goats, like this one:
He also raises a wide variety of fruits, herbs, and so on. We’re hoping that soon he’ll become one of Perfect Flavor’s suppliers. We’re looking for quite an assortment of fruits, berries, nuts, and so on that can be grown in Virginia, but aren’t widely available on a commercial basis. For example, choke cherries, pawpaws, and quince. If you are a grower, or know where we can find one, for anything on this list, let us know.
If you are unhappy, you get more ice cream. Brilliant ice cream dispenser design!
It costs about three times as much.
We are finding the adage about starting a business frighteningly true. We started Perfect Flavor in earnest about a year ago, planning for a four month ramp up and a launch in January of 2007. My initial estimate on startup costs were very modest. What could go wrong? It’s just ice cream, right?
Well, heh. We’re older and wiser. And it’s a year later, and we still can’t sell our organic and local, customized, handmade, gourmet ice cream.
The end finally seems to be in sight, though. We’re leasing space. We’ve purchased the majority of the equipment we need. Our contractor has done the initial work of setting up the plumbing required by the Virginia Department of Agriculture. Now all we need is… MORE time and MORE money. :)
Keep your fingers crossed for us, everyone. I’m hoping we’re in the home stretch.
Worldchanging reports something that Lynsie and I have noticed palpably in our own garden and yard this year. It’s been a year of weird weather in Virginia — remember when it was 80 degrees in January? — and as a result we’ve seen abnormal numbers of: 1) skinks, 2) flying outdoor cockroaches, and 3) japanese beetles.
I’m proud and pleased that we’re starting a business that supports sustainable, earth-friendly agriculture. But man, it’s hard to imagine what to expect when our species is busy messin’ with mother nature.
Instead of ranting about how mindless, revoltingly inefficient and business-antagonistic our local and federal government are when it comes to food, I’m posting a recipe. Note: I don’t measure things, I just pour, shake, and dash. So sue me.
- New red potatoes, boiled, skin on
- sour cream
- chipotle tobasco
- kosher salt
- pepper
- cider vinegar
- fresh dill
- granulated white sugar
- shallots