Can the little guy win?

Something that's been on my mind over the last few weeks - to the point of being almost overwhelmed by it - is, how can the small guys win? I am overwhelmed by it because I feel it's becoming harder and harder. of course it impacts me as a business owner, but it also is something I am passionate about as a consumer. It can feel overwhelming to think - do my choices impact the greater good? Is it worth it? Of course, rationally, I know the answer, but sometimes it's hard to not stray from focus.

Will we soon live in a world of fast cheap food to a new level? With restaurants and cafés forced to be “fast and cheap” because it's not profitable any other way? And in that, from the side of a business owner sometimes I wonder - does the consumer care? I certainly hope people come into Awn because of the quality and care, but perhaps not - and that feeling comes with a bit of defeat but also determination - how can I grow this conversation? How can I make it more known and educate our customers about WHY we are different?

The big guys set the price - can I charge more than say Starbucks? Nope. Does it cost me more to run my business than it does Starbucks - 100%. This bugs me to some extent, but I also want to be different. It's the benefit of being small. Our impact can be deeper, and our work more meaningful.

I recently went to a very generic restaurant for lunch - I rarely eat out, I was shocked. It was a franchise, sure it's locally owned, but they have a tool kit that's pretty big on “how to run” their business. How can they charge those kind of prices? I know how they source their ingredients, and it's not with the same care and attention that lots of independent places use. I was with my mum - we both had a main, I had a soda water, she had water. With a tip it was $53.00. $53.00!!!

I think about what I could buy with $53.00 and how far I could “push my food dollar” with that money - at the farmers market, supporting our local economy. How many people I could feed, or how many meals I could cook. Maybe I'll write a post about how far I can push fifty three local food dollars. I think about how often I hear “food is getting so expensive,” - there's two conversations here, probably many more than two actually. First, the cost to produce food and every step of the process from start to getting it onto a shelf is getting more expensive, of course it's rising - big or small business needs to make a profit. We can vote with our dollars and choose who gets bigger and stronger though - the big or the small guy. Local food hasn't risen at the same rate.

In this I also think about what a food budget is. If we are buying coffee out even once a week, and dinner out once a week or sourcing through a meal box subscription, those dollars add to our food budget, as does food waste, and I think in that, it's important to consider - the priority. If those things are a priority to you - that's wonderful, keep on keeping on. But if you feel your food budget is rising, maybe come at it from a different angle and eat out once a month, make your coffee at home a few times a week (saying something coming from someone who owns a café!), commit to cooking at home twice a week. These changes need to be sustainable and change like this should never be drastic or it won't stick.

We are all busy I know that, but somewhere along the line our priorities shifted when society made this or that more important than cooking at home and eating good food because if we aren't leading our lives like this [insert societal norm] we're doing something wrong. The truth it - we all need to eat. The truth is food is important. The truth is connection around food from how we source it, to how we purchase it, to how we cook it, to how we eat it, to who we eat it with - it's all important.

I don't say this with my nose turned up, we all have different backgrounds, experiences, lives, budgets etc., I come at it from a point of hope and understanding. This conversation is big, my hope has always been to plant a seed and from there hope you'll make the changes that work for you and your family.

Some fun and creative ways to push your food dollar…

Entertain - have friends for dinner and cook together, create a supper club where you rotate houses to cook at so you're sharing the budget.

Watch for the buy more / save more idea - if you won't actually use more or don't actually need more, are you actually saving money?

Ask questions - be your own advocate.

Connect with local producers - ask questions at farmers markets, attend Open Farm Days or farm tours, see how the food is being grown, you'll see it from a different perspective.

Challenge yourself in the kitchen - to try new things, to be creative, to use leftovers, to plan, to see how far you can push a whole chicken or a how many meals you can make out of a dozen eggs.

Use up what you have in your fridge, freezer and pantry - limit your waste - waste adds to your food budget too!

Ask yourself what value does a meal bring to my day?

I have recently developed a few new classes around these topics - one is called “pushing your food dollar” and we also have our new Kitchen Skills Series classes - from bread, to pastry, to basics, these multi day classes give you an opportunity to learn more. Be sure to check out our next schedule which comes out on February 20th.

As food becomes more expensive, if we prioritize cheap food - will we soon be left with cheap food as our only option - and in that, what's the cost - to our economy? To our cultures? To our health?

Sometimes when I talk about this I worry that I sound whiney - but the reality is, one of my biggest goals is educating our customers but also consumers in general of what it's like “behind the scenes” of a business, with the hope to continue to build my business, of course, but also awareness around the topic of small business and what a resilient local economy looks like.

I've talked lots about this in the past - when you support Awn, you're supporting many businesses. When you order a coffee - you're supporting a local dairy, a local roaster, and of course you're supporting Awn. When you buy a sausage roll, you're supporting a local dairy and farm in the butter and flour that is in the hand rolled pastry, you're supporting a local pork producer and a local egg producer. And of course, you're supporting Awn.

When you buy a breakfast sandwich each layer is carefully crafted and sourced - our arugula is local from West Country Herbs, the egg is local from Manns Organics, the pork is local from Irvings Farm it is hand mixed and seasoned with fresh herbs, we make the mayo by hand, adding garlic that we roast, the onion jam is made - you guessed it by hand. We chop the onions finely (while fighting back tears, has anyone else noticed how strong onions have been this year?), slow cook them before adding wine and bay, allowing them to simmer and take on all the flavours. The bun is also homemade using flour from our friends at Highwood Crossing, kneaded, left to rest, shaped by hand and then baked off. And all those local products listed are purchased directly from the producer with 100% of the dollar going to those farms. Can you taste it? We certainly hope so.

I could support a big box supplier (which we buy nothing from other than some paper products!) to get our greens, buns, premade sausage mix, pre-roasted garlic, cheap mayo, we could buy a jar of onion jam and buy commercial eggs. And I guarantee I could charge the same and make a LOT more. There is a labour expense to the way we do things at Awn - from planning, to sourcing, to shopping, to preparing - all of which we feel impacts both the quality and customer experience. But there is also a cost in ingredients.

Here's the thing though - I am PROUD that Awn supports many local businesses and in turn they support us - they are relationships and connections that matter. I am PROUD that the team works hard day in and day out to bring wonderful high-quality food and drink to the tables in the café. I also believe you can taste it - the care and attention that was put into it, the flavour, and the intention behind our menu. I teach and preach something pretty strong in the workshop and how hypocritical would it be for me to not follow those same values in the café?

And finally in this whole big, important conversation - be your own advocate. Whether you are supporting restaurants and cafés, whether you are buying at a market or at a supermarket - don't get sucked into buzz words - ask questions. Very little is transparent this day - talking to a person, thinking critically and trusting your gut are all things we need to do better at - rather than trusting a label.

I catch myself using buzz words on occasion - but they are authentic and true, you can ask me anything - I am ever so transparent, sometimes too transparent. Authenticity to me is the most important thing in business. I won't lie, it's not part of who I am and it's definitely not part of the Awn brand. This little space that is Awn is my passion - not only because it's my business, but the passion behind WHY I started this business - to share more of this.

Through the pandemic I found myself starting to retract some of these thoughts and talking about it less - it can be tough, it can be messy but here's the thing, it is so important. While I recognize these conversations impact every one of us differently - the impact us all regardless. I talk about them because I think if a few of us do better, a few of us do well, a few of us do the best we can, that's all impacting the greater good. As we were prepping and planning for our Speaker Series on soil and compost coming up on February 21, something that ran through our meeting was “we are building for generations.” It's true in this too - if we make change today, what will future generations have - a better, fairer, cleaner, more transparent, and resilient local food system, I hope. Again, I don't write this from my soap box - I recognize how big this is - how there are so many layers to peel away. I write it from a place of hope and passion, trust, and optimism.

I'll end this by saying this - something is skewed, I just read, imagine how much food could have been purchased with the dollars it cost for a big business to run a Super Bowl ad, hmmmm… The trickle-down affect is huge - keep your dollars local friends. I promise you behind the local business you're supporting there is a person or people that you are making smile, you are helping build their dream…. Isn't that better than putting our hard-earned dollars into the pockets of the richest of rich? Awn Kitchen doesn't have an ad budget in the millions - nor do I want one, our customers are people too, they matter and we love the community we are building together.