Two adults in a recording studio with headsets behind a microphone

Transparency & Gratitude 2023

Thank you… for each and every time you purchased something from us, liked or shared a social media post, read or forwarded our newsletter, referred us to a friend or your company, or just brought our name up in a conversation this year, thank you. It has sustained us. It matters. And this locally-owned, independent mom and pop business thanks you.

Two adults and two children standing in front of a sign that says "See the good in all things"

This year has been a whirlwind of sorts for our business - trying to come up with a post-pandemic business model that works, and you’ve been by our sides through it all. The biggest news for our biz? We launched a new vision in the spring - and that included giving you more of what you’re asking for: more events and tastings, more trays, more access to our cheese club. So we set about in search of the next right space for us that would allow us to reach more good, cheese-loving folks. Over six months later, we finally found a new location and signed a lease, but we couldn’t just let the cat out of the bag. We hosted a citywide scavenger hunt to reveal the new location. While we planned for a max of 125 to participate (if we were “wildly successful"), we had no idea over 300 of you would be standing outside our shop before the hunt started at 11am (despite competing with the UT game!). THANK YOU! Thank you not only for showing up to support us - time and time again, but for your grace while we worked through those growing pains. I personally got to hustle with our 11-year old son at the finish line, giving out free cheese and replenishing cheese trays as quickly as I could, and it was an overwhelming joy that just shocked us. The feelings took John and me straight back to our first opening day in Austin. (Here’s a post-hunt video we exhaustedly posted to social media, when I’m speechless and ugly crying.) And yes. Yes! We are scheduled to open a NEW TASTING ROOM in early 2024 on South Lamar! We’ll be in the Lamar Union Complex, alongside other iconic and locally-owned businesses like Alamo Drafthouse, Lick Honest Ice Creams, Cafe Medici Roasting, and Tiny Pies (ahem, all of which were scavenger hunt destinations around town - get it?!). We are excited, anxious, filled with both anticipation and self-doubt…but we are overwhelmingly ready to experience what this new phase has to offer us and you. When we need you, you always show up and support us. We’ll need you in a big way this holiday season, as well as through our new opening - and we know we can count on you. And for that, we are truly, deeply grateful. 

I also have to thank our makers, harvesters, producers, and vendors who work the land, take care of their animals, and are building better places to work for their teams. We don’t make anything; they do. It’s our pleasure to tell their stories and their labors of love. We also owe gratitude to many of the unsung heroes of our industry - from truck drivers, to service providers, to our mail person, to the desk job folks like those who process our orders, bankers, and more: we appreciate you. Since I’m feeling gracious, I’ll throw in an appreciation to the City of Austin folks - the health inspectors and permitting office, as well as TABC folks, and others who don’t always have the glamorous job but without whom, we simply could not do business.

And to our team: whew. Feeling emotional today. Suffice it to say, you make this biz happen. You are our frontline smile to a customer. You pick up both the good customer service calls, as well as the challenging ones. You epitomize what it means to be hospitable, warm, welcoming, service-minded, and more. Thanks for not only keeping our reputation up, but continually daily, with every small act, making our brand what it is today.

—---

Two adults behind three cheese trays decorated for the thanksgiving holiday

As is now tradition, I present with our annual “Do Good. Eat Good.” mission report. Because of your support, we’ve been able to contribute to the following organizations this year… even when we haven’t met our financial goals. Awesome! Way to go everyone; let’s keep it up. Side story: In 2018 when we were struggling from the financial loss of our downtown concept, a vendor said to John, “Maybe if you spent less time doing stuff for your community and more time focusing on your business, you wouldn’t be in this mess.” We talk about that a lot. Should we do things differently? And what we keep coming back to is that if we can’t do business the way we want to, then it isn’t worth being in business. While we can always aim to do more, we’re proud of this list. These are just the nonprofit organizations that received outright donations and support from us this year. We also offer 10% discounts to every nonprofit that asks for them. (Also note, we do some stuff behind the scenes, but we don’t feel like talking about that - hoping our actions will someday speak for themselves.) 


American Cheese Education Foundation

American Gateways

Annunciation House 

Austin Parks Foundation

Austin Independent School District 

Austin Education Fund 

Austin Film Society

Austin Pets Alive!

Austin Sunshine Camps

Barton Springs Conservancy 

Black Home Birth Matters ATX

Black Mamas ATX

Breakthrough Austin

Candlelight Ranch

Cheese Culture Coalition

Cheeseletes

Christi Center

Club 101 

Colorado River Alliance 

Vermont Community Foundation Flood Relief

Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement Fire Relief

Crowe's Nest Farm 

Elisabet Ney Museum

Farmshare

Friends of the Children Austin

Girl Start

Hospice Austin 

Human Rights Campaign

Illumine Choirs

James Beard Foundation

Latinitas

Les Dames d'Escoffier Austin

Mobile Loaves & Fishes

Moxie Ridge Farm

NAMI Central Texas

Partners for Education, Agriculture & Sustainability

Philanthropitch

River Place Elementary School

Sammy's House

St. Andrew's Fund

Texas RioGrande Legal Aid

Thinkery

TreeFolks

Wine & Food Foundation

Young Men’s Business League

Young Women's Alliance


We are also proud (paying) members of the American Cheese Society, Austin Chamber of Commerce, Austin Independent Business Alliance, Austin LGBT Chamber, Good Food Foundation, Greater Austin Black Chamber of Commerce, Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Guilde Internationale des Fromagers, Oldways Cheese Coalition, and Slow Food USA


—---

Our Mission: Do Good. Eat Good.

Core Principles: 

Passion with Purpose.

Be a Juggernaut of Awesome.

Be True. To Ourselves. To Others.

Family First. Then Business.

Improve Every Day.

Just for laughs, here’s a quarantine video of John and me sharing what our mission and core principles mean to us. 

—---

THANK YOU!


With gratitude,

Kendall (& John) Antonelli


You may also like

Austin Texas: Best Areas to Live Austin, Texas, is a city on the rise. Its...

Learn More about Best Areas to Live in Austin, Texas | Top Neighborhoods Guide

How to Visually Identify Strong Tasting Cheese Cheese tasting is as much a visual experience...

Learn More about How to visually identify a strong tasting cheese

Looking for a memorable gift? Texas food gift baskets make a delicious and unique choice,...

Learn More about Unique Texas Food Gift Basket Ideas