In late 2011, Debra Townsend needed a plan. After a divorce and a round-the-world trip with her children, she was ready to find her next adventure. On a whim, she brought some of her homemade shortbread to sell at the holiday market in Richmond, Vermont. After seeing the overwhelming popularity of her treats, she knew she had something, and Douglas Sweets was born.

“It’s something I’ve been making all my life, and people really like it,” she says of her decadent cookies. “I created a job for myself. But it’s more than just a job now. There’s more to it because it’s so connected to my mom.”

Townsend’s mother, Hannah Douglas, immigrated to the United States from Scotland as a young girl. To recreate a beloved treat from her homeland, she developed the recipe that is now Douglas Sweets’ traditional shortbread. But this family recipe isn’t the only thing Douglas gave her daughter. “She encouraged me to take on things,” Townsend says. Unusual for the era, Townsend’s mother had a career. “Not one of my friends’ mothers worked, but my mom loved what she did. She worked hard.”

Like her mother, Townsend knows how to work hard. After running Douglas Sweets out of her condo’s kitchen for a couple of years, she and her daughter— who is named after Townsend’s inspirational mother—have grown the company into its current location in the Vermont Artisan Village in Shelburne. They have expanded the flavors of their shortbread, as well, including a foray into savory biscuits, and gained new markets, including Whole Foods.

Though wholesale production is their primary focus, the new space allows them to have a retail bakeshop where they offer additional products. In keeping with using ingredients from local companies in the shortbread—King Arthur Flour, Cabot, and Vermont Peanut Butter Company—they’ve collaborated with Waterbury-based Artisan Coffee and J’Enwey Tea Co. in Massachusetts to sell Douglas Sweets–branded beverages. Earlier in 2017, Townsend brought on baker Barbara Hunton, who creates the unbelievable pastries that tempt shoppers from the front case. Currently the team rolls, cuts, bakes, and packages all the cookies themselves—not to mention the dipping, for the chocolate-covered varieties. But with new retailers carrying the shortbread, Townsend envisions changes in production to accommodate new growth at some point.

Debra Townsend and her daughter, Hannah. Photo courtesy of Douglas Sweets.

Hannah Douglas was able to witness her daughter’s business in its early days, but sadly, she passed away last year. However, her lasting influence can be seen in Douglas Sweets’ success, from the black-and-white photos of a 16-year-old Douglas gracing the bakeshop’s wall to the tea they sell there. “It’s very much her. I don’t think my mom ever drank a cup of coffee,” Townsend says. “My mom… everything she did, she did well.” And it appears that, along with the original recipe, that family tradition has been passed down from mother to daughter to granddaughter as well.

Debra Townsend – Co-Owner, Douglas Sweets
Shelburne, Vermont
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Top image: Signature shortbread from Douglas Sweets. All photos courtesy of Douglas Sweets.

The post Continuing a Family Tradition appeared first on Take Magazine.

A chilled puddle of cocoa and sugar rests on a tray in the Bixby & Co. candy kitchen. Kate McAleer developed this newest, single origin batch, utilizing cacoa beans from Guatemala. She breaks off a piece, handing it to me.

The chunk is velvety, dark, and rich as it melts in my mouth. Tastebuds awaken, aflame with pleasure. Hints of fruit linger. The dark chocolate is not too sweet, not too bitter, perfect. Like a fine wine, McAleer’s bean-to-bar chocolate has depth, and its taste is sumptuous.

Bixby & Co is an artisanal craft confectionary based in the old ice factory in Rockland, Maine. McAleer is the owner and mastermind, with a fervent ardor for her craft. Sold nationwide, Bixby Bars can be found in over 3000 stores, including Whole Foods, TJ Maxx, Amazon, and Hannaford, to name a few. Many of her products are non GMO-verified, organic, vegan verified, Earth kosher, and gluten free. The company is woman owned.

Kate McAleer and her Bixby & Co. chocolates

The chocolate, an extension of McAleer, represents an investment of time and focus, as well as fundamental principles of food. With a bachelor’s degree in East Asian Studies, and minors in French and art history, Kate pursued a graduate degree studying history of decorative arts and design. A year later she switched schools, attending the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. It was during this time her passion for chocolate came into focus.

Bean to bar is the newest venture for Bixby & Co. A two-ounce bar of dark chocolate rests inside a red envelope. Contrasted in black ink is the image of an octopus, its tentacles writhing in all directions. This is the bookplate of her great, great, grandparents, Lillian and William K. Bixby, for whom the company is named. Altered in the slightest way, this heirloom is the mold that shapes these single origin chocolate bars, only available at their Rockland location. “We are the first in Maine to make craft chocolate,” McAleer notes, with little under 90 small scale artisanal craft makers in the United States.

The bean-to-bar chocolate has two ingredients — cacoa beans and cane sugar. Sourcing direct trade beans from Haiti, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic, McAleer traveled to Haiti to meet and learn about the people growing the cacoa. “Different origins end up with different flavor profiles. Much like wine or different grapes,” she says. “You can have cocoa beans from Haiti and Dominican Republic, which is the same geographic island, but different flavor profile entirely.”

McAleer wants to enhance Americans’ chocolate experience. “There is this mystique around chocolate. People don’t know where it comes from, or where it’s grown.“ She seeks to demystify chocolate, one bar at a time.

Kate McAleer–owner, Bixby & Co.
Rockland, Maine
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Top image: Bixby Bites from Bixby & Co. All photos by David Jester.

The post Raising the (Chocolate) Bar appeared first on Take Magazine.

Before Wagatha’s, Neil Reilly was a commodities trader. More specifically, he spent 20 years yelling and screaming in the cotton futures trading pit.

Like many New England transplants, Reilly moved to Vermont in the late ’90s to escape the full-time chaos of the trading pits in favor of a better place to raise his family. In search of the right opportunity to partner with someone of similar values to build a company with integrity, humor, and friendship, Reilly met former business partner Norman Levitz, a chef and culinary educator.

Levitz recently stepped down, but the organic dog biscuit company they built together, Wagatha’s, is thriving 10 years later. Production has grown significantly from the initial product launch in 2007 of one toasted whole wheat biscuit sold in one Vermont pet store. Now Wagatha’s biscuits—in 11 flavors—can be found in stores, including Whole Foods, throughout Vermont, Connecticut, New York, Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.

Wagatha’s production takes place in a 4,000-square-foot bakery in Manchester, Vermont, capable of producing 150,000+ biscuits daily. It’s here that Wagatha’s produces its array of versatile flavors, from pumpkin pie to Tuscan pizza to nutty banana. “We are always toying with new flavor profiles,” says Reilly. “For instance, recently we have been discussing the idea of a coconut flavored biscuit; I happen to love coconut and it’s very good for dogs.”

The biscuits are made with only the highest quality organic ingredients. Reilly has his own on-site taste tester—his 9-year-old Cavachon named Maggie. “She comes to work at Wagatha’s and helps us test new biscuit flavors,” Reilly says. “It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!”

Wagatha’s currently has 10 employees, many of whom have been with the company since its inception. It’s also a family business. “My wife, Erin, who is a singer and songwriter by trade, works at Wagatha’s a few days a week and has even written an incredible story, Wagatha’s Tale, that we hope to incorporate into the brand going forward,” Reilly says. His son, James, also does marketing events for the company, and his daughter, Carly, has been helping out with social media and the website.

Neil Reilly – Owner, Wagatha’s
Manchester, Vermont
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