Stuart Timmons

(DDVT): First of all, THANK YOU for your support of Vermont’s family farms and Dig Deep Vermont (DDVT). I know Farrell does a lot in the community, from planting trees to stocking food banks. So can you explain why this particular cause is so important to Farrell?

(Stuart): Absolutely. Farrell’s roots run four generations deep in Vermont, dating back to 1933. In fact, we hold the unique distinction of being the state’s very first licensed distributor after prohibition, which is very cool. Fast forward nine decades and we’re selling over 25 local Vermont brands and over 900 wines from small family wineries. Because we’re so locally focused, we get to know our brands and producers pretty well. We visit the farms with brewers and winemakers, and I can tell you, they put EVERYTHING into growing the very best food and ingredients for us. So when they suffer such staggering losses like they did last year, we can’t help but rally behind them, not just as growers and suppliers, but as friends and neighbors. If they’re not in good shape, none of us Vermonters are in good shape.

(DDVT): That’s great to hear. So how are you helping?

(Stuart): First off, we made the very first corporate donation to the campaign. That was a no-brainer. But we really want to do more than that. We’ve sat in on some of the DDVT campaign planning calls and are working to rally our customers and networks to also get behind the campaign, make donations, share the campaign with their own networks and help spread the awareness so we can raise the funds our family farmers desperately need to keep going. We’re posting campaign materials in all of our point of sale locations and promoting the campaign in our marketing. Hopefully, more businesses across the state will do the same.

(DDVT): Amazing. We hope so too! After all those farm tours, can you name a favorite product or food that relies on local VT farms that you and your customers couldn’t do without?

(Stuart): Oh wow. That’s too hard to say because there are so many unique, locally sourced and crafted products. Basically, if we distribute it, we couldn’t do without its locally sourced ingredients. And we wouldn’t want to. There’s no place like Vermont when it comes to locally grown produce, food and ingredients.

(DDVT): Stuart, thank you for chatting with us. Our team is talking directly to the farmers that have applied for assistance, and I can tell you, they are immensely grateful for the help, as are we.

(Stuart): Yeah, and thanks to the DDVT team for organizing this effort. There are so many people working together for this cause and we’re just happy to be a small part of the solution. We need more people and businesses to rally together and we at Farrell are going to do our best to bring more awareness that can generate more sponsorships and more donations.

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