Thank you for a wonderful 2021 - Carolyn from Nuthatch

 

Hi, everyone! 


Happy Holidays! 2021 is coming to a close, at last. The days and nights have gone slowly but the year has really flown by and here we are approaching another new year. 


This past year has been a difficult and challenging one for us all. The pandemic has changed our lives, the way we interact, and how we think about our business and our communities. Though things have been tough at times, reflecting back on this year, there is much to be grateful for. We survived another year of the pandemic, managed to grow our business and our team thanks to the support of our customers. I am grateful for the things I’ve learned this year and most of all for the wonderful people I’ve been lucky enough to know and get to know. While many people fled New York, many remained and many remained committed to supporting local businesses throughout the pandemic. We thank you!


This year has strengthened our resolve to continue to make high quality, locally made plant based products while maintaining our commitment to our customers, our local community, and to our planet. It has deepened our gratitude for the incredible people we’ve met, loved, and worked with over the last year who’ve helped us in times of hardship and shared in the celebrations along the way. 


Despite the distractions and challenges of the pandemic, we continued to strive towards zero food waste. This year we processed more upcycled almond flour and almond butter than ever before, having our first full year of almond milk produced with zero food waste. We also sold more upcycled almond butter and almond flour than ever before. 


This year we also invested heavily into expanding our zero waste product lines to ensure that we utilize every last kilogram of food waste we generate. This effort has brought us new products that we launched this year - our Oat Fudge Pops this summer and Chocolate Skull Candies at Halloween. Research & Development efforts have kicked off two new product categories for us - upcycled cheese and yogurt, which we are excited to announce will launch in the coming year.


Nuthatch takes its commitment to social responsibility and to our community very seriously. We have been humbled to see the negative impact of the pandemic on job opportunities for justice affected individuals and saddened to see the outsized impact of the pandemic on communities of color. We remain focused on providing our employees a safe and healthy environment to work. We strengthened our commitment to providing job opportunities and training for justice affected individuals and we are proud to say that in partnership with the Fortune Society, we offered more jobs and job training to justice affected individuals than ever before. 


We also remain committed to diversity and inclusion- focused on training, hiring and retaining a talented and diverse group of people to run our company. Our leadership team is comprised entirely of women and people of color. These individuals are essential to running our business and in helping us uphold our commitment to diversity and inclusion in our everyday business practices. 


As we look to another year, we are optimistic. We have managed to stay focused on our commitment to quality, sustainability, and social responsibility despite the uncertainty of the pandemic. 


We are so grateful to our customers who have supported us through this challenging year and to our partners who continue to work with us to find creative ways to grow, change, and thrive in this uncertain environment. Thank you for your support and for your partnership!


I am so personally grateful and would like to say a big THANK YOU to every one of our employees for their hard work, their dedication, and their resilience as we’ve weathered the pandemic, rebranded our company, and transformed our business while staying healthy throughout this pandemic. We could not have done this without you. 


Wishing you all a happy, healthy and joyous new year. 


Goodbye 2021, and hello 2022! :-)


Carolyn James

Founder, Nuthatch NYC