One of the great things about meeting food entrepreneurs is their love of food and the business. As great, is their willingness to want to share their passion with anyone who will listen. Jane St. Claire, founder of Savor California, embodies this, as I learned in my phone discussion with her recently. The inspiration for her seven year old company came from her experience meeting many talented small scale artisanal food producers participating in the Cal-Italia Food and Wine Tasting event she was producing for over six years. During this experience she was struck by how many of them did not know how to market their products. St. Claire was confident she could help them and that is exactly what she has been doing ever since with Savor California.
The Savor California site, www.savorcalifornia.com, is a ‘foodies portal' so to speak, that regularly attracts notable food writers and other foodie press personalities who use the site as a resource to report and blog about the hottest food trends, producers and products in California. Actually, it is fair to say that St. Claire's reputation precedes the website which is of great value to her small vendors.
St. Claire has built close, supportive, loyal and trusting relationships with her vendors....you get the feeling it is like a family. This is extremely valuable in a business in which there are many great products being produced by bigger companies with much greater resources. It just takes one great blog, Tweet, Digg following or article by the ‘right' writer for a California Savor member vendor take off.
And there are more benefits for the California Savor vendor community members that translate into savings and revenues. The portal showcases over 100 California based food and beverage producers totaling over 1,000 products from sugary delights to savory delicacies including award winning Artisan beef. To be a part of the Savor California family, vendors pay a small annual fee that includes:
- a web page on the Savor California site with a description of the vendor's company and products, contact information, recipes, the ability to shop online and have a direct link to the company web site
- ad hoc marketing/ sales feedback and advice
- a deeply discounted price for vendors to participate in trade shows and tastings
Also, St. Claire uses Twitter regularly (@SavorCalifornia) to share with her growing community about her unique vendors.
If you plan on attending the 2010 Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco from January 17-19, visit Savor California at booth #206 and taste samples from 20 vendors.
Go to www.savorcalifornia.com and sign-up to be notified about new products and food purveyors, the latest eNewsletter, and/or to share your excitement with a friend.
St. Claire makes herself available to share about her company, the business, her vendors and their products, or anything else you might want to discuss with her about food. Just give her a call or email her at:
Phone: 707-431-1814
Email: info@savorcalifornia.com
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