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FRONTLINE continued from page 19
food waste, so I made items to order—pies, cookies—fresh
every day for customers. If you needed individually packaged
lunches, I did that, too. I also started hosting fry-bread events.
People would come out to the plant for fry bread tacos or
pulled-pork fry bread.”
Kim hasn’t seen the return of big sales, but the bakery
has kept her afloat. Some of her staff have even returned.
She says the true test will come with holiday purchases: “If
I’m not back to half of what I was doing on the canning side,
then I’ll open up for more baking. Whatever I need to do to
keep going, I’m going to do.”
The need to pivot is something Country View Dairy in
Hawkeye, Iowa knows all too well. Since 2011, the family-
owned and operated dairy farm has supplied all-natural yogurt
to colleges, schools, restaurants and coffee shops. Before the
pandemic, Country View sold 1,000 pounds of yogurt a week
to Luther College. In mid-March, there was nothing.
“We were drastically affected, early,” says Bob Howard,
director of marketing and sales at Country View. “Sales
dropped 70%. One sale got dropped mid-shipment to “When circumstance forces your hand and you have to try new things,
Chicago. Luckily, we got a Payroll Protection Plan loan to keep you realize that maybe you should have been doing this all along,” says
our staff on and to change some things up.” Doug Kouma, Visitor Experience Director at Vikre, a craft distillery
Despite abysmal institutional sales, people still wanted in Duluth, Minn., whose gin, vodka, whiskey and aquavit are made
Country View’s yogurt, so the family did what it took to with ingredients from the Lake Superior watershed. In April 2020, the
deliver it, never missing a day’s work. They donated yogurt distillery became endeared to its community for making and giving away
to food banks in northeast Iowa and to Farms to Families hand sanitizer to anyone who needed it. To learn more about Vikre’s
COVID relief boxes, began home deliveries, and ramped award-winning spirits—including their new make-at-home cocktail kits
—visit vikredistillery.com

Sitka Salmon Shares, a Community-Supported Fishery (CSF), was By the Spoonful, a gourmet food store and espresso bar in McGregor,
well-positioned during COVID-19. With the CSF already operating Iowa, quickly pivoted to free curbside and home delivery. Unlike retail
an online ordering and home-delivery system, they’ve seen new interest stores with dozens of workers, the quaint, locally-owned shop is run by
in the work of their 22 independently-operated fisher families. For owner, Katie Ruff, and three part-time employees. Offering these extra
incredible wild-caught Alaskan seafood straight from their fisherman’s services took a great deal more time but was a sacrifice Katie was happy to
collective to your doorstep, visit www.sitkasalmonshares.com make to ensure her customers could get what they needed.
www.itsbythespoonful.com

20 FEAST! Local Foods Magazine