2025 is our year of trade shows!

Backwards is one word for the order that we do things in.

I’m currently out of town at our first multi-day trade show (our first trade show was a 4 hour affair in January). Most companies start selling at trade shows when they are first trying to get their name out in the world. But BBVT is 21 years old and it finally seemed like a natural progression after getting our first street sign at 20 years old.

To say that we did everything backwards would imply a straighter progression than the road that we took to get to this trade show. I started BBVT only a year and a half out of college, which was great because I had no mortgage or family to support. But it also meant that I didn’t know how to do things the “normal” way. And I got to make all of my mistakes on my own dime.

I’ve always loved food production. I even had a self-funded baked goods and lemonade stand on the corner every Sunday of my summer between 4th and 5th grade. I love creating something that becomes meaningful in someone else’s life. So when I built a company that allowed me to focus all of my attention on food production and ignore sales and marketing, I was a happy beaver.

But the other thing that I love is doing good in the world. I want to be a net positive. At the end of that 9 year old baked-good summer, I donated all of the profits to GreenPeace (have I mentioned that I grew up in Berkeley?).

As the BBVT of today has taken shape, our ability to do good in our little corner of the planet has grown. But I realized that if I stay content in my little corner, I’m leaving some “do good” on the table. If we buy more produce, goat’s milk and maple directly from small farms we can do more good than if we buy less. If we get better at what we do best, we can teach other food manufacturers to source ingredients the way that we do. And if more food manufacturers source ingredients the way that we do, food will taste better and we will have a more resilient foodshed.

So, last year, after 20 years in business, I decided to actually *try* to grow BBVT for the first time. Instead of just letting whatever happens happen. (Enter: Street Sign). We’re doing lot of different things to help the world learn who we are, and among them are trade shows! It’s been fun. We get to meet great new customers and get to know our current customers even better. We get to get to know some great other makers as well. And we got to design this spiffy new trade show booth. We have one more day of this 3 day show, so wish us luck!