National Television Series ‘tasteMAKERS’ Launches Digital Marketplace to Help Artisan Makers Remain Resilient in the Face of Covid-19
Wednesday Apr. 22nd, 2020
ST. LOUIS, MO — “Stay home.” “Small businesses are in trouble.” “Is it safe to go to the grocery store?” Each day the pandemic continues, small food businesses are struggling. In an effort to help support small-batch makers and farmers, tasteMAKERS, a docu-style food-focused public television series that airs on stations nationwide, is launching Makers Marketplace, a new online shop filled with artisan products. From Montana, we have Treeline Coffee from Bozeman.
The shop will launch on Wed., April 22 at noon EST at wearetastemakers.com.
“When we sat down to talk about how we could have a positive impact on artisans and makers across the country during this unprecedented time, launching a marketplace so that food lovers could access their products directly was the best way that we could think of to help support them,” tasteMAKERS host and producer Cat Neville said in an announcement posted on Instagram on Monday, April 20.
Wednesday’s launch will include a variety of products from a growing list of over 30 vendors. Product categories include coffee, dairy, pickles and ferments, natural sweeteners and honey, fresh and dried fruits, seafood and more. Some vendors, like Atlantic Sea Farms in Maine or Oliver Farm Artisan Oils in Georgia, have been featured in episodes of the show. Others, like Phoenix’s Iconic Cocktail Co. or Seattle’s Haxan Hot Sauce, participated in tasteMAKERS’ event series, Meet The Makers. Over the next few months, tasteMAKERS will expand the Makers Marketplace to include artisans from every corner of the country.
Makers Marketplace will be enhanced by tasteMAKERS’ focus on storytelling. Through feature profiles, shoppers will learn about the people who are making the products and the story behind the food itself. Shoppers will also have access to a library of recipes and cooking videos as well as weekly product highlights which will detail new and noteworthy items in the shop.
“All of the artisans who are selling their products on our site have a unique story — one that we want to share,” Neville said. “Colorado-based distillery Jack Rabbit Hill Farms essentially lost its business overnight when restaurants closed because of coronavirus. They were forced to get creative. What did they do? They repurposed their resources and made CapRock Hand Sanitizer, which can be purchased on our marketplace.”
In order to become a vendor, businesses must simply be a part of the #MakersMovement. If you or an artisan you know would like to become a vendor, please email nicole@watchtastemakers.com.
tasteMAKERS airs nationally, reaching over 94% of American television households on public television stations as well as the Create channel. Visit https://www.watchtastemakers.com
to stream full episodes, shop the marketplace, access recipes, peruse photos and find additional information about the show. For air dates, visit pbs.org/stations.
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