Deer Buzz

How a Social Mission Guides This Business

Dancing Deer CEO moved her cookie company to a gang-ridden neighborhood and donates a third of the profits of one product line to charity. How can this be good for business?

Dancing Deer Baking Company got off to a rocky start but that didn’t stop the Boston, Massachusetts-based outfit from making the local community and its employees priorities—right up there with turning a profit.

In the early and mid-90s, America was falling head over heels for gourmet coffee, and to Suzanne Lombardi, that aromatic blend smelled like opportunity. After spending time with some artisanal roasters out in California, she recalls, “I realized that the coffee craze was something that was going to come East.”

Seeing the need for high-quality baked goodies to accompany the country’s newfound java predilection, Lombardi rented a caterer’s kitchen in the evenings where she could bake in mass, schlepping pots and pans to and fro each night, and delivering her all-natural baked goods to coffee shops at the crack of dawn. Understandably, this was a stressful way to run a business, and one day she sought out Trish Karter and her husband Ayis Antoniou for advice. The pair did her one better and became angel investors, but a year and a half into the partnership Lombardi was still struggling.

Read the full article at Inc.com!

Out of Office: Dancing Deer passes Sustainable Business Leader Program Certification

Representatives from 23 Boston companies (including Dancing Deer Baking Co) recently graduated from the Sustainable Business Leader Program’s first certification class to develop “sustainable business leaders”.  The program, funded by a grant from the Department of Environmental Protection through the Boston Redevelopment Authority, puts participants through a six-step SBLP process in which they implement changes in energy efficiency, water conservation, waste management, transportation, pollution prevention and substainability management.

Trish Karter and Maggie Kerr are representing Dancing Deer in the photo above.

Dancing Deer Press Release: Local, Mission-Driven Food Businesses Collaborate To Beat the Recession

BOSTON, MA, December 8, 2009 – Dancing Deer, the women-led natural baking company and Equal Exchange, the worker-owned Fair Trade pioneer have joined forces to solve your gifting and holiday party needs—all while supporting the local economy and some great causes. The “Taste of New England Gift Baskets” feature the award-winning Molasses Clove Cookies and other tasty treats from Dancing Deer complemented by some of Equal Exchange’s most popular organic coffee, tea and chocolates. The gift baskets also include two other local, independent enterprises; locally produced honey from Reseska Apiaries of Holliston and trail mix from Fastachi of Watertown.
The CEO’s of Dancing Deer and Equal Exchange, Trish Karter and Rob Everts, have been professional friends for years and often noodled the challenge of how to work together and help each other build their businesses which have so many parallel values. Both companies have won many awards for their socially responsible business practices and have been lauded for having two of the most democratically organized workplaces. Both are members of Boston’s Sustainable Business Network, and Trish and Rob have shared in a CEO roundtable with other local mission-driven entrepreneurs. So when Dancing Deer decided to bring out a gift basket line, the opportunity to collaborate was obvious.
It’s been a tough year in the food business and particularly in the world of gifts as consumers and corporations have ratcheted back on spending. However Dancing Deer and Equal Exchange appeal on not only one level, but three: Great Product; Local Business; Double Bottom Line Operators who are committed not only to financial return to the shareholders, but also to environmental sustainability and social justice. This might be considered good marketing and strategy, which it is, but this double bottom line approach is driven by the convictions of the founders and employees of these organizations. Equal Exchange supports small-scale organic farmers around the world through its Fair Trade program. Dancing Deer dedicates one of its product lines (the Sweet Home Project) to funding scholarships for homeless mothers by donating 35% of the retail price on those gifts in addition to its broader double bottom line mission.
Rob Everts said about the collaboration: “Given all the values our companies share in common plus Dancing Deer’s hard-won reputation for both delicious food and serving the community, we’re really pleased to finally work together and have our products alongside theirs.”
Trish Karter returned the compliment by adding: “Equal Exchange has done some really important work in the Fair Trade movement, their products are terrific and I love their broader mission and values”.

About Dancing Deer
Dancing Deer is a company of people who are passionate about food, nature, aesthetics and community. Known for yummy, all-natural cakes, cookies, brownies and baking mixes, the company has won many national awards and accolades for its distinctive products and innovative business practices. All employees are stakeholders in this women-led enterprise. Sold in gourmet, natural food and conventional grocery stores nationwide, the company also ships directly to consumers (www.dancingdeer.com 1-888-699-DEER) and offers creative marketing programs to corporate customers. When people are happy it shows in the food!

About Equal Exchange
A pioneer and U.S. market leader in Fair Trade since 1986, Equal Exchange is a full service provider of high quality, organic coffee, tea, chocolate, cocoa, healthy snacks and bananas. Major customers include Harvest, Roche Brothers, Whole Foods, Stop & Shop, Hannaford, City Feed, Ten Thousand Villages, schools and places of worship nationwide. 100% of Equal Exchange products are fairly traded, benefiting more than 40 small farmer co-operatives in 22 countries around the world. In keeping with its Fair Trade mission and belief in economic democracy Equal Exchange is a worker co-operative, owned and governed by its approximately 110 employees. http://Shop.EqualExchange.coop 774-776-7400.
Contact: Rodney North, 774-776-7398, rodney@equalexchange.coop

Tech Networks of Boston: Philanthropy modeled after Sweet Home

“2009 Tech Citizenship honoree: Tech Networks of Boston”

Tech Networks of Boston may be located in South Boston, but its focus is on a community a bit more global in scope. The company has launched the Hutan Project, a new program designed to increase philanthropic impact of the operational expenditures of its clients. The Hutan Project is a social venture aimed at conserving the rainforest, and 20 percent of revenue from Tech Networks’ new service contracts is donated to a nonprofit nature conservancy group based in Borneo. According to company officials, the program is modeled on successful undertakings such as Dancing Deer Baking Co.’s Sweet Home program.

“In these economic times, we have made it a priority to develop creative solutions for supporting our community and protecting the environment,” said president and CEO Susan Labandibar.

Locally, Tech Networks of Boston also does its part to help the community. While the company employs just 24 people, they volunteer nearly 2,200 hours a year. Tech Networks of Boston engages in some companywide volunteer outings to local charities, but also rewards volunteerism by its employees outside of work.

Click here to read the full article at Mass High Tech’s website

CEO Reflects on her 1,500-Mile Bike Trek

Trish Karter feels very grateful.

A week after concluding her 15-day, 1,500-mile bike ride from Atlanta to Boston on behalf of the homeless, Karter is much more cognizant of her blessings. The roof over her head, the family she loves, the work she enjoys—and her redoubled commitment to help homeless families throughout the U.S.

Karter, CEO of Dancing Deer Baking Co., didn’t raise as much money as she had hoped she would during her pilgrimage. The national press was busy elsewhere—assessing President Obama’s first 100 days, covering the swine flu threat and simply reporting on the dismal, rainy weather that Karter encountered. So the news reports that might have triggered more donations didn’t materialize. (Check out her website’s press section to see the tremendous amount of press Karter did receive.)

Read the full article at WomenEntrepreneur.com