I'm not sure if this email was just a press release (which I got through Gapers Block) or an email that went out to their regular customer listserv (of which I'm not a part), but some big changes are afoot with Bleeding Heart, including some efforts to address consistency issues. Sent January 4th (italics & bold mine):
Quote:
Wrapping Up 2009
2009 has truly been a year of ups and downs and has given us so much to think about. Our business has grown tremendously (that is thanks to you!) and much of our dynamics have changed. We have had major accomplishments, many food network challenges, so many highs and just as many lows. We saw a lot of turnaround in staff, which is always saddening, however, it has given us the drive to seek out the very best more family and career oriented people we possibly can to give you, the customer, the very best service we can possibly provide.
With the opening of Oak Park, we have many new customers and we would like to welcome you to our business and our family. We would like to extend to you what we extend to all of our customers, and that is our hand in honesty. The relationship we have with our customers is vital to the success of this business and essentially, our way of life. We are incredibly passionate about what we do and want to hear as much feed back from you as possible. Without your honesty, we will never know where we stand. We urge you to email, call, write us, whatever it takes to get us to hear you, whether you want to tell us how amazing your cake was or even if your were disappointed. We promise to care for your needs with integrity and respect, because not only do you deserve that, but our product does as well.
2009 has given us so much to think about and many of the lessons we have learned have made us think about our future and the future of this business. As many of you may know, we have two small children, both of whom need there mommy and daddy more than ever. So with this new year will come many changes. You will see some new faces, a smaller, yet much more stable and solid line of product, many more Bleeding Heart branded product (as we have officially been trademarked!) and the dismissal of wholesale accounts. For years now, we have sold our products to other business', we are so grateful for this support, however, we started to hear complaints that our products were not being handled correctly at these other places. So, to keep the integrity of our product and our business, we have made the decision to (with the exception of a very few amount of places) keep our product solely in house. That means that there may be a Bleeding Heart opening near you soon! (if there isn't one already). We are very busy really solidifying our root and base business so it can stay strong in any community and we are very excited for this type of growth.
Previously I brought up my children, which lead to speaking of changes, which brings the biggest change of all, Valentin (Vinny) and I have made some very large life changing decisions, one of which is that we have not only chosen to certify our business green through the GRA (Green Restaurant Association), we also have decided to re-certify with Oregon Tilth as Organic. As many of you know we were previously certified and decided to surrender when we heard how so many other business were being certified knowing that there practices were far from organic. To us, the certification meant nothing if our certified neighbor had a cooler full of chemically produced food products. Through our research, we have grown to trust Oregon Tilth and will begin the process within a few weeks.
Now, certifying our business and all of our products organic means that we will be using less suppliers and have a much more concentrated product. This is all just wonderful for us because it helps us feel as though our original dream has finally happened and that you really can have a successful certified organic food service business that still cares about food being fresh and local and affordable.
The second (and most exciting) is the we have decided to start our own branded lines of cakes and confections separately from Bleeding Heart. My (Michelle) passion truly lies in a very special subset of pastry being chocolates and sugar candies. While frosting thousands of cupcakes a week I daydream of pate de fruit and sucre de ore. The daydreams happen so often that I just cant shake it. Vinny as well, has taken up making amazing gumpaste and specialty sugar work for cakes that is truly astounding. We both feel the need (after 6 years) to follow what our hearts are obviously telling us we need to do. This, in the end, makes us much more available for the most important people of all, our children.
This in no way means that we will be leaving the bakery, however, it does mean that our focus will be different. We, as a pair, will be taking over the entire specialty cake side of the business, so if you plan on getting a cake that is shaped, covered in fondant or in anyway out of the ordinary, we have you covered. Bleeding Heart will still have there complete line of basics, including the award winning carrot cake and devils food! Along side the cakes will be a complete lines of candies and truffles that will be in the same vein as our store, Chaos Theory, but taking the flavors and curiosities even further. We are very excited about all of this and as soon as the name is finalized and our store is up online, we will let you know!
In the end, we wish you all an amazing New Year. We graciously thank you for all of your support and hope to hear from you soon!
Michelle & Vinny Garcia
The Bleeding Heart Bakery
FWIW, as of two weeks ago, the new
Kitchen Sink Cafe in Edgewater (was Pause Cafe) was still carrying Bleeding Heart goods (alongside muffins and scones from
Bake).
Kitchen Sink Cafe
1107 W Berwyn
Bake
2246 W North Ave
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