New Owners for Taste the Local Difference

“It’s the best of both worlds scenario,” I say when people ask. “TLD is able to grow — continuing its mission and strengthening its business all at once.”

This past December, Taste the Local Difference was officially purchased by Traverse City based venture capital firm Boomerang-Catapult. The investment follows a trend of VC interest in local food and was also the hopeful outcome of TLDs larger evolutionary tale that began back in 2004. That year founding non-profit, the Groundwork Center started the program and developed it into beloved community resource and independent social enterprise.

As a social enterprise, Taste the Local Difference applies business strategies to maximize social impact alongside financial well-being. The best of both worlds, am I right?

This year, our focus is strengthening efforts and investing in new jobs in Michigan. We’ve just hired Nick Jones, a new Local Food Coordinator in Detroit, MI with years of farming and restaurant experience. In May, we’ll open applications for two new positions, a West Michigan and Southwest Michigan Local Food Coordinator. This expands TLD’s service area to meet a demand from the region that we’ve long hoped to fulfill.

Connecting local food buyers and sellers is what Taste the Local Difference is known for. We’ll continue evolving these services and functionality in the year to come, strengthening the core business to better serve our customers.

Our team is endlessly passionate about this work and the future is bright. We hope you’ll follow along and join us on the journey ahead!

Tricia Phelps is the CEO of Taste the Local Difference. She started with the company in 2012 as an intern and has helped develop and expand the business ever since. She’d love to hear from you, so don’t hesitate to send an email with any questions, comments or suggestions to [email protected]