Specialty Foods Are Their Jam
Raspberry with Wild Bergamot Flower, and Jalapeño & Lime may not seem like typical jam flavors, but it is unique offerings like these that have made a Windsor Vermont jam maker a consistent national and global award-winner.
Blake Hill Preserves has taken home countless medals from competitions sponsored by the Good Food Foundation and Specialty Food Association, which have been honoring the best in specialty foods for 50 years.
The company has even taken Gold at the World Marmalade Awards several times. In 2021, the World Marmalade Awards had more than 3,000 entrants from more than 30 countries. Blake Hill took home two Gold awards, two Silver awards and a Bronze Award that year.
To those, Blake Hill owners Vicky Allard and Joe Hanglin have now added to their mantle the 2022 Vermont Small Business Persons of the Year. Since 1963, the Small Business Administration has recognized the outstanding achievements of small businesses for contributions to the community and the economy. Blake Hill Preserves is being recognized for its employment growth, success in the marketplace, company expansion and community involvement.
“We feel so honored for Blake Hill Preserves to be recognized by the SBA with this special award,” Allard said. “We started our business in our home kitchen in 2009 with the simple desire to make the most delicious jams from the season's finest produce. We're so appreciative of our customers' love for our unique creations and our team's amazing commitment to help ensure we continue to exemplify the very best artisan products and service in an environment of continuous rapid growth.”
The “home-based” portion of the business didn't last long. In 2012, Blake Hill settled into a 2,000-square-foot commercial kitchen, only to outgrow that space four years later. In 2016, it relocated to a new 6,000-square-foot facility, which is now being extended to 12,000 square feet. Perhaps the company’s most significant achievement is how it has grown from a husband-and-wife team to having 45 employees.
While the company has earned something of a global reputation over the years, it is still very much a local small business. Many of the berries, apples and other ingredients in their jams come directly from Allard and Hanglin’s farm. Sometimes the owners and staff forage the property in search of elderberry, mint and other wild berries for jam ingredients. What doesn’t come from the farm, they source as much as they can from about a dozen small businesses throughout Vermont and the Northeast.
“It allows for original sourcing. We can let our customers know this is real food from the Vermont countryside and we, too, are supporting local small businesses,” Allard said. “The fresh ingredients get used very quickly. Customers can actually hear the lids popping on jars that are cooling, they are so fresh, and many of the ingredients in those jars were picked 24 hours ago.”
Unique jams make for unique pairings. Visitors to the company’s social media channels will not see image after image of a butter knife spreading jam on toast. Its Instagram page and website display images of roasted potatoes, grilled cheese, baked chicken and about a dozen different pizzas. They are all made with jam. More than 160 recipes are listed on www.blakehillpreserves.com(link is external).
“So many of these recipes come from our customers. Customers will tell us how they add Jalapeno & Lime to their bloody mary or their eggs,” Allard said. “Then we think we should add that recipe on our site, or we should try something similar. It really brings out the artisan in you. We also love to collaborate with other Vermont companies to make different jams for them to pair with other creations, such as cheeses and specialty foods.”
Allard and Hanglin were nominated for their SBA award by Marie Dussault of the Vermont Economic Development Authority and Patricia Putnam of Mascoma Bank. Their nomination reads in part: “The past six years, the company has experienced tremendous growth and placed its products and the state of Vermont on the national stage with all their awards and accolades. We strongly believe they embody the spirit and commitment a small business should have in Vermont.”
The state of Vermont has countless small-business resources, and Blake Hill Preserves has worked with several throughout the years. Allard is a graduate of the SBA Vermont 2018 Emerging Leaders class, which assisted Blake Hill with creating a three-year strategic growth plan. After completing Emerging Leaders, Allard and Hanglin worked with SCORE and the Vermont Small Business Development Center to implement the plan. Its facility was built by Springfield Regional Development Corporation and financed by the Vermont Economic Development Authority. During the pandemic, Blake Hill Preserves availed itself of two Paycheck Protection Plan loans to keep staff on the payroll.
“SBA, VEDA, SCORE and SRDC's support of our facility and their thoughtful leadership programs have been invaluable in our growth environment," said Allard. “When we first started, we were lucky to make 100 jars a day. Ten thousand jars seemed unimaginable. Back then, I would have thought that number is too commercial. Yet, here Joe and I are with 45 employees and able to make 10,000 jars a day. Strangely enough, I feel we are the same artisan company we were a decade ago.”