Wild Boar Sopressata, Buttercup Cheese, Shepherd’s Delight Sheep’s Milk Cheese,Cornichons (mini pickles), Parmesan Crackers
If you see Mark Zimmerman, ask to see a video from one of his visits to a wine or cheese maker.
The vistas are painfully picturesque but very real—glowing, low-lying mountains; row upon row of laden grape vines; producers mucking about in hay-scented barns as goats scamper in and out of the frame.
They show, in visual form, why Zimmerman does what he does. You can just sense the dedication of the farmer to his product and imagine the high quality of the end result.
“I’m very passionate about food,” said Zimmerman as we sat down to talk about Revittle, his 4-year-old business that links consumers with small-scale producers of cheese, cured meats and wines.
“This business was built to get the producer closer to the consumer,” he explained.
Revittle was designed as an online exchange so that producers—most small, many from Pennsylvania—could find new markets for their goods, connecting them with chefs, restaurants, stores and ordinary consumers.
“It’s all about connection, really,” he said.
Blood, Sweat, Tears
Zimmerman started Revittle as an online marketplace after identifying a gap between small producers of high-quality foods and those who might want to buy them.
His team built a site so that consumers can find products that, otherwise, they likely would never know existed. When a customer places an order, the producer ships the product directly to the consumer, enabling the entire transaction to be completed in an average of two to three days.
“No one’s going to care for the product better than the producers themselves,” he said.
Selection is another benefit of Revittle, which currently features nearly 500 products on its site.
Many of the products are crafted on multi-generational farms. Regardless of lineage, producers share in common a commitment to quality and sustainability. Revittle highlights many of their stories on its site, which adds a nice personal touch.
But, if you’re local to Harrisburg, you can enjoy an even more personal touch.
In September, Zimmerman opened a stand in the Broad Street Market’s brick building. So, you now can elbow up to the counter to see, taste and purchase some of Revittle’s outstanding selection of artisanal foods.
New cheeses and cured meats are introduced on a weekly basis, with an array of samples available. As if a cold case full of cheese and cured meats weren’t enough, Revittle introduced raclette sandwiches, a gooey, melted cheese delight, spread generously upon a tender, chewy roll baked fresh by fellow market vendor, Raising the Bar.
To Zimmerman, the new market stand is yet another important way to link producers and consumers.
Particular Fondness
So far, the Revittle platform has created some unexpected creative partnerships.
Case in point: a number of repeat customers are professional chefs ordering cheeses and cured meats for their own menus. The ability for producers and chefs to connect directly has spurred the creation of small, artisanal batches of products. Chefs get exactly what they want, and producers enjoy the luxury of getting creative, confident in the knowledge that there will be someone buying once the product is ready.
To better understand how Revittle fits into the landscape of small-scale agriculture, I spoke with Hans Baldauf, a registered architect based in San Francisco who also is a decades-long veteran of the slow food movement and the former board president of the Center for Urban Education.
Our conversation ran the gamut, from relationships between the slow food and green building movements to how farmers markets serve as one of the world’s oldest gathering places in communities. Nowadays, he observed, markets help create real experiences, learn about new products and meet the very people who make the products.
“People want places to go to have real experiences,” he said. “They don’t actually want to do everything with a click.”
Specific to Revittle, he observed, “It’s very, very hard to make a living at small-scale farming in general.” Because of this, creating a side business to leverage the core crop or herd has become an essential component to making ends meet for many producers.
Farmers markets like the Broad Street Market and a platform like Revittle, Baldauf explained, enable producers to take this one step further, leapfrogging the supply chain in order to maximize their return on investment.
“Revittle allows artisanal producers to reach out beyond their direct community,” he said.
This can make all the difference in terms of making a living. Zimmerman shared that sales brought in through Revittle has enabled four different farms avoid bankruptcy.
“It’s all about strengthening the little guy by bolstering the economies of scale,” he said.
For a local industry professional’s perspective, I touched base with Tony Salomone, director of food and beverage for the Hilton Harrisburg.
“We’ve used Revittle on a number of occasions,” he said. “They have a really great selection of local product.”
He listed a number of products they’ve sourced through Revittle, but acknowledged a particular fondness for the fresh chevre made by Little Antietam’s Goat Dairy, located outside of Waynesboro.
“It’s awesome,” he said, chuckling.
Ultimately, Baldauf describes Revittle as “a business that’s about nurturing producers, making sure that they can survive, and creating something for the urban dweller.”
Aptly, the term “revittle” means to resupply, and as we finally settle into fall, what better time to consider where our food comes from and the people who make it.
Revittle is located in the brick building of the Broad Street Market in Harrisburg. To view and order from the online marketplace, visit www.revittle.com.
