Specialty Food Magazine

Summer 2016

Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.

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A Classic Favorite sof™ 2014 Gold Winner 800.372.6808 | Seattle, WA franschocolates.com Summer Fancy Food Show Booth 4621 MBA at Pace University and now serves as Madelaine's director of sales and marketing. Pulling Together to Make a Comeback In the storm's aftermath, the family and staff pulled together to save the company. "Depending on the hour or the time of day, I thought, 'Yes, we can,' 'no, we can't,'" recalls Farber of the hurdles he encountered. "The response from the industry was huge, so many people offering assistance—space, equipment—so kind and compassionate. Our customers were almost desperately telling us, 'You've got to try to come back. We'll give you orders now for next year, we'll pre-pay you.'" The emotional factor spurred them on above anything else, he says, though at the time they were also confident they'd receive insurance money to rebuild. To date, they have collected only a fraction of what they expected. The city and federal government have provided key recovery assistance. "We tried to remain optimistic and had to move fast," Farber says. "We could not afford to lose another cycle." First, the facil- ity had to be cleared out and thoroughly sanitized. Buying new equipment from abroad and having it shipped could take nine months, he says, so the staff began to tinker with the damaged machines still in place. "I don't think they knew how good they were until they started to repair the equipment step by step," he says of his "incredible" workers. On June 20, 2013, The Madelaine Chocolate Company pumped out its first chocolates since Sandy, molds of fish and pansies to be wrapped in sparkling foil. "It was emotional, a great feeling," Farber says of that day. Still, production was limited. The National Grid presented the company with a $250,000 check, which they greatly appre- ciated, but it was not enough to stay in busi- ness. In early 2014, the company put their 5.4-acre spread of land on the market. "We were not going to sell the busi- ness, just the property," Farber says. "We were getting offers to relocate in many parts of the country. Neighboring states offered some very appealing incentives." When Bill de Blasio was elected mayor of New York City that fall, they reconsid- ered. "His administration was extremely helpful and really wanted to retain jobs in the city," says Farber. "We're one of the larg- est manufacturing employers in the whole city and it certainly grabbed their attention to say we were relocating." In 2015, the company received $9.7 million in grants from the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program to purchase new equipment. Tax abatements brought the total relief to $13.2 million. They also secured a Small Business Administration loan for $18 million. The Next Stage Looking to the future, Farber has com- missioned shell-molding equipment from Denmark that will allow them to fill eggs with ganache, caramel, or peanut butter and bring their manufacturing to a higher level of efficiency. Madelaine produces about 700 SKUs and has re-established its private-label work but not contract manufacturing. "We are doing everything in a very measured way to make sure we don't throw the production off balance," he says. "Aside from the magnitude of the event, it gave us time for ref lecting, the opportunity to re- evaluate our business model and look at our strategy, see how we're going to proceed." The Madelaine Chocolate Company has every intention of celebrating its 50th anniversary in Rockaway Beach next year. "The cost of living and manufacturing in New York City is higher than anyplace else and poses greater challenges for us to stay here," Farber says. "But we are New Yorkers and we love where we are. We have a tremendous loyalty to the community. And I'm a little too old to move." producer profile Julie Besonen is food editor for Paper magazine and a restaurant columnist for nycgo.com. 70 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com

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