I don’t know about you, but I’ve found myself daydreaming about what this time last year looked like and felt like. Exactly one year ago, most of us were told to stay home and only travel for essential reasons. I remember walking into the grocery store and the eerie feeling of everyone shopping in masks, avoiding close proximity and definitely no small talk. I also remember loving the time I had at home with my family...playing board games, movie nights, time in the backyard, and getting gobs and gobs of take out food from local small businesses. While it was an uncertain and scary time for our world, I know I wasn’t alone in feeling grateful for the “forced slowdown” and extra time with my family.
In terms of The Elderberry Co, the pandemic skyrocketed us in sales, similarly to toilet paper. Before March 2020, we were making about 300 gallons of fresh elderberry syrup each week. Our busiest week in March 2020, we made over 1,100 gallons of elderberry syrup! It was absolutely nuts! In terms of order volume, we were averaging 4,000 orders per month….March 2020? 13,000 orders! I was mass texting all of my friends and family asking if anyone wanted to come help us fulfill orders. We had to start a night shift just to get everything done in time. All while having to social distance and take all safety protocols.
When our community here in southern Indiana moved to only essential businesses open, our mayor contacted us directly and ensured that we were essential as a manufacturing business, especially as our products help support healthy immune systems. I felt grateful that our business was allowed to stay open; however, I felt a huge responsibility to be responsible and contribute to the solution of getting through the pandemic safely. It was a ton of pressure and a deep dive into leadership and business owning for me.
So here we are, one year later. Many are vaccinated, stats are improving and we are slowly finding our way back to “normal”. While our business continues to grow, we are finding a steady pace of growth and are able to do exciting things like develop new products (more on that later). As a leader, I am constantly learning how to lead and love my team well. I am thankful for all of you who support us in our mission to empower families to support their immune systems. If this blog is your introduction to our company, welcome and hello! We are so glad you are here. To stay up to date on all things elderberry, you can:
- Subscribe to our mailing list here. A box will pop up for you to add your name and email.
- Follow us on FB or IG
- Join our subscription program to receive our products on a recurring basis! Click here to learn more about how to join.
As always, thank you for supporting our small business. We are excited for what the rest of 2021 has in store for our team and are excited to grow alongside you!