Jam Update from V Smiley

Despite some pride in carrying out a tough order of business through 2023--confronting V Smiley Preserves failures/evolution and solving for it in uncomfortable, necessary ways--I’ve dragged my feet on getting an update posted and sent regarding where to find V Smiley Preserves these days. I’m feeling extra motivated as we enter month 6 of searching for a jam maker for V Smiley Preserves and wanting to explain why you are no longer seeing V Smiley Preserves in stores around the state of Vermont, New England and dotted around the United States. We continue to make beautiful preserves (I’m back to making jam), but I would love to harness this community of jam lovers to find the next jam maker for VSP. 

First, some context. It’s an old story. The business plan that doesn’t pan out. I built the business plan for the conjoined concept of Minifactory and V Smiley Preserves during a string of years that saw 40+ percent increases in sales year over year. I thought I was seeing my 7 years of travel, trade shows, and financial investment paying off. While that was certainly an element, the pandemic was equally effective. Folks at home were ordering a lot of jam, either through our website or from the businesses to whom we supplied pallets of jam.

Minifactory opened in 2022 as V Smiley Preserves sales started a steady downward trajectory. It also quickly became clear how under-projected the compensation packages were for VSP and Minifactory lead/management positions. As has been exhaustively reported, food and packaging prices shot up. Quickly tapering sales, higher compensation needs and higher cost of goods meant we were quickly underwater.

I was HIGHLY fortunate to secure low-cost and thoughtfully constructed loans (thanks ACEDC!) for Minifactory. Multiple loans required interest-only payments for 2 years. This bought me time to figure out what to do with V Smiley Preserves, which operated at a loss for 20 nail-biting months. With the density of my workload from V Smiley Preserve and Minifactory, my decision-making is slow these days. First, I let go of help. Then I raised prices. Then the big move, the destructive one that took me a year to make peace with, ending our wholesale program. Financially the program had run its course, but I was still figuring out a reasonable retail sales target and how to staff for that target.

That brings us to today. It has been valuable to spend more time in V Smiley Preserves this winter and spring. I held onto approximately 5 wholesale relationships that keep us connected to key locations—whether it’s Seattle (where VSP was founded), NYC or Boston, each having the potential to connect us to new customers and travelers who want to visit Vermont and Minifactory. Sales have steadied out. I am confident about where we are and where we’re going (way less nail-biting too!). V Smiley Preserves continues to be that seasonal message in a jar saying, come and visit us in Vermont!

See you soon!