Will our mission weather this storm?
We are working hard with an unsettling feeling about what the future will bring. It seems that commodity meat, and more importantly confinement raised animals are being exploited during this crisis. Tempesta still holds out hope that we all, as suppliers of responsibly raised and crafted meat can weather this storm. Oddly, I always thought that operating a brick and mortar foodservice establishment was an indulgent risk taken by producers, Tempesta Market/Deli seems to be sustaining us, as our wholesale salumi business is leveraged toward specialty retail and high end restaurants, with distributor partners leveraged similarly. This grace is surely due to our owner and his family putting in Herculean efforts to serve the delivery and pickup business that Chicago locals are clearly making a priority. Still, the long term ramifications, without some relief through our regular wholesale channels seems daunting. I hope your operations are continuing and that your lines of distribution hold through this volatile market, and that in the end we all, as Americans, can sustain an appreciation of quality crafted and well sourced farm products.
The Cellar & Pantry 