Fare 2020 Year in Review
Fare 2020 Year in Review
2020 was not the year that Fare imagined, but we hope it turns out to be the year that we needed.
Having built our business around workplace catering and consulting, the regional shelter-in-place orders that took effect in March shook us to the foundation. But instead of crumbling, we reinforced our commitment to food justice and equity, implemented safer protocols as our kitchen and hospitality teams became essential frontline workers, adapted to virtual communication in our remote and client communities and sought ways to diversify our business to bring the focus back to the most important thing in the world to us: dignified food, and the people and spaces that make it happen.
In 2020, Fare Resources:
Made a total of 186,583 delicious, dignified and responsible meals in the Fare kitchen in Emeryville that went to workplaces, events and community members
Launched our nonprofit arm Fare Community Kitchen (FareCK) and donated 108,947 of the meals made in our kitchen to Bay Area individuals and families
Spent $343,000 in the local economy, with $140,200 spent with local and sustainable farmers and food producers
Worked with 22 CBOs and 1 school district partner to distribute FareCK meals in their communities
Sustained 22 jobs with full benefits for our team
Worked on 11 commercial kitchen and program design projects across workplaces, restaurants, food facilities and nonprofits
Curated, packed and sent 1,639 Fare Cares packages with 4,268 locally-sourced products to workplace employees and clients across the country
Held 12 working group meetings and shared 29 newsletters on the Future of Workplace Food, including 1 socially-conscious Fare Food Trivia game at our holiday meeting
Fare’s Head of Community TaRonda and former Kitchen Manager Drew pick up recovered food for FareCK from one of our partners, Foodshift.
As an 11-going-on-12-year old Bay Area food business, Fare Resources is used to change. What started as a food and farm consultancy in 2009 evolved into a workplace design and management company and then to an office catering company. I was about to say that nothing prepared us for the sea changes of 2020, but then I remembered that promoting healthy and happy kitchens and making delicious, dignified and responsible food has always been at the core of why Fare Resource exists. So although it’s easy to say it now, pivoting out of the pandemic by launching Fare Community Kitchen in May 2020 was a natural evolution for us, and one we’re dedicated to carrying forward into 2021 alongside our other services for Workplace and Design.
Our big news for 2021 is that we’re doubling down on making delicious, dignified and responsible food available to everyone who wants it, beyond our community and workplace partners.
We took a moment to talk to a few members of our talented and tireless team to find out the moments and projects that shaped them in 2020 and the intentions they’re carrying into 2021:
Maria Pedroza Romo, Line Cook The project that has shaped me has been FareCK because it has been a completely different project from my previous work, and since I began to mold myself as a cook. I have learned so much thanks to this project, to make completely different food than what I knew. My intention this year is to absorb and learn even more :)
TaRonda Sherrod, Head of Community FareCK has been my baby since its birth in May 2020. It means so much to me to be able to give back to the community I grew up in and have been a part of my whole life. FareCK is my rose growing from the cracks in the cement of 2020, it is the light that has come from the darkness of this year. I want to make FareCK a staple for giving and support in the Bay Area communities in 2021.
Donnie Thompson, Operations Designer Winning the contract to program and design a major tech company kitchen in South San Francisco was a pivotal moment for Fare Resources in 2020. We were bidding against industry leaders and were able to win the contract. My goal is to help Fare stay in business through 2021.
Ian Humphrey, Executive Chef Launching Fare Community Kitchen in May and starting to provide meals to folks in our community was definitely something in 2020 that not only shaped me but Fare as a business as well. In 2021 I hope to lead the FareCK team into not only continuing to feed the 6,530 community members we are currently feeding weekly but potentially grow and have even more impact.
Kiyomi Doty, Project Manager 2020 shaped me to be more flexible in my role and responsibilities as a team member. I helped re-open a restaurant and worked more closely with our design team, something I never saw for myself when I began at Fare. I'm not usually one to set "New Year’s" goals but since COVID, I've been trying to do more to take care of myself and do what makes me happy. I will take more days off in 2021 to spend time with the people I love and take mini-vacations away from my apartment.
Ricardo (Duke) Sims, Catering Driver The moment I took my first COVID test was a shocking wake up call that made me realize exactly how serious things were getting. Kinda made me feel like there had to be more that could be done to prevent cases from spreading. My intention for 2021 is just to stay positive. After everything the last year taught me, that was the most important lesson.