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Vermont Village Cannery

At Vermont Village, they live and work near the little town of South Barre, where they buy as much of their food as they can from local farmers. They prefer food that’s grown for taste, not for travel, from farmers who respect the land. So Vermont Village buys apples from local farmers whenever possible and is proud to give them a fair price for their apples and help them continue to be a good steward of their orchards and the environment. Vermont Village makes their applesauce the old fashioned way, cooked in small kettles, using the whole apple including the peel. There is no water or sugar added. The result is a delicious, healthy treat that you and your family can enjoy any time.

Vermont_Village_CanneryIt all began in 1977 when they gathered apples from nearby homestead orchards – finding forgotten “heirlooms” in their neighboring hills and pastures. That led to the opening of three local canneries in Vermont. These were places for local people to get their products canned, and where farmers could sell their produce to the canners who required certain items for their sauces, salsas or chutneys. This supported the growth of locally-made products and the local Vermont farmers who had a new outlet for their crops.

When Vermont Village started, the apples they gathered grew wild, tended by the seasons and the wind and the rain. Their dream was to make these pure fruits of the land available to everyone. The old folks taught them how to cook them, to bring out the goodness and the flavor. “Cook them whole, cook them fast. Don’t add anything that nature didn’t put there. That’s the best way.” It made sense to let its natural character and taste shine through. They aimed to make a wholesome, natural applesauce that would appeal to taste buds, wallets, and the nascent natural market. So Vermont Village became the first company to sell additive-free, no sugar-added, all-natural applesauce to supermarkets.

In the early 1990’s the natural foods market began to change. People became more healthy and active. Concerns about the health of the environment became an international conversation. Consumers began to realize the power of their dollars could influence both the purity of their foods and the manner the environment was approached. As the natural foods marketplace evolved into the organic foods marketplace with additional focus on farming practices that do not pollute the earth, Vermont Village happily embraced this trend. The Vermont Organic Farmers group led the development of the country’s first national organic certification program and Vermont Village was certified as an organic processor in 1996, when they introduced their line of certified organic apple sauces.

Today, Vermont Village is proud to be at the forefront of the organic foods movement providing consumers with the best USDA organic foods and encouraging and supporting organic farmers by providing a market for their produce. Their fruits are grown using no chemical fertilizers or synthetic pesticides or herbicides. They are inspected each year by a third party USDA certified organic inspector. All aspects of their process are scrutinized to ensure compliance with the USDA organic guidelines and they meet and exceed all food safety standards.