Archive for April, 2010

Relationships, Beautiful Places and Great Products

Friday, April 30th, 2010

One of our longtime customers, Nathan Russell from Granite Gardens in Tenants Harbor, Maine called to place his order the other day. Nathan uses his own truck to pick up our compost products for his garden center. Although it is beautiful, the ride is over 3 hours to our composting and bagging facility in Marion, Maine.  

After he ordered he asked, “Can I leave my rig in your yard over the weekend? My wife and I eloped to West Quoddy Head 11 years ago and this weekend is our anniversary. I would like to drive up with my truck on Friday and leave my rig in the Coast of Maine yard while we celebrate over the weekend in Lubec.”

This request made me smile because it reflects the relationship we have with our customers. I knew the answer would be yes but I had to check to make sure it was O.K. with Ruby Trott and Jeff Moore who run our compost facility.

This time of year is crazy with production, bagging and loading trucks. Jeff and Ruby do a wonderful job making sure that everything is running up to par. They are two of the hardest working people I know. They are also partners in life and have great big “Downeast” souls and sensibilities.

Ruby checked with Jeff and of course it was fine with them.

Nathan will drive up with his wife, spend a beautiful weekend in Lubec, along the Bay of Fundy, and then pick up his load of Coast of Maine soils.

His load will include our Fundy Enriching Mulch named after the Bay of Fundy and our Penobscot Blend Complete Planting Mix named after Penobscot Bay, where Nathan lives.

Granite Gardens also sells of Quoddy Lobster Compost  , so whether Nathan and his wife Jody are working at the garden center, celebrating their marriage or simply visiting one of the most beautiful places in the world, Coast of Maine will always be there even if it is just to offer some free parking.

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Sandwich Agway, Green Choice

Monday, April 26th, 2010

Donna Kutil holds a bag of Quoddy Lobster Compost (photo form the Cape Cod Times)At Coast of Maine we have been doing business with Sandwich Agway for years and they do a great job merchandising Coast of Maine products.

They also care deeply about their local environment and embracing sustainable practices as a way to increase their business. They have joined the local Cape and Islands Green, a new pilot program that recognizes area companies for their efforts at improving their eco-friendliness.

In a recent article in the Cape Cod Times,  Donna Kutil has many quotes that are significant for all our garden centers.

“We’re supposed to be green — garden centers are the original green people,” said Donna Kutil, one of the business’ owners. “Our customers are really excited about it.”

“Our environment is our economy, really.”

“A lot of average consumers and a lot of small business owners are intimidated by measures that might come from environmental groups, whereas this is coming from the business community,” she said. “We don’t want it to be regulatory — we want it to be evolutionary.”

To read the full article, follow the link at: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.capecodonline.com%2Fapps%2Fpbcs.dll%2Farticle%3FAID%3D%2F20100406%2FBIZ%2F4060301&h=ac30c

And if you have local initiatives like this, Coast of Maine may be able to help you with promotion and product donations.

( The photo used in this article comes from the Cape Cod Times)

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