Focus on Sustainable Small Business Owners: Friend of a Farmer's Taylor Morabito
At BeOne, we love the opportunity to talk to small business owners who balance running their businesses with a focus on sustainability. We discuss small business ownership, sustainable practices, green business ideas, corporate social responsibility, and the lessons learned.
This week, we were joined by Taylor Morabito, the co-owner of the restaurant Friend of a Farmer. Family-owned and operated for more than 30 years, Friend of a Farmer is a pioneer in the farm-to-table movement. With two NYC locations, one in Gramercy Park and the other in the Upper West Side, they've built a reputation for serving great cuisine with seasonally fresh and local ingredients.
Taylor spoke with us about his path into the family business, developing relationships with vendors and customers, and some of the challenges he's faced along the way.
Read on for highlights from our discussion.
Source: www.friendofafarmer.com
The roots of farm-to-table
We began talking about the restaurant's history, with Taylor explaining how it started as a bakery his Mom opened in 1986 while living upstate. She had the idea of using local produce, creating jams and jarred fruits, and bringing them to the bakery in NYC, and it was an immediate success.
Fast forward some time, and they've expanded to a restaurant with over 100 seats, plus another location (and plans for more!). Needless to say, the restaurant business runs in Taylor's blood, and he's had plenty of experience in the industry.
"It's been a passion project for her and my dad—and now me and my siblings—for the entirety of our lives. I've been working in the restaurant business since I was a kid. I've been a busboy, a dishwasher, on the line, and bartended. I've held pretty much every position there is.
So it's something that's in my blood at this point and something that I'm very comfortable with and passionate and knowledgeable about... Being in a family business certainly has its ups and downs, but it makes for interesting dinner conversation occasionally."
Keeping it local, post-Covid
Taylor explained precisely what the farm-to-table movement entails, especially for their business. Essentially, they focus on sourcing local ingredients wherever possible—with their bar even serving mainly New York state liquors and spirits.
According to Taylor, this has been a challenge since the pandemic due to inflation and supply chain impact, but they remain committed to the mission. It's not just about providing great food, he says, but also about environmental sustainability.
"For us, it's [about] just limiting your footprint and sourcing locally. It doesn't really matter where you are, obviously, but if you go to your local market or whatever local candle shop, that owner or that person is bringing in those goods from a place that's within whatever it might be, a hundred-mile radius, as opposed to shopping from a big box store like Walmart.
Those are brands that are bringing in these massive, massive trucks that expend a ton of gas, and they have to travel across the country, so their footprint is huge. So for us, it's really about limiting that footprint and trying to be as local and sustainable as possible."
Navigating costs through vendor relationships
An unfortunate reality for small businesses is that organic, local products are typically more expensive. Sourcing ingredients from a local farmers market will be more expensive than buying them from a restaurant supply corporation, so owners like Taylor have to find ways to make it work.
As he explains, part of this is done through maintaining good relationships with local vendors and developing a mutually beneficial strategy.
"We get our meat from this place called Fossil Farm that we've worked with for the past five or ten years. And you build that rapport, you build that partnership, and over time, they're able to maybe reduce the price a little bit for you because they're able to see that you are a successful brand, and they are willing to do what they can to keep that partnership alive.
....We're fortunate enough that we are very busy, and we do have that volume, allowing us to buy certain products in bulk. But the flip side is that there are certain products that are very expensive, and even if you buy in bulk, unfortunately, there aren't any discounts.
....COVID certainly has created more of a challenge as far as finding those products at a price that is affordable and is not just sustainable for the environment, but also sustainable for business."
To learn more about Friend of a Farmer, check out their website.
Stay tuned for more interviews here at BeOne, where we'll discuss sustainability and small business ownership with other entrepreneurs like Taylor.
Say hi to the co-founder Tayor 👋