2021 was another wonderful year for us at Thistle, thanks to all of you!

Making More Meals for Customers and Our Communities

We almost doubled the number of meals that we delivered and shipped to our customers. We also doubled the number of meal donations to nonprofit organizations. More than 40,000 meals went to help feed our communities through Berkeley Food Pantry, Food Finders, and more. We also created a new alliance with Berkeley Food Network, and donated more than 20,000 pounds of plant-based ingredients to them so they could pass it on to the communities that they support. All of this could only happen through the herculean efforts of our logistics team members and drivers. 

Growing Goodness from Our Farmers + Food Crafters

So much of what we serve up comes from our Farmers + Food Crafters - high-quality producers who we’ve built relationships with to bring you their delicious foods. So whether it’s the 434,000 pounds of dark leafy greens that come from places like Jayleaf, or the sweet potatoes and yams, including the beautiful purple Okinawan sweet potatoes from Mininger Foods, we are proud to work with them because of the way they do business and the food they produce. 

Becoming More Sustainable

Looking for more sustainable ways to do business is key in the way we make decisions here. We started to work with PlanetFwd, a company that tracks and measures the carbon footprints of consumer products and services, including meals. They found that an average day of Thistle meals generates 5 times fewer greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) than the food industry average. Some of the factors that contribute to such a low GHG:

• 100% of our deliveries are carbon neutral from purchasing verifiable carbon offsets
• 100% of our facilities run on non-polluting energy from wind and solar
• Ingredients that we use and where they’re sourced
  

Taking Care of Our Growing and Diverse Team

Across the country labor shortages affected businesses of all sizes, including Thistle. To continue to support our commitment to pay a living wage, we increased our starting hourly rate to a minimum of $20 per hour. With this, we were able to attract new employees (more than 200 new team members joined us in 2021) and continue to invest in the well-being of our current employees. 

In addition to the growth of our team, 61% of our staff and 52% of our leadership team identify as people of color. This area of growth is important to us, as we continue to create a culture of inclusion and belonging for our larger team and also our customers.

Supporting Our Communities

We’ve always known that our customers are kind and supporting people. This year, you showed up in big ways to support your communities. 

• As a food company, we know how difficult this year has been for independent restaurants. Through our Thistle Dines Out program, you supported more than 500 of your favorite restaurants during this time when they have really needed it. And they still need our support. 
• We wrapped up this year with our Giving Tuesday initiative. Giving Tuesday is usually just one day, but we stretched it out over a few weeks since nonprofit organizations have been hit especially hard this year. Our customers showed up again, showing your support for more than 300 nonprofit organizations - from large organizations, including Doctors Without Borders and Toys for Tots to smaller community nonprofits, like the Berkeley Humane Society and many local PTAs. 
  

Thank you again for supporting us. We’re looking forward to going into 2022 with you.