Join Amy Guittard (Guittard Chocolate), Claire Schlemme (Renewal Mill), and James Beard Award Winner Alice Medrich for a fireside chat on ethical & sustainable sourcing, production, and baking
OAKLAND, CA – March 16, 2021 – To celebrate Earth Month, two beloved Bay-Area brands, Guittard Chocolate Company and Renewal Mill, have teamed up to host a live, virtual fire-side chat on Wednesday, April 14th at 8 pm EST / 5 pm PST to explore the intricacies of building ethical and climate-friendly supply chains.
This event will feature a discussion between Amy Guittard, a fifth generation family member and Director of Marketing at Guittard Chocolate, and Claire Schlemme, CEO of the award-winning upcycled food company Renewal Mill. Based in Oakland, CA, Renewal Mill is fighting climate change and food loss by turning the nutritious byproducts of food manufacturing into premium ingredients (namely alternative flours) and plant-based products, like baking mixes and cookies. These two trailblazing women will discuss single-origin ingredient sourcing, carbon neutral ingredient production, and what it means to run a sustainable food company in 2021.
The pair will also be joined by 5x James Beard Award-Winning cookbook author and chocolate & alternative flour expert Alice Medrich who will lead a “Brownie Bake-a-Long” session that features products from Guittard and Renewal Mill. Guests can attend the virtual session free of charge, or select the “Brownie Bake-a-Long” option to receive a baking kit featuring Renewal Mill Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix, Guittard Chocolate Chips, and some secret special additions to participate in the live baking demo. Bake-a-Long tickets available for $20.00 via Eventbrite. More information available here: https://sustainablesupplychains2021.eventbrite.com.
Fireside Guests:
Amy Guittard - Director of Marketing, Guittard Chocolate Company
As the fifth generation of the family business her great-great-grandfather started in 1868, Amy has an innate passion for cocoa and chocolate. Amy’s involvement at Guittard includes not only marketing activities but also sourcing and sustainability, serving on several committees for the World Cocoa Foundation, and traveling to origin to meet with farmers, buyers and traders. She continues Guittard’s long-standing tradition of collaborating on the ground with those closest to the source. Amy led the brand refresh and has launched several new consumer and professional products for the 148-year-old brand. More recently, Amy introduced Guittard’s manifesto, Cultivate Better™, which articulates the company’s on-going commitment to honorable sourcing, crafting world-class chocolate, and providing excellent customer experiences.
Claire Schlemme - Co-Founder & CEO, Renewal Mill
Claire Schlemme is an ardent environmentalist who saw a need to fix a broken food system in order to protect the planet. Claire’s lifelong interest in food and nature began to intertwine when she was diagnosed with cancer in her early 20s. This experience made her passionate about understanding the links between food and health, both of our environment and our own bodies. She co-founded Boston’s first organic juice company with the aim to connect local farmers and city-dwellers through nutritious and delicious foods. This exposed her to two primary challenges: food waste and the lack of affordable nutrition. Committed to finding solutions at the intersection of food, sustainability, and accessible nutrition, Claire launched Renewal Mill, an upcycled ingredients company fighting climate change & food waste at the manufacturing level through innovative upcycled flours & baking mixes.
Alice Medrich - James Beard Award-Winning Pastry Chef & Cookbook Author
Author, pastry chef, and teacher, Alice Medrich is one of the country’s foremost experts on chocolate, alternative flours, and chocolate desserts. Since 1976, when her renowned shop, Cocolat, opened and her first dessert feature (of many) appeared in a national publication, Alice’s innovative ideas and recipes and her insistence on quality ingredients have influenced a generation of confectioners, pastry chefs, and home cooks. Among her early accomplishments, Alice is credited with popularizing chocolate truffles in the US and introducing the larger “American” chocolate truffle, now a mainstream confection.
Since selling her interest in Cocolat in 1989, Alice has become an award-winning cookbook author, receiving three Cookbook of the Year awards from the James Beard Foundation and the International Association of Culinary Professionals for COCOLAT: Extraordinary Chocolate Desserts (Warner Books, 1990), Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts (Warner Books, 1994); and BITTERSWEET: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate (Artisan, 2003). Alice’s book, Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your Mouth Cookies (Artisan, 2010), won the 2011 International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook Award in the baking category. Her 2014 book, Flavor Flours won the 2015 James Beard Award for Best Baking and Dessert Book. Ever busy, Alice has become an expert in the world of upcycled flours, leading product development for brand Renewal Mill.
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ABOUT RENEWAL MILL:
Renewal Mill is an award-winning, next-generation ingredient company that fights climate change and global food loss by upcycling byproducts from food manufacturing into premium ingredients and products. We’re building a new circular economy of food that’s better for the people and the planet we love. Our flagship ingredient is organic okara, a high fiber, high protein, gluten-free flour made from the nutritious soybean pulp leftover when you make soymilk. We use the okara in a number of plant-based products including a vegan, soft-baked chocolate chip cookie, a 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour, and a line of vegan “just add oil and water” baking mixes. We can be found in 150+ markets in California, online platforms like Thrive Market, Good Eggs, and FreshDirect, and at www.renewalmill.com. The company is led by two go-getter women: Caroline Cotto currently serves as Board President of the Upcycled Food Association and Claire Schlemme was named a 2020 Tory Burch Fellow. To learn more about Renewal Mill, visit www.renewalmill.com, ‘like’ us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
ABOUT GUITTARD CHOCOLATE COMPANY:
As the oldest continuously family-owned and operated chocolate company in the United States, Guittard Chocolate Company, now under the fourth and fifth generation of family management, continues to grow with the same innovative spirit and commitment to sustainability that has made it one of the world’s most respected makers and suppliers of premium chocolate over the past 150+ years. For more information, please visit us online at www.Guittard.com or @GuittardChocolate.