Zingerman's is a terrific store--some refer to them as the tastemakers of specialty food. But we think that Zingerman's represents a different way of doing thin

Zingerman's is a terrific store--some refer to them as the tastemakers of specialty food. But we think that Zingerman's represents a different way of doing things. First, they warehouse and ship products themselves which means added distance, less freshness and limited warehouse/shelf space. The margin structure can be tough for the small producer dealing with a physical retailer. Second, we want people to connect more directly with foodmakers. Zingerman's makes the products their own in a sense. They don't have any photos on their website, for instance--they illustrate them all in the Zingerman's style. And Zingerman's has been pushing their own private labels heavily. Finally, you're absolutely right that the tools consumers are forced to use are pretty bad. We want to make it as easy to buy from a small heritage pig farmer as it is buying from Amazon.com.