Conversations With Bruce
February 11, 2010 at 6:03 pm
Hi, everyone.
My friend Peter Rukavina and I have a conversation over coffee every week about what it means to run the Prince Edward Island Preserve Company, and where the company is headed. Please watch this short introduction video:
Each week we'll post another chapter in the series and open the doors to hear your comments and questions. I would really appreciate your feedback, as it's customers like you that help us at the Preserve Company move forward and bring you the products you want to enjoy and the newsletters that you want to read.
- Click here to return to the Conversations With Bruce Introduction
- Click here to watch Chapter 1 of Conversations With Bruce - February 11, 2010
- Click here to watch Chapter 2 of Conversations With Bruce - February 11, 2010
- Click here to watch Chapter 3 of Conversations With Bruce - February 11, 2010
- Click here to watch Chapter 4 of Conversations With Bruce - March 11, 2010
- Click here to watch Chapter 5 of Conversations With Bruce - March 11, 2010
- Click here to watch Chapter 6 of Conversations With Bruce - March 11, 2010
Hi Sue,
I finally got to the admin portion of my site; sorry. Your comments warms all our hearts here. Thank you so much for your kind words.
We are planning our kayak trip now. So far it is four of us going. Katherine Dean MacLaine (our newest teammate and her husband Andrew, Shirley and myself. Against all odds we will prevail! The mosquitos on that Island are fericious at that time of year; we will have to be well dressed. I am really looking forward to it some time in late June.
Eat Well…Be Well…Drink Tea….Live Happy!
Bruce
Betty,
Thank you for writing us; I am sorry to not have responded before this. I did not receive the auto-notice that there was an email waiting for me….no excuses though, should have chacked, So Sorry.
Your words are encouraging for all us here. We have a wonderful team of people who work hard and making all that we do; special.
Take care and all the best to you and yours!
Sincerely,
Bruce
Hi Bruce,
My postal order arrived this week and I had my first taste of your Strawberry and Grand Marnier preserves this morning for Sunday brunch and I have to say it was absolutely DELICIOUS!! So delicious, in fact, that one serve of toast was simply not enough and I had to have another:) I don’t think three jars of preserves and a jar of Peach Salsa is going to last too long in this house, tasting that good!
Please pass on my thanks to Lynn for her excellent packaging – the parcel weathered the long trip to Australia perfectly in tact and your three jar presentation box is not only beautifully designed, but also very sturdy.
I look forward to reading (and hopefully watching some footage) of your upcoming kayak trip to gather wild strawberries and hopefully if you have some time, would love to listen to some more “Conversations with Bruce” to hear more about your progress with PEIPC and life on Prince Edward Island.
All the best to you, Shirley and the team. We will indeed be “eating well” as we enjoy your scrumptious preserves over the winter.
Warmest Regards,
Sue
South Australia
My husband & I visited PEI 2 years ago with our camping group.
I never realized that jam could taste so good until I tasted your preserves. I hope to visit PEI again some day and definitely will visit PEI Preserves.
Congrats on such a great product.
By the way, I was brought up in Glasgow, Scotland but have lived in USA since 1956.
Betty Chambers
Dear Diane,
I read what I just posted…whoops! Can you tell I still have jet lag? My grammar is terrible. I meant to say…
“Your comments are “spot on” with great advice. We will be referring often to what you have posted.”
Eat Well…Be Well.
Bruce
Dear Diane,
So sorry to taking to so long to respond. I have been away to Japan on business and neglected by error to check the admin part of our site. Sorry.
Your comments are “spot on” and great advice. We will be referring ofter to you what you have posted. Great comments. We are learning and want to be open to do so; so again a great big thank you from all of us at the Preserve Co!
Eat Well…Be Well.
Sincerely,
Bruce
Hi Bruce,
The “business of your business” is important to be sure, but I think it is a wonderful idea to start a broader conversation with your PEI Preserve community about all the more intangible factors that make the company unique. In response to some of your specific questions, here are my thoughts:
)
- Use the website as the sole place for the product and “buy me” information.
- Don’t create an e-mail or hardcopy newsletter (you’ve already said you’ve been bad at it, so trying to do it will be too much like work
- Do create regular videos, shot anywhere you’d like, where you tell stories about what is important to you, your family, staff, customers and company like:
o How you create new products
o Individual staff member profiles
o Interviews with special customers
o Garden Development
o History of your location
o Your business experiences
o Kiva projects
o Recipe demonstrations using your products
o Life lessons and how you learned them
o Current events
o Your passion of the moment
o Feedback from your customers
o And the list goes on.
Great initiative – I’ll be checking in often to see what’s new.
Cheers,
Diane
Consumer Analyst from AAFC and a fan
Hi Sue,
WOW….what a beautiful email to receive today. Thank you so much for the time you took to share your thoughts with me.
We are working on improving our notice board as I write. We hope to have it fully functional within a week.
Lynn is out today; but will get back to you regarding shipping to Austraila. We can do it, but she will share the details tomorrow.
I hope we get a chance to meet and have a cup of tea on either side of the world.
Take care and be well and hopefully speak again.
Sincerely,
Bruce MacNaughton
Owner & Host
http://www.preservecompany.com
Dear Bruce,
I would like to enquire whether you send mail orders to Australia.
I note your website advises that orders outside of Canada and the USA need to be placed directly, and that you are only able to mail order to particular countries. If you do post to Australia, I would like to order the following items:
1 Gift box containing three x 250ml preserves (Strawberry and Grand Marnier, Raspberry and Champagne and Wild Blueberry and Raspberry in Champagne)
1 Peach Salsa 375ml
If you can process this order, could you let me know the total cost, including postage? I will forward our address details when you confirm if you are able to send. We have a PayPal account, if that is your preferred method of payment?
I came across your company through Peter Rukavinas recent Conversations with Bruce blog segments, which I have enjoyed immensely. As I have only experienced PEI as an online experience at this point I have been most interested to learn about your company, products, personal ethos and watch footage of New Glasgow; which is a truly beautiful spot. I havent been able to access your notice board link for comments, so I thought I would include a suggestion below as to what would enhance my experience as part of your online community.
In regard to visiting the Preserve Company online, I think it would be great if you had a video segment showing footage of you/and or your wife hosting a group of customers, featuring a tasting of a range of your products perhaps highlighting items from your restaurant menu, or a high tea . It could be in the store tasting area, in the restaurant area which highlights your spectacular view of New Glasgow, or perhaps even outside (in summer) in your beautiful garden. Although video footage couldnt provide a full sensory, tangible experience that visiting in person allows, it would show customers enjoying that experience, replicating it to some degree for your online community.
It would also be wonderful to see a video segment of the gathering of the harvest, where footage could show fruit being picked at some of your growers properties on PEI. I myself would love to see PEIs world famous wild strawberries, which L M Montgomery wrote so passionately about in her novels and journals. Showing the fruit then being processed and bottled in your kitchen would be a good link to show the process full circle.
We have a fantastic local company in South Australia called Beerenberg, who also make a wonderful range of preserves (or jams as we call them) and sauces, which can either be bought directly at the farm store, or through national supermarkets locally. I visited often throughout my childhood (its only a bit over an hour from our home) and now we take our little girl to pick strawberries and buy a range of goodies from the store. Their website is http://www.beerenberg.com.au if you are interested in comparing their product range and site to your own.
All the very best to you and your wife, and I wish you continued success with your business. I look forward to one day enjoying the real life experience of visiting the PEI Preserve Company, but in the meantime I will continue to enjoy visiting online.
Warm regards,
Sue L.
Hewett, South Australia