Savor this, Saratoga
TogaNola's efforts to give back on a super-local level are downright delicious.
TogaNola’s owner, Jessica Schwartzman, is closing up quite a week.
She premiered her brand’s new packaging (it’s 77 percent post-consumer recycled) last weekend, and today she launched her “In Good Taste” program, which gives 20 percent of online sales to a local nonprofit — beginning with Shelters of Saratoga for the month of February.
“I want people to have a great product,” she says. “But I also want the money to go back into our community.”
Giving back wise, she simply has most of us beat. TogaNola’s exciting changes come in addition to her marketing and consulting work (clients include the nonprofit Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation), attending her first Opera Saratoga meeting Tuesday since being voted in as a board member, and on Friday — as board president of Saratoga PLAN — announcing the retirement of the land trust’s executive director and resultant nationwide search for a new one.
“I just love, love, love people and want to help,” says the entrepreneur, who started off as a nurse before moving into healthcare consulting and branching out from there into strategic planning.
“I had this one client, a big, big healthcare client, and I was working my butt off,” she says. “I came home one day, and was like, ‘I’m making these companies a lot of money, but I don’t think I’m helping people.’ At that point, I didn’t have any hyper-local clients.
“The next day, TogaNola posted on their website that they were closing up shop and open to selling to the right buyer.”
After purchasing the brand and re-tailoring its infrastructure to match her strengths, Schwartzman’s next step was knitting all of her worlds together.
“When you’re doing strategic planning for nonprofits, the biggest thing is where to get money,” she says. “So my work turned into a lot of development and marketing. With TogaNola’s give back program, we want to not only give back, but highlight your organization. If you have marketing materials you want us to share, if you want us to create stuff…I’m willing to do all of this. I’m small and nimble, and I can help.”
So if you’re a 501c3 in the Saratoga region, “and you think that we can support you in a fundraiser,” Schwartzman implores, “reach out to us.”
For more info and to buy granola — 20 percent of online sales in the month of February go to Shelters of Saratoga — visit, toganolasnackcompany.com.