International Elderberry Symposium

We had a wonderful time this week at the International Elderberry Symposium in Columbia, Mo.!

Thanks to the amazing friends we made there, we will have some big announcements coming soon, so stay tuned!

One of those big connections we made was with Elderglen, an Australian company producing elderberry products.

We also got to hang out with our friends from Casa Somerset Bed and Breakfast and Organic Farm, who took the featured photo for this post.

Local value-added products aren’t cute. They’re insurance.

Lionberry 's Weekly Delusion and Re-illusion Update.

People act like small batch is a hobby.

Nope.

Every bottle from a small farmer is a value-added product inside a value food chain.

That chain is made of humans, not container ships.

If global trade gets tariffed to death, or the truckers strike, or a war kicks off, or a fuel shortage hits, or a natural disaster…guess what?

Walmart will not be driving to Thailand for pineapple juice.

Local food is the only thing that can actually disrupt the global supply chain — in a good way.

And here’s the delusion:

Everyone thinks “we’ll connect with the local farmers when we need them.”

Nope.

If the shelves go empty, it’s already too late.

Now is the time to get the relationships built. The value chain in motion. 

Now is the time to slot locals in the stores — even if it’s as “novelty items” at first on a local farm shelf.

Because when the global pipeline hiccups?

The people who will actually feed your region

aren’t the ones with the biggest warehouses.

Shop local or… we’ll be learning how to season cardboard and call it rustic.