CBC Blog

Member Spotlight: Yankee Doodle Deli

We recently reached out to Marilyn Baker, Owner of Yankee Doodle Deli to reflect on this challenging and difficult environment.  Yankee Doodle Deli is located in Covington and produces uniquely flavored gourmet pretzels,  “ZELS”.

How has COVID-19 affected your business? 

Pret-ZEL orders are down significantly because our bread and butter (or our pretzels and salt) are from wholesale accounts such as breweries, wineries, and gift shops. Some of our coffee shops and grocers are still open but obviously their traffic is slow too. However, I think everyone would feel better if they just bought a bag of ZELS!

How has it affected your employees? 

We’re a small company and employee hours are definitely cut. I hope there is an explosion of orders when this is over and we can make up for some of it. We are promoting that we’re open and ready to fill orders for our fans. We have received some online orders this week which allowed one employee more hours.

Is there anything good happening or anything positive that you can share? 

I’m impressed with the positive attitudes of my friends and colleagues. We know we’ll get through this and I love the optimism I’m feeling from everyone. On a personal “good note”, my husband asked me to teach him to play the piano which should be interesting since I’ve forgotten 99% of everything I once knew. But we’ll have fun and will keep the windows closed.

Anything else that you would like to share?

CBC members are notoriously generous with ZELS orders at the holidays and we are grateful. If anyone wants to order ZELS sent to clients/friends to let them know they are in your thoughts, we’d love to fill orders. Or if a member just wants a ZEL-icious snack while working at home, that’s great too! We shipped seven boxes of One Pounders this week and loved it!

NOTE: This break has given me time to reflect on the future as I near retirement in a few years, I have decided to seek a partner / buyer for Yankee Doodle Deli. If you know of someone who would like to be involved in a SMALL business with a BIG cause – hiring Second Chance workers- this is a fit. The infrastructure is strong; my account relations are strong; I have excellent workers; the sky’s the limit! Contact me: marilyn@yankeedoodledeli.com. 859-620-7406.

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