About Us

Vermont Products and People

At Vermont Village, we live and work near the little town of South Barre, where we buy as much of our food as we can from local farmers. We prefer food that’s grown for taste, not for travel, from farmers who respect the land. So we buy apples from local farmers whenever possible and are proud to give them a fair price for their apples and help them continue to be a good steward of their orchards and the environment.

We make our applesauce the old fashioned way, cooked in small kettles, using the whole apple including the peel. There is no water or sugar added. The result is a delicious, healthy treat that you and your family can enjoy any time.

It all began in 1977 when we gathered apples from nearby homestead orchards – finding forgotten “heirlooms” in our neighboring hills and pastures. That led to the opening of three local canneries here in Vermont. These were places for local people to get their products canned, and where farmers could sell their produce to the canners who required certain items for their sauces, salsas or chutneys. This supported the growth of locally-made products and the local Vermont farmers who had a new outlet for their crops.

Today our products are sold in Co-ops, General Stores and supermarkets throughout the region and beyond and we remain dedicated to supporting and sustaining local canners and farmers as well as the land their fruits are grown on.

Wholesome, Natural, Organic

When Vermont Village started, the apples we gathered grew wild, tended by the seasons and the wind and the rain. Our dream was to make these pure fruits of the land available to everyone. The old folks taught us how to cook them, to bring out the goodness and the flavor. “Cook them whole, cook them fast.  Don’t add anything that nature didn’t put there. That’s the best way.” It made sense to let its natural character and taste shine through. We aimed to make a wholesome, natural applesauce that would appeal to taste buds, wallets, and the nascent natural market. So we became the first company to sell additive-free, no sugar-added, all-natural applesauce to supermarkets.

In the early 1990’s the natural foods market began to change. People became more healthy and active. Concerns about the health of the environment became an international conversation. Consumers began to realize the power of their dollars could influence both the purity of their foods and the manner the environment was approached. As the natural foods marketplace evolved into the organic foods marketplace with additional focus on farming practices that do not pollute the earth, Vermont Village happily embraced this trend. The Vermont Organic Farmers group led the development of the country’s first national organic certification program and Vermont Village was certified as an organic processor in 1996, when we introduced our line of certified organic applesauces.

Today, Vermont Village is proud to be at the forefront of the organic foods movement providing consumers with the best USDA organic foods and encouraging and supporting organic farmers by providing a market for their produce. Our fruits are grown using no chemical fertilizers or synthetic pesticides or herbicides. We are inspected each year by a third party USDA certified organic inspector. All aspects of our process are scrutinized to ensure compliance with the USDA organic guidelines and we meet and exceed all food safety standards.

Family Friendly

As the needs of our customer base grew, so did our product line. Vermont Village was the first modern company to combine other native New England fruits with apples to make delicious fresh-tasting applesauce varieties. Snack cups were added in 1996 to include more family, kid and snack-friendly offerings. Today, our Organic line includes seven flavors in jars and six flavors in snack cups. Our Vermont-grown Natural line includes five flavors in jars and two in snack cups. We also make a delightful Organic Apple Butter.

Recently, our Vermont Grown snack cups have become available in local schools in Vermont. We are especially proud of this new development since it stays true to our original goal of bringing a healthy Vermont product to the local public. Over the past three decades we have continuously provided quality applesauce to many, and we hope to continue for many years to come.

Independently Owned and Operated

Vermont Village is owned and operated by local people based right here in Vermont. There are no corporate pressures and no outside interests. We exist only to provide healthy, delicious food, to sustain the local growers and the land they grow their fruit on.