Inspiring Conversations with Cassandra Rossbach of Little LongEars Provisions

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Cassandra Rossbach.

Hi Cassandra, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
It started with planting a few cherry trees on our farm because what else would you do in northern Michigan? What started as 18 trees have turned into thousands of grape, apple, pear, cherry, and berry plants.

We also started with six chickens and now have almost 200, as well as ducks, horses, donkeys, sheep, guinea hens, dogs, and cats. We had a market garden and did some farmer’s markets – but frankly, there are much better farmers out there, so we decided to focus on non-perishables: garlic, hard cider, vinegar, and soaps.

Today, we have an MDARD and MLCC-licensed facility in downtown Traverse City where we do all the fermenting and aging. We are a woman/veteran owned business and recently quit the day job to focus on this full time.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
NO! It’s a continual learning process. I like to refer to myself as the CFO—Chief Failing Officer.

We have made every mistake you can think of: not prepping the soil and rushing to plant trees in the beginning, not considering refrigeration post-harvest in the summer, mother nature, distribution and merchandising of the product, selling too fast and not being able to meet demand, the amount of time things like the grapes take to maintain, trying to do too much and losing focus on what is profitable, etc.

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about Little LongEars Provisions?
We are a woman/veteran-owned business with two locations: the farm is located on the old Mission peninsula and is called Harpers Ridge (named after our daughter). Little Long Ears is a company with several brands, including Harpers Ridge wines, Old Mission Ciders, and Little Long Ears Luxury Vinegars. We also have two mini-donkeys who serve beer and wine, and we rent ours for parties and weddings. We started in 2017 but have gotten serious about it in the last two years.

We are most known for our donkeys and our vinegars! We are currently online and in over 30 stores and growing rapidly (so much so that we are nervous we might run out!). We make Apple Cider Vinegar, Michigan Cherry Vinegar, Beer Malt Vinegar (in collaboration with Earthen Ales and Fresh Coast Beerworks), and Fire Cider. The Fire Cider is especially popular – it is our apple cider vinegar steeped with garlic, ginger, lemons, onions, horseradish, hot peppers, and honey. It has a great kick, and I personally drink it with tart cherry juice and water every morning. I am convinced of it’s health benefits.

Jeff is a licensed small wine maker, so all of our vinegars start off being a high quality alcoholic drink, that we then convert to vinegars in steel and wood barrels using the slow, Orleans method of vinegar making. It typically isn’t ready to bottle until two years after harvest. Our Michigan Cherry Vinegar, for example, started off as Cherry Wine and it took almost three years before it was ready!

Cassandra is very clever in her marketing and positioning and has created a brand that people recognize as authentic and funny. People love our “Talk Donkey to Me” t-shirts! We are most proud that most of the products come directly from our farm. What isn’t is sourced by other local friend farmers. We think this is a special place, and we are glad to be a part of it.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Luck is the result of really hard work and knowing that you will fail but not being afraid to. We don’t think there is anything harder (or rewarding) than running your own business.

And farming might be the hardest of them all. So preparation, having a plan, and asking for help from those who have gone before you will offset any of the unforeseen that come your way.

Pricing:

• Vinegars range from $11.99 to $16.99 a bottle. Online orders require a two bottle minimum. So $25 and up.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.donkeyprovisions.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/littlelongearsprovisions/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/littlelongearsprovisions