Saloon Sessions with Ted’s Butcherblock

We are continuously inspired by local, regional, and national companies who take an active role in supporting nonprofit initiatives and the communities in which they operate their business. This fall we are honored to have been selected as the fourth quarter beneficiary for gournmet market and neighborhood favorite Ted’s Butcherblock Friday Wine Tastings as a part of the Ted’s Giving Back Program. To kick off the initiative we caught up with the founders of Ted’s below:

Tell us a little bit more about how Ted’s Butcherblock came to fruition 9 year’s ago.

Ted’s Butcherblock came to be more than nine years ago when Ted decided to make a career change and follow in his family’s footsteps by opening a combination butcher shop, market and cafe. His parents were in the restaurant and catering industry, and his Polish grandparents were butchers in New Jersey and owned a neighborhood butcher shop for 40 years. As a former vegetarian, he came to learn a lot about nutrition and the food chain, and the benefits of eating hormone free, all-natural meats that are raised using humane farming practices. At the time, no one was offering this type of product on the peninsula, and even the natural grocers in town weren’t carrying the quality product that Ted felt that customers in Charleston would appreciate and that he himself would want to eat.

Ted’s Butcher Block Founders, Ted & Julie, pitcured above.

What prompted the start of Friday Wine Tastings and the Ted’s Gives Back Program? 

We’ve been doing the Friday Wine Tastings since the day we opened. We wanted to offer a tasting to educate people about the unique wines on our shelves, and we wanted to require a tasting fee to make sure we got people who were truly interested in learning about wine. We work with just four organizations each year because it helps us raise a more significant donation for each.

Why did you choose Charleston Waterkeeper as the fourth quarter beneficiary?

We’re a small, locally-owned business and it’s always been our intention to give back to the community that supports us when we can. We choose charities each year based on customer and employee nominations, and try to pick a mix of organizations that serve varied needs in the local community. We like working with groups that use the tastings as a social way to spread the word about their organization. That’s the reason we chose to work with Charleston Waterkeeper again this year – they’ve always used the events as an opportunity to spread the word about the important work they do.

In your own words, why is clean water vital to a healthy community, such as Charleston? 

As a city that is surrounded by and vitally dependent on its natural waterways, Charleston is very fortunate to have an organization dedicated to monitoring the health of those resources. Most of us take for granted that we have access to clean water and an abundance of seafood and locally grown crops here. We hope more people learn about the data-driven efforts underway to ensure that our waters continue to remain clean and safe for recreation, fishing and agriculture.

Thank you Ted’s for all of your support! We hope to see everyone at Ted’s Butcherblock this Friday from 6 through 8 pm and every other Friday throughout 2014!

Click here for deatils.