Last Updated on December 22, 2020
At the beginning of January, the entire ButcherBox team, 29 vendors and partners—as well as employees’ significant others and family members—met for three days for the 2nd Annual ButcherBox Summit in Islamorada, Florida.
The Boston-based ButcherBox crew had been excited about an escape from the New England winter ever since the reveal of the summit destination a few months back—but that’s not all we were looking forward to.
It’s easy to see why a few days in a warmer climate might make the summit seem like a vacation. While we certainly had downtime to relax and recharge, the majority of the trip was dedicated to something more: Believe in Better.
The trip was a culmination of a months-long exploration of our deeper purpose as a company, so it only made sense for the theme to be “Believe in Better,” which encapsulates our mission perfectly.
The theme of the summit carried through to every aspect of our three-day stay, from the unveiling of the 2020 company goals to an awards dinner, where my favorite moment was the recognition of our most humble team member. Two mornings of our summit were kicked off by panel discussions and presentations. Topics included sustainability, the latest trends in the meat industry, and insights on data and technology, to name a few.
A company-wide survey, which we took following the summit, showed that the most popular panel discussion was the one that highlighted our farmers. We were fortunate enough to hear from two of our farmers about the realities and misconceptions of farming. The discussion instilled an even greater appreciation we have as a team for the hardworking folks that make everything we do at ButcherBox possible.
The summit was the perfect time to learn about areas outside of our day-to-day work and catch up with team members from near and far. It was refreshing to see coworkers who work remotely or in different departments mingling with one another and sharing tables at dinner.
The summit was also a space to make connections with farmers, suppliers, and other partners. At ButcherBox, two of our company pillars are focused on making decisions that are better for farmers and better for businesses. Being able to have face-to-face conversations with the people behind these pillars helped to tie everything together, and it inspired me to think about putting our purpose into action.
I enjoyed beautiful views and the time spent getting to better know my colleagues, but most of all I enjoyed the experiences that simply can’t happen within the walls of a meeting room or over a video conference. Out of the office, into a better headspace for 2020.
Danielle Sirk is the Senior Copywriter at ButcherBox with a background in storytelling and food marketing. She believes in the power of meal prepping, poetry, running, and the great outdoors.
