“ Approximately 2.1 million people travel on Amtrak and agriculture represents billions of dollars in sales , says Szubielski .”
PHOTOS : ( CHIOBANI ) COURTESY OF CHIOBANI ; ( NINE PIN CIDER ) COURTESY OF NINE PIN CIDER ; ( KIND SNACK BAR ) COURTESY OF KIND ; ( CRUMB CAKE ) COURTESY OF SWEET SAM ’ S ; ( OMMEGANG BEER ) COURTESY OF OMMEGANG BREWERY
demand from consumers , who are really interested in local products ,” says Jola Szubielski , director of public information with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets . “ They want to know where their foods come from . They want to know the producers and the farmers behind these products .” Since October 2016 , thanks to a partnership between Amtrak and Taste NY , New York State-produced foods and beverages can be found in the snack cars of 13 trains on the Maple Leaf line ( running between New York , Niagara Falls and
Toronto ), Adirondack ( between Montreal , Albany and New York ), Empire Service ( between New York , Albany , Syracuse , Rochester , Buffalo and Niagara Falls ) and Ethan Allen Express ( Rutland , Vermont ; Albany and New York ).
Annually , in New York State , “ approximately 2.1 million people travel on Amtrak ,” says Szubielski , “ and agriculture represents billions of dollars in sales .”
Those two facts make the Amtrak / Taste NY partnership “ a no-brainer ,” says Joseph Ganley , the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets ’ marketing and promotions specialist . “ It connects the dots . You ’ ve got tourists on the trains , and we can expose people to New York State products who would not normally be exposed to them . It ’ s a great way to get Taste New York ’ s name out there .”
So far , there are seven products available onboard Amtrak trains , representing several regions throughout the state : Always Bagels ( from Bohemia , Long Island ), Chobani Greek Yogurt ( New Berlin , Central New York ), KIND Bars ( Manhattan ), Sweet Sam ’ s Coffee Cakes ( Bronx ), Brooklyn Defender IPA ( Brooklyn ), Nine Pin Cider ( Albany ) and Ommegang Witte Wheat Ale ( Cooperstown , Mohawk Valley ). Christian Hannah , Amtrak ’ s senior manager of food and beverage services , says more products may be added in 2017 . “ If someone ’ s traveling on vacation and , say , they want to go to Cooperstown , they ’ re going to take the train up as far as they need to go and grab a rental car , and maybe because they ’ ve had an
Ommegang beer onboard , they ’ ll go see Brewery
Ommegang in Cooperstown ,” he explains . “ So Taste NY becomes part of their vacation , and when they return home to Nebraska or California or wherever , they ’ ll look for that product on the shelf out there .”
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