“ 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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