What a Zingerman’s Employee Makes for Dinner During the Holiday Rush | Eater

"Often described as a culinary Santa’s workshop, this mail-order operation is built around curating artisanal food gifts: a longtime employee, Brad Hedeman (with the company since 1994), travels to meet producers, gathers their stories, and writes the catalog and website copy to showcase those products. Planning for catalogs begins months in advance, but the business concentrates an astonishing share of its sales in the holiday season — roughly 50% of annual revenue in a seven-week window and about 25% in the week before Christmas — so a core team of about 100 employees is boosted by several hundred seasonal hires to handle the surge. The emphasis is on thoughtful selection and storytelling to bring small producers to a wider mail-order audience." - Ali Slagle