Taste the Local Difference (TLD), the formerly nonprofit enterprise founded in Traverse City to promote consumer education and marketing for local food, has been sold. Jody Trietch (pictured above, right) the new owner of TLD; Trietch is the chief financial officer of private investment firm Boomerang Catapult, which has owned TLD since 2018, when it was purchased from the program’s founding nonprofit, the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities.
 
Taste the Local Difference works with farmers, food producers, retailers and restaurants to promote local food. It also publishes an annual print directory to help consumers connect with local foods and markets.  The concept was developed and incubated within Groundwork Center for 15 years, and was spun-off to expand its essential services across the state. Trietch will continue her role with Boomerang Catapult, and will also work closely with existing TLD CEO Tricia Phelps (pictured above, left).
 
“Acquiring TLD provides me with the opportunity to unite my passions for agriculture and building strong communities through investing in a mission and team that I believe in,” Trietch says.
 
“The promise of TLD is to capture its remarkable connectivity within the local food ecosystem in Michigan through a digital platform that can be replicated across the US,” says Boomerang Catapult Managing Partner Lowell Gruman. “Jody is the right person to guide the company through its exciting next phase.”
 
Trietch tells The Ticker her immediate plans include supporting the existing TLD team and accelerating and executing strategic growth. The organization is already operating in Traverse City and Ann Arbor, and is expanding into Grand Rapids, Battle Creek, and other markets.