This article is part of How I Spent My Summer, a series of articles showcasing opportunities Dal students pursued over the past few months 鈥� from work-intergrated learning to mini-courses and more. Scroll to the bottom for more articles.
Sometimes, summer jobs can be sweet, crisp, and very delicious.听
This summer, Dal student Lauren Hunter completed a sustainability co-op work term at in The Blue Mountains, Ont., where she helped manage the cidery鈥檚 expansion into six new farmers鈥� markets across the province.
鈥淚 loved learning about their business and what they do,鈥� says Lauren. 鈥淏oth the owners are driven, passionate people, and so I鈥檝e learned that that鈥檚 what you need to do to run your own business 鈥� you have to be super involved all the time.鈥�
Now entering her fourth year in International Development Studies and Environment, Sustainability & Society听(ESS) studies, this was Lauren鈥檚 third and final work term in the Sustainability Co-op program.
New responsibilities
Spy Cider was first established in 2019 before being purchased by entrepreneurs Darcy Hagerman and Ian Smith (both Dal alumni) in 2023. The business maintains an organic apple orchard and produces hard ciders and spirits on-site, serving customers at a patio restaurant and providing products to other local bars and businesses.听
Working closely with Darcy, Ian, and their head of sales and marketing, Lauren managed Spy Cider鈥檚 expansion into farmers鈥� markets in parts of Ontario such as Rosseau, Orangeville, St. Jacobs, and Gravenhurst. She organized product and inventory, worked with new vendor hires who handled the direct sales, and compiled weekly sales reports and summaries from each market.
While she has completed a range of different work in her previous co-ops, as an intern at Sun Life and a social impact research coordinator at Dalhousie, managing farmers鈥� market sales for Spy Cider was one of the biggest projects Lauren has taken on, and it came with a whole new level of responsibility.
鈥淭hey trusted me to really lead this one,鈥� she says, noting that she had to develop personal strategies for effectively managing sales and keeping track of inventory throughout the summer.听
The power of local community
Spy Cider produces its ciders with renewable geothermal power infrastructure, which uses steel tanks and a hand-made copper still. The cidery is in the early stages of building up its business and capacity, but Lauren sees its potential to achieve additional sustainable practices in future 鈥� as part of her co-op, she researched carbon net-zero distillery programs for Spy Cider to consider going forward.
The cidery has also placed an emphasis on local business and strong community partnerships, and those relationships made an impression on Lauren as she drew more connections between her work and her sustainability studies at Dal.
鈥淭here鈥檚 such a focus on community engagement and community impact in SUST 2000, a second-year ESS course, and I got that it was important 鈥� but I didn鈥檛 understand how important until I met the owners of Spy Cider and learned more about this company,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t really is important to engage with community and understand your local business partners and how you can benefit from one another, and it does go a really long way, to build up those relationships.鈥澨�
That importance was clear in June, when Lauren and her colleagues organized a community event at the cidery.
鈥淲e did a Cider Fest where around thirteen different cideries came for the day and set up, and people could try different samples,鈥� says Lauren. 鈥淚t was a really great way for Spy to get their name out there, but also for the other cideries to market themselves. Even though we鈥檙e competitors, we鈥檙e also supporting one another, and I loved seeing that.鈥澨�
Lauren enjoyed her experience at Spy Cider, and may return there for work again next summer. She鈥檚 done research into farmers鈥� markets in Toronto and thinks the cidery will be ready to head to the big city in the near future.