Taking Root: ORCHARD At The OFFICE grows

ORCHARD At The OFFICE stemmed from a simple idea: delivering fresh fruit to offices throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. In their pioneering days, this necessitated Chief Banana Kevin Long and his partner Dennis McCart rising at hours that would make a bat groggy as they hit the farmers’ markets as early as possible to prepare baskets for their friends. With the assistance of a small team of delivery drivers, ORCHARD At The OFFICE soon grew to the point where they could assert themselves as “north Texas’ largest office fresh fruit delivery service”.

In March of 2012, tragedy struck as “Uncle Denny” passed away from a sudden myocardial infarction. His loss, and legacy, are still felt in the company today, as both bolstered Long’s conviction that the mission of “healthy snack alternatives” is indeed vital to society’s well-being.

"Uncle Denny" left an enduring legacy with our company and community.
“Uncle Denny” left an enduring legacy with our company and community.

Under these difficult circumstances, it became necessary to employ additional staff to fill Uncle Denny’s considerably sizable (and always stylish) shoes. One friend of Denny, Ali Sheikh, approached the Long family immediately offering to do anything he could to help. He is now the longest-tenured staff member and his contributions at so crucial a moment will always be valued.

From here, the Long family reached out to other friends. It is at this point that I cease to speak in the third person, and “they” becomes “we”. I, the Marketing Wiseapple, joined the ORCHARD At The OFFICE family to help with deliveries and to champion the cause of healthy snacking in all available media, a role for which I am ideally suited as I am both gregarious in personality and ridiculously obdurate in temperament. I only include this autobiographical information to say that each member of our team is indeed unique, not just in respect to our workplace, but indeed within our community. We are proud of our staff because they are so much more than “good hands” – they are good people, (See future posts for more on each team member.)

Getting started on a Monday morning in the Metroplex.
Ali (a.k.a. Junior) getting started on a Monday morning in the Metroplex.

By May of 2015 we had expanded into Dallas, Fort Worth, and every suburb major and minor. Vans loaded with goodness depart each weekday ready to bring the freshest produce available to our smiling friends strewn hither and yon through our sprawling Metroplex. This necessitated a relocation, and after a great deal of searching, we found a new home…just two doors down from where we were! This story will be told in our next installment…

(back to Our Story)

Sowing Seeds: ORCHARD At The OFFICE beginnings

Hello! I’m Chris Buchanan, the Marketing Wiseapple with ORCHARD At The OFFICE, and my primary aim in conveying our historical narrative is to make it as palatable to any potential reader as the premium produce we provide. (As you can already see, if alliteration’s your thing, I’ll undoubtedly provide that in abundance, in addition to employing a host of other literary devices to the extent my limited skills can conjure.) As the story of how ORCHARD At The OFFICE grew from a simple idea to north Texas’ largest office fresh fruit delivery service starts in 2010, which predates my own involvement in the organization, the first installment in this adventure – the one you’re presently reading – will be told in the third person. The idea for this company belongs to Kevin Long, our Chief Banana. Personally I can claim no credit, but then, the best things that have happened in my personal life were never really my idea, which is a sentiment any successful husband will certainly understand.

Kevin, our Chief Banana, making a delectable delivery in our early days.
Kevin, our Chief Banana, making a delectable delivery in our early days.

Cast your mind, if you will, back to 2010. Ke$ha was on the satellite radio “singing” “TiK ToK” and Taio Cruz was lighting it up like it’s dynamite. The popular show The Biggest Loser, in its ninth season, continued to inspire and motivate the nation to achieve its health and fitness goals, and insurance firms were increasingly incentivizing corporations to establish wellness programs such as smoking cessation, fitness challenges, and healthy snack alternatives, as a way to help everyone’s bottom line, both figuratively and literally.

Amidst all this, native Texan Kevin Long was employed as a director of an advertising firm in Dallas. Every week it was someone’s duty to bring in the morning munchables – predictably, donuts and bagels. Now, few are those who would eschew a lovely glazed donut, but Kevin thought, “hey, what if we brought in something healthy, like bananas and apples? Everybody loves fresh fruit, and it seems everyone’s trying to get healthy.” And lo, he did just that, bringing in the bounty to the break room, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. So much so, in fact, that Kevin partnered with relative Dennis McCart, left his organization, and soon they took their idea to office kitchens throughout the Metroplex.

Before long ORCHARD At The OFFICE fresh fruit baskets graced the kitchen countertops of some of the finest Metroplex businesses.
Before long ORCHARD At The OFFICE fresh fruit baskets graced the kitchen countertops of some of the finest Metroplex businesses.

And so it was on October 15, 2010 that ORCHARD At The OFFICE took root. At first, it was a two-man operation, with Kevin and Denny arriving at the farmers’ markets sometimes before the agrarians themselves, then artfully arranging the yield and delivering it themselves to their “friends”.

(As an aside, I must tell you that it is the ORCHARD At The OFFICE way to view our clients and vendors as friends and partners, so much so that our strategy room which would be known in many offices as the “war room” is instead the “friend zone”. Our job titles, which include “Office Peach”, “Facilities Bosc”, and “Truckin’ Tangelo”, attest to the commitment to a happy, healthy environment.)

(back to Our Story)

Eating healthy is…addictive?

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One of the biggest challenges to adopting a healthy lifestyle is kicking the junk-food habit, particularly morning sweets. Donuts and muffins are sugary and full of carbohydrates, but without the added nutritional power, your energy will fade fast and the natural tendency is to grab another “quick-fix”.

It’s like keeping your car running by putting a gallon in the tank at a time.

Over the course of time, many report what was once a mere sugar craving devolving into an obsession, not unlike addiction. Obviously, this is detrimental for those fighting to acquire or maintain a healthy lifestyle. A host of health issues, from diabetes to depression to simple obesity, can result from a sugar fixation.

Fortunately, this is where the ORCHARD At The OFFICE solution proves invaluable. Having fruit handy when sugar cravings hit makes it so much easier to avoid temptation, as certified addiction specialist Judy Chambers, LCSW, CAS points out in an article published on WebMD entitled “13 Ways To Fight Sugar Cravings”. You’ll get all the natural (low glycemic) sugars from the fruit, as well as the vitamins, fiber, and of course the flavor you crave from a morning or mid-meal snack. Just 2-4 servings a day of fruit will significantly reduce sugar cravings.

It’s also handy to remember that fruits, especially bananas, work as a natural sugar substitute. So if you bring cereal or yogurt to work, you can quickly slice up a banana supplied by ORCHARD At The OFFICE.

While kicking the sugar habit takes time, it doesn’t take as long as one might think! Some studies suggest that you can convert yourself from a processed sugar habit to a healthy food habit, including the fruits provided by ORCHARD At The OFFICE, in just a couple of weeks. Nature abhors a vacuum, as psychiatrist Dr. Charles Raison points out, and the tendency to replace one habit with another is natural. Why not make the switch to a healthy alternative?

This is not to suggest sugar should be avoided completely, of course! There is a difference between the occasional sweet for pleasure and the habitual consumption despite obvious health risks. Our mission at ORCHARD At The OFFICE is to supply wellness, and we hope the information provided here gives you an incentive to take a step in that direction.