It’s always best to stop listening to what everyone is telling you to do and follow your heart. If we'd done that two months ago when we first saw the social media post calling attention to our business partner's actions, we'd have sent you this letter then. We hesitated and took the advice of others—that was a dire mistake. ‘When we first saw what people were saying about that night in Bolinas (we were not there), we immediately asked Jeremy to resign and leave Four Barrel. That was two months ago, and today we can safely say that Four Barrel died with his departure. ‘We began asking ourselves the hard questions about what we could have done differently to keep our employees safe and comfortable. How had this business that we'd so intentionally, lovingly and meticulously nurtured inflicted so much damage and caused so much pain, when we thought it was doing so much good? How had we failed to create a safe space and system for reporting sexual harassment? How had we not understood the gravity of Jeremy's conduct? Hindsight offers a powerful and devastating lens. The responsibility for these blind spots rests squarely on our shoulders. We are heartbroken and we are sorry. (On Saturday, we spoke with Jeremy, and he agreed to relinquish his shares and ownership of the company. We'd like to give these shares (50% of the company) to our employees. Moving forward, as we stabilize the business as peer-owners and diversify our staff’ skills to fully manage the company, we'll ‘make increasing shares available from our own remaining ownership, until we've completely divested from the business and the new entity is 100% employee-owned. ‘Well engage a consultant to advise on how to best build a collaborative, equal and inclusive business between all employee-owners. We want nothing more than to empower true change and example in the workplace. We care so deeply about our community, our customers, our neighbors, and the producers ‘we support all over the world. ‘We've always been passionate about being independent. And now, this independence offers us the ability to create real change in a world where real change is hard to come by. For this to happen, we need your help. Without customers, our company can't exist and we'll lose this opportunity. Ifyou are a wholesale customer—please continue ordering. Ifyou'd like to become a wholesale custoner—please call us. Ifyou are a cafe customer—please continue coming in. Ifyou are a web customer—please sign up for a subscription, If you'd like to support this change—please spread the word. For now, we'll call the new company The Tide. The possibilities are deep and ever-changing, but we can't succeed without your help. Please join us. Jodi Geren | di Gr ‘Tal Mor