This spring West Nashville welcomed Turnip Truck to the neighborhood. The locally owned full service natural grocer opened its third store on Charlotte Avenue, just as COVID-19 was hitting and on the heels of a tornado which destroyed much of the storeโs new equipment.
โAgainst all odds, we opened one day earlier than originally planned,โ says Turnip Truck CFO Adam Williams. โMore than ever, we are committed to keeping our shelves stocked with local, natural and organic foods that our customers love,โ Adam says.
Turnip Truck opened their first store in East Nashville in 2001 and their second store in the Gulch in 2010. Founder John Dyke and the team had always wanted to add solar to their business, and they decided to make it happen with the new project.
โWe made sure to include solar in the budget for the Charlotte store,โ Adam says. โIn fact, to get the SBA 504 loan we wanted, our solar system had to reduce our energy use by at least 15%,โ he explains.
With limited roof space, that was easier said than done, but LightWave Solar worked closely with Turnip Truck to accomplish the 15% goal. The system has 214 high efficiency solar panels strategically placed to avoid shading from walls and equipment. LightWave even secured solar panels to the barrel vault roof!
Turnip Truck expects to see electric bill savings of about $5,000-6,000 annually. However, the environmental benefits are equally important to the owner, staff, and Turnip Truck customers.
โSolar energy fits in with our mission of keeping environmental impact in mind with our decision-making,โ Adam says. โClean and local food have a lot in common with clean and local energy in terms of cleaner water and soil and healthier people,โ he adds.
With more than 100,000 kilowatt-hours of solar generation per year, Turnip Truck will reduce its carbon dioxide emissions equal to planting 64 acres of forest.
Turnip Truck is considering solar energy for their East Nashville location as well, though rooftop solar panels would have to share real estate with the storeโs rooftop beehives! Other mounting options include solar parking canopies and solar awnings which would provide much-needed shade for customers.
โIt was great working with LightWave to complete our first system, especially after consulting with them for many years,โ Adam says. โWeโre really happy to see our solar generation online and be able to track its performance,โ he adds.
Join us at The Turnip Truck Instagram Live (@theturniptruck) for a virtual Wine and Cheese tasting! We will be featuring Beehive Cheeses and three of our finest wines. Beehive Cheese just launched their newest product – the Pour Me a Slice – an aged cheddar infused with Basil Hayden Bourbon. It is not to be missed!
Hosting the event will be Patrick Ford from Beehive Cheese and Traci Hiltonof Best Brands Wines. Both are educators in their fields. Bring your questions! Bring your friends! It will be a fun way to sample something new and learn a bit about two delicious gastronomical pairings.ย
How a Virtual Tasting works:
Before the event visit either our West store (5001 Charlotte Ave) or East store (701 Woodland St.) to purchase the three cheeses and three wines – and receive your FREE Turnip Truck Thermal Bag and $10 Gift Card. Then go home, maybe gather a couple of your besties on your patio, and at 6:30pm Thursday, click on to our Instagram Live (@theturniptruck). Sit back and enjoy some delightful cheese and wine while our wine expert and cheese producer talk about the processes and specialty craft that go into making them unique.
Our wine expert, Traci Hilton, will talk about the hand-selected wines and how to pair them with cheese and other foods. Pat Ford of Beehive Cheese will take you through the process of what goes into making their award-winning cheeses. Youโll learn how to pair wine and cheeses like a sommelier and fromager! You’ll be able to engage with them – so bring your questions!
Our Hosts:
Pat Ford:
From the mountains of Northern Utah, with his family by his side, Pat Ford founded Beehive Cheese – a creamery that broke with tradition and created their own rules about what artisan cheese could be.ย Their pioneering spirit and culinary creativity are how they came up with โPour Me A Sliceโ โ Basil Hayden Bourbon infused cheddar (one of our favorites!) and โBarely Buzzedโ โ a cheese rubbed with lavender and espresso which earned them awards in the cheese community. Click here to watch a video on the family business.
For this Thursdayโs Virtual Wine & Cheese Tasting, Pat will be featuring these Beehive Cheeses.
Pour Me A Slice
Promontory
Barely Buzzed
Traci Hilton
Traci Hilton is a wine representative for Nashvilleโs Best Brands Inc. and has over 13 years of experience in the industry here and in Europe. She specializes in hand-selecting wines for her clients and knows the particulars of the uniqueness of wine and specially crafted vinification. She works closely with the Turnip Truckโs wine buyer to find us exceptional wines to complement our storeโs product and adhere to our stringent buying standards.
For this Thursdayโs Virtual Wine & Cheese Tasting, Traci has chosen three wines that complement the featured Beehive Cheeses. These are exceptional wines at an affordable price:
