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It's hard to believe, but Stone Creek Trading is 10 years old tomorrow!  To celebrate, we thought it would be fun to share a few numbers from the last 10 years of this small family business!

April 17, 2013 - The day we finally hit publish and launched the website to the public!  We started this business in our 1 car garage.  Those first few shipments filled the entire space, and we ended up with overflow into our living room as well!

5L Boleslawiec Fermenting Crock - This is the very first product we sold to someone we didn't know.  It was also the product that gave us the idea to start the business in the first place.  And to date it is still the most popular product we sell!

34 - The number of shipments we have imported from Poland since we launched! The first 7 shipments were pallets, and all happened in 2013.  And then - 

May 15, 2014 - The day our first small container arrived!  It seemed like so much product, but just under a year later we doubled it with a full size container!

November 10, 2014 - The New York Times published "Master of the Hard Shell", a review of their favorite nutcrackers, including our Mushroom Nutcracker!

8,433 - The number of Nutcrackers we have sold in 10 years!

Black Friday, 2014 - Our 2nd daughter is born on the biggest shopping day of the year!  So of course, we stopped by UPS to drop off orders on the way to the hospital.

May 2016 - Our first product sourcing trip to Poland!  Up until this point, Kryz's father had been handling everything in Poland.  But after 3 years in business, we were able to make the trip to visit our facility in Poland!

October 2016 - We stepped up our branding game by getting this custom box stamping machine made in Poland.  We also transitioned to having 90% of our packing supplies made in Poland as well.  We are committed to our tagline of making sure our business really is "Made in Poland"!

July 2017 - We upgraded our Luna Glass Crock Weights Packaging!  Since 2017, it is completely made from custom cardboard, making it 100% recyclable.

March 13, 2018 - We received our first patent for our Luna Glass Crock Weights!

10,764 - The number of Luna Glass Crock Weights we have sold!

5.5" - the most popular size of our Luna Glass Crock Weights, with 29% of the total sold.  The 6.5" and 8.5" were the first sizes we made, designed to fit in our 5L & 10L Boleslawiec fermenting crock.  Those sizes were so popular, we soon added the 5.5" and 7.5".

4.5" - This was the last size of the Luna Glass Crock Weights we added.  We had to 3d print the size to make sure it would fit in our smallest crocks!

August 2019 - We returned to Poland to find more new products, including our line of Polish Folk Art!

March 2020 - We have never been more thankful that we run our own online business. 

August 2021 - We returned to Poland and visited where many of our items are made.  It was amazing to tour the facilities with our artisans and see our products in all stages of completion!

Spring 2022 - We imported the largest number of nutcrackers we ever have, and still sold out of them before we could restock!

April 2023 - And here we are, 10 years!  This blog post covers many highlights in the 10 years of this small family business, but it doesn't begin to illustrate the journey it has been. 

We launched this business with the goal of being able to work for ourselves so that we could be a bigger part of our then 3 year old daughter's life.  That little girl is now 13 years old, and she has an 8 year old sister too!  You probably purchase from us just because you like our products and the price works for you, but know that every order means that our family gets to keep on living our dream.  And for that, there is no way for us to even begin to thank you for the last 10 years!

Stone Creek Trading is the true small family business. Kryz and I (Emily) started this business in 2013 when we were both working full time for architecture firms.  We were exhausted and burnt out from long days at work and never enough time at home with our then 3 year old daughter.  We knew we needed to take a big risk if we wanted to break out of the rut we were in!

We decided to combine our interests in natural foods with Kryz's connection to his home country of Poland.  When we looked for a fermenting crock for ourselves, we discovered there were so many more options made in Poland that we couldn't find here in the United States.  So we asked Kryz's father in Poland to ship us a couple.  In February of 2013, we incorporated the company and started by importing 2 fermenting crocks - the 5L and 10L Boleslawiec Fermenting Crocks, which are still some of our biggest sellers!

Before we launched the website in April of 2013, we imported one pallet of products.  Within a year we switched from importing pallets to our first small container!  Over the years, we found more unique products and fermenting crock suppliers.  We love working with other small businesses in Poland that wouldn't normally be able to export their products on their own.

In 2016, we took the business to the next level by developing and patenting our own product - the Luna Glass Crock Weights.  These glass weights quickly became our signature product!  The Luna Glass Crock Weights now make up over 20% of our sales, the largest share of any product we sell.

Since we launched this company it has been run by our family, both here in the United States and Poland!  Our Polish operation is headed up by Jacek, Kryz's father.  He works with our Polish manufacturers and gets everything ready to ship to us here in the United States.  Over the years, we have moved to having all of our marketing materials and cardboard made in Poland as well! 

We've always been hands on owners - every customer service email or newsletter you've received has been written by Emily!  All the products have been tested in our own kitchen before we sell them.  We are right there doing the manual labor too - unpacking containers and packing and shipping orders!  We've traveled to Poland several times to meet with manufactures to learn more about the products and people who make them!

This spring we will be celebrating 10 years in business!  It's hard to believe it's been that long, but I can't imagine doing anything else.  We never would have been successful for this long without the support of our amazing customers - you!  Thank you so much for everything you do to support us and keep this story going!

- Emily & Kryz

Have you ever wondered how to use our Small Cabbage Shredder since it doesn't have a cabbage holder box?  We made a quick video to show you how we use it!

Check it out on Instagram

You can also see the shredder now has the same style of blades as our large shredder. This style of blade makes the metal less likely to bend as you push against it resulting in a more consistent shred width and a smoother process.

Our Small Cabbage Shredder is available by itself, or as part of our popular Fermenting Tool Kit and Beginners Fermenting Kits (which include a crock)!

I try to only write blog posts when I feel there is important information to share.  Typically, when I start to see the same emailed questions repeatedly, that tells me there is some confusion out there that needs to be cleared up!  Over the last few months, I have had multiple customers email with concerns that their fermenting crock lid either did or did not have a notch in it. 

I'm not sure where people are getting their information, but there seems to be some sources out there that are arguing both sides - you absolutely must have a notch in the lid, or you absolutely do not want a notch!  The truth is, it really depends on the crock.  So today, I would like to address why some crocks have notches in their lids and some don't!

Small Crock = no notch, Large Crock = notch

In general, smaller crocks do not have notches in the lids, and you don't want them to.  Only large crocks with deep wells and heavy lids should have a notch in the lid. 

Light Weight Lids don't need a notch

Smaller crocks, with lighter weight lids and a shallower well do not need a notch in the lid.  Because the lid is lighter weight, when gases need to escape they simply push up on the lid enough for the gas to bubble out.  A heavier lid can't push up so easily, so a notch was added to allow the gas to escape. 

Shallow airlock wells don't work with notched lids

In addition, when there is a notch in the lid, the water level in the airlock well has to be kept above that notch in order to maintain the airlock.  When the well is shallower, a notch in the lid can make it very difficult to keep enough water in the well to maintain the airlock without overfilling the well so that water gets into the ferment. 

Our crocks are designed to ensure that their first priority is to be functional fermenting crocks, and sometimes that means there are different features for each one!  Our artisans have tested the features of their crocks to ensure that they only add a notch to the lid when it is needed.
 
Hopefully that helps you understand a little better why some fermenting crock lids have notches and some don't!  It's not a universal feature that should be included on every crock!

We do our best to keep our prices reasonable so that as many people as possible can have access to quality, handmade products.  But inflation continues to increase our costs across the board.  We are seeing our manufacturer’s prices increase 10-20%, as well as freight fees up 50% with each shipment.  That’s not to mention the continually rising cost to ship goods here in the United States. 

Due to all of these factors, we will once again be increasing prices at the beginning of April.  As a courtesy to our loyal customers, we are giving you a heads up in advance if you want to order before then!

Our hearts and minds are with the people of Ukraine right now, as they have been since the invasion on February 24.  It is heartbreaking to see the devastation in this neighboring country.  Our facility in Poland is located in Nowy Sacz, just 3 hours from the border with Ukraine.  This is also where the majority of our family lives.  There are currently refugees in their town and the community is doing everything they can to help ease their suffering.  We speak with our family there every day and the fear and worry are evident.  Poland knows well what foreign occupation feels like and the Polish people sympathize with Ukraine’s plight.   This situation hits close to home for us as we hope for an end to the violence that will both limit the loss of life and restore independence to Ukraine.

There are many organizations that are offering support to the Ukrainian people right now, and we encourage you to research and support those that feel right to you.

It feels strange to be continuing on with our lives, while others are fleeing for theirs.  But this is the world we find ourselves in, and as a small family company we have to keep moving forward to stay in business.  We have more updates coming in the days ahead, so stay tuned.  But if you aren't in the right headspace for these updates, we understand!