Quince & Apple preserve makers sell to a local buyer

Matt and Clare Stoner Fehsenfeld, owners of Quince & Apple, are shown in this archive image from 2014. They sold the company recently to a local buyer.

Quince & Apple, a Madison artisan jam and preserve maker, is under new ownership.

Matt and Clare Stoner Fehsenfeld, co-founders of Quince & Apple, sold the company to Courtney McCarty, who runs Nitro Beverage Lounge with her husband. The sale of Quince & Apple closed in early June, and the Stoner Fehsenfelds began searching for a buyer a few months ago.

Matt Stoner Fehsenfeld told the Cap Times the business has grown past what the two could handle on their own.

"We put a lot of ourselves into the business over the last 15 years, and it's been wonderful, but I think we recognize that the business is on the verge of moving to a new phase," Stoner Fehsenfeld said.

According to Stoner Fehsenfeld, the business grew substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many people were ordering online from local businesses while they stayed at home.

To grow, Quince & Apple "needed a different set of skills and some new energy, resources and capacities," he said.

McCarty opened her first business — a mobile bicycle with a built-in nitro tap — with her husband Ace McCarty in 2020. In February of this year, the McCartys opened Nitro Beverage Lounge, a fusion between a cocktail bar and a coffee shop in the Avenir apartment building on 502 W. Washington Ave. Nitro specializes in nitrogen-infused drinks.

When she heard that the Stoner Fehsenfelds were looking to sell Quince & Apple, McCarty felt the company shared "a lot of the same values that we do."

"It felt like a really good fit, and we’re very fortunate to have been chosen by Matt and Clare," McCarty said.

Matt Stoner Fehsenfeld said he felt confident McCarty would continue to make inroads in the community.

"Food is such a wonderful tool for building community and bringing people together," he said. Choosing a buyer who is already in Madison "has felt really right."

’A new phase’ for Quince & Apple

The Stoner Fehsenfelds founded Quince & Apple in 2009. The two initially ran the company themselves out of a small kitchen space they leased from local cracker company Potter's Crackers. Since then, the company has grown to distribute to over 2,000 stores across the country, according to Stoner Fehsenfeld.

Quince & Apple soon began to produce cocktail syrups (Fix) and pickled vegetables. In 2018, it bought a line of spiced and candied nuts from Treat Bake Shop.

The company's production remains based entirely in Madison. Employees still make preserves by hand, with no more than 250 jars in a batch. The company also sources its ingredients, like Door County cherries and Dane County apples, from local Wisconsin growers whenever possible.

When Stoner Fehsenfeld began to search for a seller, he looked for someone local, as opposed to a larger outside company.

"That was something that was really important to us," Stoner Fehsenfeld said. "As we were exploring a sale and talking to different potential buyers, we were making sure that we found somebody who not only would keep those jobs going, but keep them here in Madison."

McCarty pledged to keep the business in Madison and continue sourcing ingredients from local producers even as the company pursues further growth. Expansion into new markets across the country will be financed by loans from the Small Business Administration and commercial lenders, according to McCarty.

She said the company's 20 employees will continue to work at the same production facility on Madison's east side, and customers can expect its current products to remain available.

As for the Stoner Fehsenfelds, they have moved on to other pursuits. Clare recently accepted a job as the executive director of FairShare CSA Coalition, a nonprofit organization that connects organic farmers and consumers through community supported agriculture. Matt, meanwhile, is planning to return to school for a masters’ degree in marriage and family therapy.

"One of the most fulfilling parts of my work at Quince & Apple was helping people and employees who were struggling, and so this is continuing down that path for me," he said.

Moving forward in Madison

Looking forward, McCarty wants to improve production efficiency on existing products and introduce new ones. One of her first ideas is to create gift boxes for company or holiday parties.

She also plans to bring a product that has long eluded Quince & Apple — quince preserves. The fruit, despite being part of Quince & Apple's name, doesn't currently feature in the company's lineup of preserves because the Stoner Fehsenfelds were unable to find a local grower. That will be introduced in 2024, McCarty said.

McCarty is most excited about expanding the company's reach.

"I am really excited about being able to deliver good food to the national level," she said. "They’re already a national brand and are sold nationally," but she wants a larger platform "to showcase our wonderful, beautiful little company from the Midwest."

From her previous businesses, McCarty learned to prioritize improving not only her products, but her relationship with her customer base.

"You treat people well, the business will come," McCarty said. "If you focus on people, you focus on the product and just doing good, then everything else will come. We still hold true to that and it's working out well for us."

The company will continue to operate as it has through the rest of the year, according to McCarty. She plans to begin testing new products in 2024. Matt Stoner Fehsenfeld said he feels "really optimistic" about the future of Quince & Apple.

"I think that Quince & Apple is ready to take the leap to the next stage for increased distribution and growth, and I’m really excited to see what they do with it," Stoner Fehsenfeld said.

Francesca Pica is the summer reporting intern for the Cap Times. She is currently a University of Wisconsin-Madison student studying journalism and political science.

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