Charcuterie and cured meats from 5th Quarter Butcher + Provisions and Vermont Salumi. Tavernier chocolates. Poultry, beef, and game from Vermont’s top producers. Blake Hill preserves and jams. Baking essentials and all manner of chocolate. Dried pasta, rice, beans, and grains from around the world. Oils, vinegars, and condiments from across the globe. And safely stowed in a state-of-the-art temperature-controlled warehouse, thousands of aromatic cheeses, including an astonishing variety made by Vermont’s finest cheesemakers. Welcome to Provisions International warehouse, where a staggering array of some of the planet’s most coveted specialty food items rest briefly before being shipped to savvy chefs, food co-ops, and gourmet shops in New England and beyond.

Anyone who works in the distribution business knows that an empty truck is a wasted trip. Wendy Hallgren, who founded the specialty foods company Provisions International in 1986, would drive Vermont-raised lamb and products from Vermont Butter & Cheese Company (now Vermont Creamery) and Grafton Village Cheese to the New York City region. For the return trip, she loaded up domestic and imported specialty foods from New York distributors and transported them back to eager Vermont chefs. She landed on a successful business model: promote the best of Vermont to the outside world and bring equally high-quality products back to the Green Mountains. The company blossomed as interest in Vermont cheese grew from the 1990s onward while chefs and home cooks developed a deeper appreciation for artisanal ingredients.

Forty years later, Provisions International has grown into a thriving business that employs more than 30 people and has become an indispensable player in the region’s food industry. When Wendy retired in 2023, James Gordon and Eric Frechette, co-owners of Upper Valley Produce in White River Junction, came on as owners. Eric also founded and runs Taste of the North, a produce company based in Quebec.

I visited with James Hanly, who has been with Provisions since 2014, to learn more about this unique company, one of the few remaining independent distributors in New England.

Edible Vermont: Give me the elevator pitch on Provisions.

James Hanly: Provisions International is an independently owned, regional specialty food distributor with a focus on cheese. We source and distribute pretty much everything except fresh produce and fish. We leave those categories to our sister company, Upper Valley Produce.

EV: Introduce us to James Gordon and Eric Frechette who have owned the company since 2023.

JH: Through their work building Upper Valley Produce in White River Junction and Taste of the North in Quebec, James and Eric have developed deep connections in the New England and Canadian food world. They clearly appreciate high-quality products and are committed to carrying on the traditions and ethos that Wendy Hallgren established 40 years ago. Provisions shared a warehouse with Upper Valley Produce, so we’ve known each other for a long time, and our companies have similar philosophies. James and Eric have brought fresh eyes and exuberance that has infused the whole company. Now with access to the network of Upper Valley Produce and Taste of the North trucks, we can get product into places Provisions hadn’t reached previously. And we’re also tapping in to the incredibly talented cheesemakers in Quebec. There’s incredible synergy between the companies.

“Provisions began with Wendy’s passion for Vermont cheese, and we’ve remained champions for cheesemakers here in New England as well as just over the border in Quebec, along with other artisanal cheesemakers in Europe. We’re working with more than 50 cheesemakers domestically, including more than 30 in Vermont. ” –James Hanly

EV: Who are your vendors and what’s the range of products?

JH: We partner with small, family-run farms, creameries, and other artisan producers based in New England, Quebec, and across the globe. Cheese is our primary focus, but we also source goods including charcuterie, pasta and dry beans, oils and vinegars, Asian sauces, spices, and a ton of other specialty ingredients. We have more than 4,000 products in our catalogue at any point.

EV: And your customers?

JH: We work with restaurants, food cooperatives, independent grocers, full-service cheese shops, and specialty stores across Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, New York and the Greater Boston area.

EV: Let’s talk cheese, shall we?

JH: Provisions began with Wendy’s passion for Vermont cheese, and we’ve remained champions for cheesemakers here in New England as well as just over the border in Quebec, along with other artisanal cheesemakers in Europe. We’re working with more than 50 cheesemakers domestically, including more than 30 in Vermont. As Vermont’s reputation for phenomenal cheese continues to grow, we’re focused on getting more of their product into distribution around the United States.

And now, with Eric Frechette’s Taste of the North company linked with Provisions, we are the exclusive distributors for several of Quebec’s top creameries including Fromagerie La Station of Compton, in the Eastern Townships just north of the Vermont border. We encouraged them to submit product to the American Cheese Society competition, and they won Best in Show two consecutive years out of 1,600 cheeses. It’s nearly unprecedented to win two years in a row and with two different cheeses. The only other company that’s achieved that is Jasper Hill Farm here in Greensboro. Those awards created a lot of clamor for Quebec cheese, and now we’re picking up new clients seeking those cheeses, which allows us to introduce them to Vermont cheese as well.

EV: A rising tide floats all boats, right?

JH: Definitely! In fact, we saw that at our food show in May 2024. We hosted that event for the first time in more than 10 years, at our new corporate office and warehouse located in West Lebanon, New Hampshire. We had dozens of cheesemakers from Vermont and Quebec along with other vendors and customers.

Outstanding folks who take their craft seriously. It was great to see everyone so collegial and supportive of one another. Rumor has it the cheesemakers gathered in the parking lot after the show and were doing shots of a fermented eau de vie made from whey by a Canadian cheesemaker. Now that’s cross-cultural camaraderie! We hope to run another food show in the next year or two because it was such a resounding success.

EV: You also promote cheesemakers through your Cave to Co-op program with the Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA) (see article in Edible Vermont Holiday 2025)

JH: That’s right. The goal of the Cave to Co-op program is to combine forces to strengthen New England creameries and food co-op cheese programs. We highlight a different cheesemaker each month of the year and promote their products, stories, and recipes through NFCA. Cave to Co-op helps cheesemakers, customers, and co-ops learn more about these makers and their products.

EV: What’s the hallmark of your business?

JH: Provisions believes strongly in education and sharing knowledge with our customers and our staff. We host Meet the Maker events in our West Lebanon tasting room where producers offer guided tastings and tell us about their products. We schedule regular tastings at our staff meetings, many of which are open to all employees. We’ll taste a product that we may be interested in offering but we want people’s input on it first. Being familiar with our product line makes all of us better at our jobs, from sales and marketing to running store demos to packing and shipping. Sales reps go on the road with a cooler bag full of samples: cheese, charcuterie, olive oil, vinegar, olives. We’re like a walking picnic when we arrive at our appointments!

FOLLOWING ARE SOME INSIGHTS FROM THE MAKERS AND MARKETERS WHOSE BUSINESSES DEPEND ON THE STRONG AND PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS THEY’VE ESTABLISHED WITH THE TEAM AT PROVISIONS INTERNATIONAL.

Peter Varkonyi, Brownsville Butcher & Pantry, Brownsville

When we added the cheese counter in the shop, we knew we wanted to work with Provisions because of their access to a diverse selection of the best cheese in Vermont, New England, across the border into Canada, and in Europe.

We also stock our market shelves with other products from Provisions. Their knowledge base and how they articulate the product to their clientele is unrivaled. Everyone on their team is so passionate. Nancy Gilman has been my sales rep for 17-plus years since I started as a chef in Plainfield, New Hampshire. With Nancy, it’s a conversation, not a sales pitch. When we call looking to add a new product, Nancy and all their sales reps can easily spend up to an hour waxing rhapsodic about different items and their artisanal producers. Provisions is the unsung hero of the Vermont food industry.

Josh Turka, 5th Quarter Butcher + Provisions, Waitsfield

Provisions really aligns with our commitment to working with small, local, and sustainable brands, which lets us bring highquality, small-batch products to our customers. I’ve worked with Dondi Ahearn since my early days as a chef in Boston. He taught me half of what I know about cheese. They’re a go-to source for our cheese section so we can keep the assortment timely, exciting, and delicious. They’ve been to many of the creameries and farms and have a personal connection with the makers. We have confidence that anything they recommend to us is going to be top-notch. For example, they have exclusive access to cheese made at La Station from Compton, Quebec. This creamery has an amazing lineup of cheeses that became overnight sensations, but we were lucky enough to already have them on our shelves and available to our customers.

We distribute our charcuterie through Provisions, and our partnership has really helped transform our business. Close to 30 percent of the animals we bring in go back out the door to Provisions in one form or another. They’re the only people I want to represent our brand because they really care about the quality of the product and the producers. We trust them to tell our story.

When Provisions finds someone they believe in, they get behind them 100 percent. Rachel, James, Dondi, and Christian all have been fantastic to work with. Their network of connections to top restaurants and markets has allowed us to extend our reach dramatically throughout Vermont and the broader Northeast.

Kate Leach, Woodlawn Creamery, Pawlet

We wouldn’t have started Woodlawn Creamery if it weren’t for Provisions.

As 7th-generation Vermont dairy farmers, the idea of making artisan cheese from our milk was both exciting and daunting, and we reached out to folks in the cheese industry for their guidance. Our friends at Provisions were incredible— encouraging, honest, and generous with their time and expertise. They were the very first people to taste (and buy!) Woodlawn’s Pawlet, Rupert, and Southwind, and they help us get all our cheese from our tiny corner of Vermont to the wider world.

In short, Provisions feels more like part of our business than an outside distributor. Family farms rely on relationships and partnerships, building trust and diving in together to do the work that puts really beautiful food on the table. We’re grateful to have Provisions on our team, and we’re honored to be on theirs.

Melissa Webb, Stony Pond Farm, Enosburg Falls

I reached out to Provisions International when I started making cheese here at Stony Pond, our family farm in Enosburg Falls, about five years ago and have been working with them ever since. From day one, they were open and willing to work with me as a small producer, helping sell my cheese throughout New England and grow my cheese lineup from one cheese when I began to the four that I have available today. Their team has been a great sounding board for ideas regarding cheese development and growth, tasting notes, sales and promotion opportunities, and so on. Everyone at Provisions seems invested in supporting Vermont cheese producers and working hard to keep the Vermont brand strong, making sure Vermont cheese is well represented in as many different stores and restaurants around New England and beyond.