Those unacquainted with Zingerman’s should know the following:

1. Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig opened Zingerman’s in 1982, and they still own it.  

2. Typical growth models would have had them replicate their success with multiple Zingermanses, in Michigan or farther beyond, but Ari and Paul chose to expand horizontally rather than exponentially. They thought it would be more fun to, say, bake the bread for their sandwiches, or roast the beans for their coffee, or make the cream cheese for their bagels, so…they did.

3. It would’ve been impossible for Ari and Paul to have become master bakers or roasters and still managed the business properly. Their solution? Allow ambitious, committed upstarts from within the brigade rise to become “managing partners” in charge of pet projects that evolved into members of Zingerman’s Community of Businesses—such as the Creamery, the Roadhouse (restaurant), the Bakehouse, the Mail-Order businesses (which nets a few million bucks a year), and so on. The businesses support each other, and flourish at the same time.

4. Everyone who works at Zingerman’s gets benefits, makes a living wage, and can apply for various Zingerman’s scholarships, not to mention propose business ideas to Paul and Ari. They have some of the most satisfied employees I have ever met.

Ari and Paul, as you can imagine, are always bubbling with ideas. Paul now spends about half of his time making waves in the nonprofit world, both in Ann Arbor and on a national level. He really wants to see good food go to people who can’t afford Zingerman’s regular fare and is trying to set up affordable, mobile organic bodegas (my words, not his) in the food deserts of Ypsilanti and Detroit.

If anyone can do it, it’s Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig. They are total heroes in my book.