OUR MISSION

Date & Thyme’s mission is to improve the lives and well-being of our community, inspiring positive choices that nourish body, mind and spirit.

WHO WE ARE

Date & Thyme is a neighborhood store offering fresh, healthy, organic food and products that support well-being and a balanced lifestyle. It is a place to shop, connect, and be uplifted. ​

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

We have, and always will, care about people and the planet above anything else, living in harmony with each other and the earth we walk upon.

We have, and always will, be dedicated to the integrity of our products and services, believing that natural and organic food is an essential part of our health and wellness.

We have, and always will, be dedicated to leading with our hearts, creating a community that supports, recognizes and celebrates each other, inspiring our collective and personal best.

OUR BELIEFS

There is a date and time in our lives when we understand that our old ways of eating, acting, thinking, or feeling no longer serve us. We realize that change is possible, and that we can help ourselves. We believe that true health and wellness come not only from the food we eat, but the thoughts we think, the actions we take, and how we choose to live our everyday lives. To live life well is to nourish body, mind, and spirit. The date and time is now!

​Community is at the heart of Date & Thyme. Bringing people together who share the same ideals and who are inspired to be part of a transformative movement, is the core of who we are. Each choice we make has an impact on our own lives and that of the planet. Together we can make a difference.

OUR TEAM COMMITMENTS

•  We strive to do our best, approaching everything with the utmost care and consideration. 
• We maintain a high level of cleanliness and professionalism in all that we do. This includes caring for the facilities, the equipment, and all the tools that make our work possible.
• Customer service is paramount. We strive to go above and beyond in making a person feel valued and taken care of.
• We are honest and in integrity with ourselves and each other.
• We demonstrate connection, care, and support within our team, communicating clearly, acknowledging and voicing our needs.
• We believe in equality. We do not judge another, talk unfairly about another, put ourselves above or below another. We recognize that regardless of our roles, race, or gender, as humans we are all equal. 
• We believe that joy and celebration is an important part of life, and that when we embody that within ourselves we uplift others.
• We believe that we are all imperfectly perfect, and we are enough.

WHO WE ARE

CHARLOTTE SOPHIA

Founder  |  Visionary

Charlotte is a passionate visionary and creator, with a dedication to inspiring and sharing the mindful life. She is a firm believer that life is to be experienced and spent her formative years traveling the world.

It was in her late twenties, due to personal health challenges, that Charlotte had her “aha” moment and realized that we have the power to create our own reality, and that what you eat and think have direct effects on your life as a whole.

This realization lead her on a journey of self-discovery as she immersed herself in the world of natural food, nutrition, and spirituality. She moved to New York and studied at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts, while gaining experience in likeminded restaurants.
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In 2008, Charlotte moved to Key West and turned her vision of health and wellness into a reality. With the support of her business partner, a lot of faith, and an unrelenting vision, Charlotte has seen Date & Thyme grow from a small take out cafe into a thriving community center.

SIMON BASNER

Founder  |  Business Leadership

Simon is an accomplished businessperson and a patron of the creative arts. He became involved in natural foods stores in the Hudson Valley of NY during his high school years, first working hourly and then creating a market of his own.

The natural foods and yoga community was the perfect fit. He has always been a traveler and an avid reader of metaphysical books, and enjoys a lifestyle close to nature and the waterfront. Simon spent a successful career in a corporate setting, focused on quality and continual process improvements in a team-based organization.

Simon is deeply involved in both the Date and Thyme Cafe & Market in Key West and the Union Arts Center, a performing arts space in Sparkill, NY.

OUR STORY

Our business began as a small cafe in 2008, and while we have expanded to include other areas of wellness over the years, the cafe remains the heartbeat of Date & Thyme. Focusing on fresh organic foods and making everything from scratch, our emphasis has always been on serving the most nourishing food possible.

Date & Thyme began as a one room operation, in a charming little space that what was once an early-twentieth century gas station. In less than 300 square feet, Charlotte and her team turned out breakfast, lunch, coffee and freshly-made smoothies every day. After much hard work and passion, what began with two or three employees at a time (we couldn't fit any more!), began to grow into something greater.

During our early years, there was a great need in Key West for more organic produce, and so our weekly Farmer's Market was born. Every Monday morning, tables of fresh fruits and vegetables lined our patio, and our community followed. Two years later when the only supplier of organic produce stopped offering deliveries to the Florida Keys, we had to take matters into our own hands: Rather than compromise our quality, we deepened our relationships with our local South Florida farmers and eventually bought our own refrigerated truck. We set out at 2am every week (organic coffee in hand) to pick up our own deliveries from mainland Florida, and began delivering produce to our fellow cafes and health food stores throughout the keys who had also been affected by the loss.
 
In 2012, the time was right to take another step forward. We expanded our business, taking over the laundromat adjacent to our cafe to open our retail store, and expand our offerings in the cafe. The mission remained the same: provide the freshest organic food possible and make living well easy and accessible to all. With the addition of our market, we were able to provide our community with a broader array of wholesome food and natural groceries. Now with a 10-door walk-in cooler, we were finally able to offer organic produce 7 days a week. To this day, Date & Thyme is the largest purveyor of organic & local produce in Key West.
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Today, Date & Thyme employs about thirty dedicated staff members who all help make our mission possible day in and day out. We've come a long way from our early days in our one-room shop, but our passion and our purpose remain the same, and continue to inspire us.

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