Tifton businesses push for focus on local flavors
Published 5:02 pm Wednesday, July 2, 2025
TIFTON — Stop in to Savor the Flavor or Donatello’s during your next trip to Downtown Tifton and you’re certain to be treated to a true Georgia-grown experience.
Across both of her businesses, local entrepreneur Connie Stover has worked to place an emphasis on the snacks, drinks, and brands crafted right in the Peach State in the hopes of properly showcasing the quality and flavors that can only come from smaller, locally grown sources.
Sporting products from all over the state ranging from soaps, snacks, energy drinks, spirits, and more, the gourmet grocer and classic speakeasy boast a collective stock of 95% Georgia-made products, a testament to the countless small businesses across the state that Stover hopes to highlight.
“You don’t have to necessarily go out and get certain things — you can get them right here in Georgia,” Stover said. “I want people to be more aware of that; I think getting people to recognize what we have here in our state is really important to the community — and Tifton’s the only one that has it!”
Donatello’s in particular has accrued quite the supply of local brands — as of last year, the speakeasy had been named the largest selection of Georgia liquors in the state, and is currently the only facility in Georgia to serve a Georgia-made tequila, the veteran-owned Battleground Spirits.
Now, the bar is sitting at around 80 different liquors, and is set to continue growing. Stover hopes that one day, Donatello’s will be able to stock a liquor for each distillery in the state.
She’s noted that, for many of these smaller brands and businesses, their names are rarely recognized outside of their local communities, and may even be overlooked if offered outside of them for more commonly recognized labels. As a means of bridging this gap to their patrons, Savor the Flavor and Donatello’s regularly offer tasting and sampling events for their partner products, inviting customers to try a new liquor, snack, or drink that’s fully Georgia-grown.
Not only has this helped spread the word for these smaller local brands, it’s helped them earn regular clientele; Stover proudly reports that many patrons of Donatello’s have come to request particular local liquors to be used for their cocktails.
Alongside this push for recognition for the minds behind their products, the two establishments also work to develop a lasting bond with their partner businesses, connecting with them beyond a transactional relationship and even helping them connect with each other.
Stover believes this personability is vital to the experience of her businesses, believing both Savor the Flavor and Donatello’s are more than their brick-and-mortar locations due to the link they forge between brand, store, and patron.
“I could put Tito’s in here, I could put Crown Royal in here, or Jack Daniels, but I’ll never even reach the ability to talk to an owner — they’re too big for that,” she said. “The businesses that we bring in, we talk to them, they come here, we go to their distilleries, their wineries, their breweries. We have a personal connection with everything we bring in here.”
Stover asserts both Savor the Flavor and Donatello’s are always on the hunt for businesses to partner with and showcase what Georgia has to offer. They’ve even begun getting requests to highlight products from new brands looking for a platform or existing partners of either business hoping to advertise a new item.
