N.C.'s Bitty & Beau honored as Food & Wine Game Changer

Food & Wine magazine recently recognized N.C. coffee business Bitty & Beau's as one of its 17 Game Changers for 2024.

The Game Changers awards spotlight individuals or businesses that "are driving innovation and shaping the future of how we cook, dine, and drink," the magazine said in a statement.

"Innovation is a thread that connects the past to the future, and in our annual July Innovators Issue, we celebrate the people, places, ingredients, and tools shaping the future of cuisine in America," said Hunter Lewis, Food & Wine's editor in chief.

Amy and Ben Wright established Bitty & Beau's in 2016 in Wilmington as a way to offer employment to people with intellectual and development disabilities. The Wrights have four children. One, Lillie, was born with autism and two, Bitty and Beau, were born with Down syndrome.

The Wrights had noted that the majority of people with disabilities don't have jobs, and they set out to change that. Bitty and Beau's now has 19 stores from Florida to Michigan, including one in Winston-Salem, and employs more than 400 people.

Other Game Changers this year include Blue Ocean Mariculture, which the magazine called the most sustainable fish farm in the United States, and Courtney and Christopher Storer, the sister and brother behind the hit FX/Hulu TV series "The Bear."

For a complete list of Game Changers, visit foodandwine.com .