It’s been a little over five years since Samantha Wood and partner and mother Karen Kelley launched Colorado Springs Food Tours. The successful business was aging, however, and life outside needed attention, so things were put on hold last September.
During that time, Wood (née Bruner) got married, bought out Kelley, and finished her MBA in May. She also redesigned the business and freshened the look, meaning the new Rocky Mountain Food Tours is ready for launch on Sept. 26.
“In terms of the structure, it will be really similar to what we did before,” Wood, 31, says in an interview with the Report. “We’ll go to five culinary destinations and do generous tastings at each one. Something different that we’re doing this time around is we will have base ticket prices and then guests can actually add on, as an upgrade, alcohol pairings.”
The base price for its flagship Delicious Downtown tour is $55 per person, with a $10 cost for two alcohol pairings and $15 for four pairings. Other tours in the works include a downtown brunch tour, a dinner tour in Old Colorado City and a Manitou Springs tour.
“The core concept is the same: working with local restaurants; walking between places; eating and drinking,” Wood says. “We’re still going to share history on all the tours too.”
Wood says tour guests will soon be able to view their entire menu before booking, so they know exactly what they’ll be eating and drinking. At the moment, tours are available every Saturday after the 26th through October, with more planned throughout the winter season.
“We want to be able to give people both knowledge and the power of choice,” Wood says, “in what they’re eating and what they’re drinking. …
“But if I really believe in this business, which I really do, and I really care about local business, and I really see that there’s an opportunity in food tourism, just as a growing industry, then can I take my foundation of what we’ve built over the past four, five years now and improve upon it in a way where we can really create a cool company that’s sustainable and that is something that I think I could be really proud of?”