Gourmet News

Paesana: Good for Customers, Good for Business

Published May 10, 2019

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, sales of organic foods in the U.S. increased from $11 billion in 2004 to $27 billion in 2012. The USDA also reported that the 7.4 percent growth rate in organic food sales during 2012 was more than double the annual growth rate for all food sales that year. Furthermore, the Organic Trade Association states that the trend is expanding as Americans are continuing to widen their demand for organic foods – with sales of organic products in the U.S. increasing to $35.1 billion in 2013.

The consumer appetite for healthier choices is growing considerably and rapidly. However, that doesn’t mean today’s shoppers are willing to give up taste. A simple “organic” label is no longer enough to convert or retain the loyalty of food buyers and chefs who demand noticeably fresher taste, as well. L&S Packing Company, a family owned business, has introduced its line of premium quality Paesana Organic Pasta Sauces and New Premium Organic Condiments to meet that doubled-up demand.

“Our premium organic pasta sauces are rich in nutrients and are made with the freshest ingredients without additives,” said Jacqueline Scaramelli-Massaro, L&S Vice President. “They’re also sautéed to perfection just like all our other sauces to capture the finest and fullest flavor.”

The line is being touted as just as flavorful as the delicious sauces the family’s great-grandmother proudly and lovingly made in her kitchen way back in 1902.
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“Seeking organic brands on store shelves has become a top priority for millions and millions of consumers, particularly moms who are reading nutrition labels more carefully than ever to assure that their families are eating foods that are good for them,” said Scaramelli-Massaro, a mother who knows first-hand that nutritional choices are important, but also that those choices need to provide superior taste.

Paesana Premium Organic Pasta Sauces are available in five flavors, including Tomato & Basil, Tuscan Pepper, Marinara, Vodka Sauce and Roasted Garlic. All flavors are made with 100 percent imported Italian tomatoes selected at the height of freshness. Paesana Premium Organic Condiments currently feature Marinated Mushrooms, Portobello Mushrooms and Non Pareil Capers. The new lines of sauces and condiments are also organically certified by QAI and are gluten free.

As is the case with all products from L&S Packing Company, Paesana Premium Organic Pasta Sauces and Condiments have undergone highly rigorous quality control processes and have also been taste-tested through every phase of product development. “The depth and breadth of our commitment to quality and our dedication to unmatched flavor have defined our family and our company for generations,” said L&S President Louis Scaramelli, IV. “We’re excited to say that our organic pasta sauces have exceeded our own highly stringent criteria and demanding expectations for healthier ingredients combined with incredible taste, and we’re certain these top quality sauces will be extremely popular with today’s continuously growing numbers of health-conscious consumers.”

To Everything Food, There’s a New Seasons

Published May 9, 2019

By Lorrie Baumann

New Seasons Market sees itself not just as a grocery retailer but as a supporter of the regional food economy. New Seasons, founded in 1999, has 21 stores under its banner, with 18 in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area, two in Seattle, Washington, and one in San Jose, California. The company also operates four New Leaf Community Market stores operating out of Santa Cruz, California. The stores employ more than 4,000 people. All of those who work 24 hours a week qualify for medical leave, health benefits, paid time off for Thanksgiving and Christmas, profit-sharing and other benefits.

“We focus a lot on fresh, quality and local. All the merchandising and marketing we do is around those principles,” said Chris Tjersland, New Seasons’ Director of Brand Strategy and Development. “You’ll know when you walk into the store that we really highlight produce. We do fresh, local sourcing of meat. At New Seasons you come and shop with the idea that it’s an event. Solution centers sample products every day, and you can taste what’s fresh in the produce department. We have a lot of shoppers who come in on a daily basis because it’s part of their routine.”

As a certified B Corporation, New Seasons commits 10 percent of after-tax profits to the communities it serves, and as part of that, the company supports a variety of programs to help local food producers succeed in the specialty food industry. Those efforts include “Getting Your Recipe to Market,” a partnership with Portland Community College and Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center. It’s a 14-week program in which food producers can take their idea from concept to finished product that they can present to buyers. New Seasons also participates in Ventures, a Seattle, Washington, non-profit organization that supports women-owned businesses, especially food entrepreneurs, partly by providing basic business classes, and Portland Mercado, a business foundations boot camp, and in Adelante Mujeres, a non-profit focused on education and training for low-income Latina women who want to start their own business or launch their own product.

At the core of its support for the regional food economy is its robust Partner Brand program, a private label program that specializes in sourcing products made within 500 miles of Portland. “We try to target and support minority- and women-owned businesses and target companies with fewer than 50 employees,” said Tjersland, who was hired by New Seasons seven years ago to create the private label program.

The New Seasons private label program is built around supporting the local food economy rather than creating a price-driven line of products, Tjersland said. “Creating a traditional program wasn’t going to fit with what we do as a company,” he said. “Instead of creating a value-driven program, we source local whenever possible, we’re very transparent from seed to shelf, and we use simple, clean ingredients.”

The New Seasons Partner Brand product line now includes 300 products that come from 43 suppliers. About 80 percent of the products are sourced locally, and in terms of dollars, about 25 to 30 percent of the product is made by small companies. The line has seen double-digit growth year over year for the past six years.

The New Seasons products are labeled with a bright-orange call-out on the front of the package that tells shoppers who made the product they’re buying and where they’re located. The lineup includes fresh and dried pasta, milk, butter and eggs and tortilla chips, among others. The popcorn uses local sea salt from Jacobsen Salt Company, hand harvested from the company’s salt works in Netarts Bay, Oregon, and the blue cheese in the Butternut & Blue Cheese Ravioli comes from Rogue Creamery in Central Point, Oregon. New Seasons Raspberry Fruit Spread was created by Kelly’s Jelly in Portland, Oregon and was made with fruit from Bauman’s Farms in Gervais, Oregon. “It makes it a little bit more unique for our customers; it’s a brand concept that they wouldn’t find at other retail stores,” Tjersland said.
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Some of those products were pitched by their existing producers who had a recipe they wanted to try out as a new-product launch; some of them come from producers who were willing to make a product based on an inspiration that came to Tjersland while he was visiting a trade show; and some of them came from entrepreneurs who were just getting started in the business. “We go with the idea that we’re looking for innovation, products that we can source from a local producer, and we look at things they can do with their own local twist,” Tjersland said.

One example is a pair of Korean sauces – a gochujang and a garlic-sesame sauce created by a family who produces a local kimchi. They had family recipes for the sauces and wanted to create them as a retail product, Tjersland said. “It’s an opportunity for them to create the product and determine if it’s feasible for them to launch under their own brand,” he said. “If they want to develop it as a product that they’d sell to other stores, I would not have a problem with that.”

The emphasis for the line is on small batches of artisanal products as well as on local sourcing. Products are responsibly priced based on a fair price for a quality, locally-made artisan product, Tjersland said. “Not too high that you wouldn’t consider buying it, but enough to help people recognize that they’re supporting the local vendors.”

That emphasis on supporting the local food economy has been with the privately-held company since it was founded more than 18 years ago, and many of the supplier relationships that the company built when the first store opened are still operating today, Tjersland said. “As we’ve grown, we’ve made sure we keep those relationships and work with them so that they can grow along with us,” he said. If New Seasons’ needs outstrip what a local farmer or fisherman is able to provide, the company will look for other suppliers who can augment supply to help support the grocery chain’s growth, he added.

That growth has been supported by the Pacific Northwest’s strong food culture and culinary presence. “Consumers are looking for a place where they can source a lot of products that are local,” Tjersland said. “We have a customer base that is generally more supportive of the local food economy. Portland has a vibrant farmers market community that plays into the ethic, and the New Seasons stores are an extension of those farmers market providing vendors with other avenues where they can sell their goods.”

The emphasis on local suppliers adds a level of complexity to store operations. Whereas a large store belonging to another grocery chain might see 30 to 40 deliveries a day, a New Seasons store might get 65 or 70, Tjersland said. Some farmers are only able to grow enough produce to supply a few of the New Seasons stores, requiring the grocers to deal with multiple suppliers for the same produce variety. “But what they do might be so special or so delicious,” Tjersland said. “We try to set ourselves up to be very flexible.”

“In terms of the New Seasons brand and the products we sell, it’s our largest brand in the grocery department of our stores. It’s gotten to the point where we get product recommendations from our customers. They’ll sometimes ask for products from specific producers,” he added. “Over 18 years, we’ve created a lot of equity in our brand. Consumers trust the product.”

Cheese Importers – La Fromagerie French Cafe

Published May 9, 2019

For many families around the world real, fresh cheese is a staple food. With its rich, creamy textures and the assortment of complex flavors and aromas of whole, real cheese, it’s hard to resist.

Lyman White and his wife, Linda White, noticed people’s love for real cheese nearly 40 years ago, and they decided to take advantage of it by establishing Cheese Importers, a family-owned business, based in Longmont, Colorado. Today, Lyman White’s children, Samm White and Clara White, have taken over the family business as co-Owners.

“Cheese Importers is like part of our family,” Samm White said. “Our name is all over it. It just screams what we are about. Now we’re kind of at the forefront of those quality food products that are kicking off in the market right now.”t has grown from a small home-based business to include over 400 of Colorado’s quality-oriented natural grocers, co-ops and restaurants to its wholesale distribution list, and it has become a landmark for gourmet food in Longmont, as well as a tribute to this family’s years of hard work.

The company now operates out of a massive, vintage brick-building that was originally the diesel-fuel power station for the city.
It attracts visitors from all over the country and has a loyal following by many local customers offering organic specialty oils, cured meats, spices, chocolate and a huge selection of imported cheese from all over the world. Their store features the largest walk-in refrigerated cheese and cured meat market in Colorado.

Denise Terao, who has worked for Cheese Importers for the past five years, says the best thing about working at the family-owned business is helping customers find a product they love.

“Sometimes a customer will come up to you and say, ‘I had this cheese a long time ago, but I can’t remember the name,’ and then they’ll describe what it tastes like, and most of the time, we’ll actually have that cheese. I’ll give them a sample, and they are like, ‘Oh my God. That’s it!’ It’s the best thing to see a customer’s face light up when they find something they need, and I love helping them.”

Cheese Importers also carries a unique assortment of European textiles, beauty and kitchenware products. From a Stonewall Kitchen line to imported French glassware, the list goes on.

Samm says one of his favorite products the store carries right now is a baguette maker by Emile Henry. He says the baguette maker is easy to use, with the holes in the base and a lid to help the dough rise and create a dry, crispy crust. He’s also favored a Laguiole knife set. “This knife set really lasts,” Samm said. “I’ve had mine for 20 years, and it still holds a sharp edge.”

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Karren Doll Tolliver, an Editor from Florida, stopped by Cheese Importers last year when visiting Longmont. “There are some very friendly and knowledgeable folks,” she said. “It seems even larger on the inside, and there are imports in every nook and cranny. They have everything! I mean everything! I chuckled a lot, seeing all the same souvenirs (I’d seen on my visit to France).”

Visitors can also dine-in and experience the culture of Europe on-site at their authentic French cafe, La Fromagerie. As a popular dining spot in Longmont, Samm says, “…you can be transported to a different feel. You can get away from everything and get lost in the French music and have some really amazing food.”

But the family-owned business has not always been so popular. Originally, the business started in 1973 with just one employee, Lyman White. Samm said his father always believed in living a macrobiotic lifestyle, eating more natural, whole foods. “He was on the hunt for nutritious, whole food when the demand for tv dinners and processed and packaged food was on the rise,” Samm said.

Lyman had started multiple different businesses, including a wholesale organic grain co-op, but the business had little success and soon went under. Lyman then started looking for new opportunities in the food industry that would benefit his customers and reflect his macrobiotic lifestyle. “My father always believed that you should sell things that were good for people – things that wouldn’t harm them,” Samm said.

Lyman traveled to the East Coast to visit his uncle-in-law, Ben Moskowitz, who owned a large dairy called Walker Butter and Egg. During his visit with Moskowitz, Lyman found himself immersed into the underground world of dairy, and he was able to taste European cheeses like Brie and Gruyère, as well as other specialty cheeses from around the world that had not been well distributed in the United States before.

“Back then cheese was pretty dull and bland tasting,” Samm said. “These were the days when cheese was made with more oil than milk. You know, cheese was just this orange gelatinous block. This area of the food industry was just starting, really. I mean, of course, there were cheeses, but as for some of these specialty cheeses, well there wasn’t a market for it. The American palate hadn’t been introduced to it yet.”

Lyman decided to capitalize on his discovery by finding the artisanal cheeses that were being made at dairies near where he lived in Colorado. He traveled to the dairies and bought barrels full of cheese that he sold from his Longmont home. “I remember he bought extra refrigerators for our house to store all the cheese in. He would go out with a block of cheese and walk through the back door of restaurants, and my dad, being a very charismatic man, would ask and beg to speak with whoever he needed to so he could sell cheese,” Samm said. “He could usually get a chef to stop and try these cheeses, and the taste was worlds apart from what they’d been using. Good cheese is unequal to the stuff that was being used at the time. That’s how it all started, and from then on, slowly, Cheese Importers blossomed.”

Now, Samm White says he’s proud of where Cheese Importers has come from, and he’s excited about where it’s going, but really, he intends to sit back and enjoy what Cheese Importers is all about, which is bringing people the joy of cheese. “People are really receptive to what we love and want to share with them,” he said. “It’s just great being able to help people identify what brings them happiness. To allow that joy to be created is great. There’s not much better than food than happiness, and combine the two, and you don’t need anything else.”