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DELI BUSINESS (ISSN 1088-7059) is published by Phoenix Media Network, Inc., P.O. Box 810425, Boca Raton, FL 33481-0425
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to DELI BUSINESS, P.O. Box 810217, Boca Raton, FL 33481-0217
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CONTENTSJUNE/JULY ’13 • VOL. 18/NO. 3
COVER STORY
FEATURESummer Reading List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Indulge your passion for cheese through the written word.Satisfaction without the calories!
Hummus Is a Versatile and Varied Star. . . . . . 36Line extensions keep the category in the spotlight
Asian Food Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Sushi sales are strengthening and Korean is making a strong debut
What about Food Trucks? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Are trendy mobile food trucks right for supermarkets?
MERCHANDISING REVIEWFlatbread on the Rise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42With the proliferation of Mediterranean foods and healthier bread options, flatbread popularity is growing in today’s delis
Salads and Sides Make the Meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Flavor, variety and convenience are key to increased sales
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4 DELI BUSINESS APRIL/MAY 2013
DELI BUSINESS (ISSN 1088-7059) is published by Phoenix Media Network, Inc., P.O. Box 810425, Boca Raton, FL 33481-0425
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to DELI BUSINESS, P.O. Box 810217, Boca Raton, FL 33481-0217
CONTENTSJUNE/JULY ’13 • VOL. 18/NO. 3
83IN EVERY ISSUEDELI WATCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
INFORMATION SHOWCASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
BLAST FROM THE PAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
CHEESE CORNERCalifornia Cheese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Trends from California influence the country and the world
Regulatory Change Proposals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
The Biggest Cheese Festival On Earth . . . . . . 67Every other year, the Italian town of Bra plays host to world’s finest cheeses
The Lord of La Mancha. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Celebrated Manchego cheese deserves the kudos
American Cheese Caves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Aging cheese is as significant as making cheese
COMMENTARIESEDITOR’S NOTEUnderstanding Today’s Deli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
PUBLISHER’S INSIGHTSHigh-Touch Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
SPECIAL SECTION: DELI MEAT GUIDEDeli Meat Roundup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Finding prime opportunities in a tough economy
Easy Peasy Wings & Ribs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Popular barbecued ribs and wings offer deli sales opportunities
The Exquisite Ibérico de Bellota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92The world’s most exceptional, most expensive dry-cured ham
70 61
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6 DELI BUSINESS JUNE/JULY 2013
DELI BUSINESS
PR
m pro
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MARKETING MERCHANDISING MANAGEMENT PROCUREMENT
CO
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EXT
PRESIDENT & EDITOR-IN-CHIEFJAMES E. PREVOR
PUBLISHING DIRECTORKENNETH L. WHITACRE
PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTORLEE SMITH
MANAGING EDITORJAN FIALKOW
SALES MANAGERSJANE JOHNSON
MICHAEL [email protected]
PRODUCTION DIRECTORDIANA LEVINE
ART DIRECTORJACKIE TUCKER
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENTFREDDY PULIDO
RESEARCH DIRECTORSHARON OLSON
CONTRIBUTING EDITORSBOB JOHNSON PATTI ORTON
BARBARA ROBISON LISE WHITE LAURA WHITEMAN
SEND INSERTION ORDERS, PAYMENTS, PRESS RELEASES, PHOTOS, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, ETC., TO:
DELI BUSINESSP.O. BOX 810217, BOCA RATON, FL 33481-0217PHONE: 561-994-1118 FAX: 561-994-1610
E-MAIL: [email protected]
PHOENIX MEDIA NETWORK, INC.CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
JAMES E. PREVOR
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENTKENNETH L. WHITACRE
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENTLEE SMITH
GENERAL COUNSELDEBRA PREVOR
TRADE SHOW COORDINATORJACKIE LOMONTE
DELI BUSINESS IS PUBLISHED BYPHOENIX MEDIA NETWORK, INC.
P.O. BOX 810425,BOCA RATON, FL 33481-0425
PHONE: 561-994-1118 FAX: 561-994-1610www.delibusiness.com
ENTIRE CONTENTS © COPYRIGHT 2013
PHOENIX MEDIA NETWORK, INC.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
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COVER STORYBack To School
FEATURE STORIESTailgating ProfitsSnack FoodsPackaging
MERCHANDISING REVIEWSGrab-and-GoSoupsTurkey Profits
PROCUREMENT STRATEGIESHoliday Buying
PREPARED FOODSSandwiches
DELI MEATS CharcuterieSalami Trends
CHEESESEnglish CheddarsCalifornia
COMING IN OCT./NOV. DELI BUSINESS will look at ways the deli can go green and adopt methods,
strategies and marketing approaches that convey an image of sustainability,freshness and localism to consumers.
SUBSCRIPTION & READER SERVICE INFOIf you would like to subscribe to DELI BUSINESS for the print and/or electronic ver-sion, please go to www.delibusiness.com and click on the “Subscribe” button.From there, you can subscribe to the print version of DELI BUSINESS or free ofcharge to the electronic version. In addition, you can read the electronic versionand go directly to a company’s Web site through our special hot link feature. Bestof all, you can download and print any article or advertisement you’d like.
COMING NEXT ISSUE IN AUG./SEPT. 2013
Carl Buddig & Co., Homewood, IL, the maker of popular Buddig lunchmeatsand Old Wisconsin sausage and meat snack products, announces the winner of its$50,000 Dream Big Giveaway, retired United States Postal Service (USPS) mail carrier, Johnny Lutz, of Madisonville, KY. Tom Buddig, executive vice president marketing, personally presented the check to Lutz and his wife Gayle at their homein Kentucky before enjoying lunch and spending the afternoon with them. Lutz was one of nearly 80,000 participants in the Dream Big Giveaway sweep-
stakes. Entrants were asked to collect a combination of game tokens from productstickers on specially marked packaging, online via Facebook, by email or by mail fora chance to win the $50,000 Grand Prize. In addition to the Grand Prize, Buddigawarded hundreds of first and second instant-win prizes, including gas grills andother prizes. The Dream Big Giveaway is the latest in a series of successful promotions offered
by Carl Buddig & Co. since mid-2011. Buddig will kick off a "Family Road Trip" pro-motion in July and the next Dream Big Giveaway returns in October.
$50,000 PRIZE WINNER
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D E L I W A T C HNew Products
ROUND FOODWELLSAlto-Shaam, Inc., Menomonee Falls,WI, has added a selection of roundwells for better food storage, displayand quality. These hot soup wells useAlto-Shaam’s Halo Heat technologyand EcoSmart design. Available in 7-and 11-quart sizes, Halo Heat wrapsaround the food well, radiating fromthe recessed surface, providing greaterambient surface temperature control.The adjustable thermostat provideshot holding temperature flexibility, andthe round well can be used with anexisting counter, overhead lighting,and sneeze guard system, or droppedinto a prep table for hot food platingconvenience.www.alto-shaam.com
RAWMILK GOATCHEESECoach Farm, Pine Plains, NY, intro-duces Rawstruck, the cheesemaker’sfirst raw milk goat cheese. Made justone day each month, Rawstruck iscreated from the milk of CoachFarm’s own herd of dairy goats. Thecurd is hand ladled, hand shaped, andset to age. In compliance with currentfederal regulations of the sale and con-sumption of raw milk cheeses, Raw-struck is aged for 60 days before itsrelease. Rawstruck is available imme-diately for distribution in 4-poundwheels with a suggested retail price of$24.99 per pound.www.coachfarm.com
ALL-NATURALCHICKEN SAUSAGESDietz & Watson, Philadelphia, PA,announces a new line of seven all nat-ural Chicken Sausages made fromfresh, never frozen chicken. UsingOld-World family recipes prepared insmall batches, these fully cookedsausages contain no fillers, extendersor MSG and are certified gluten freeby the Celiac Sprue Association.They are all 100 percent pork free.Flavors include Buffalo Style,Jamaican Jerk, Asiago & Spinach,classic Italian, Tomatillo Salsa SantaFe Style, Andouille and OktoberfestBlack Forest Chicken Brats. Vibrantnew packaging; 12-ounce packages offour sausages each.www.dietzandwatson.com
PETITE CHEESE LINEAtalanta Corp., Elizabeth, NJ,launches three Chimay cheeses inconvenient 11- and 8.8-ounce sizes.Chimay Classic is a washed rindcheese, with a distinct flavor, light yel-low color and a smooth paste. Itssweet, mildly tanginess results frompure, antibiotic-free, local milk thatmust pass meticulous testing toensure its high quality. Chimay withBeer is a washed rind beauty, bathedin the Abbey’s own renowned beer,ensuring a finish with hints of malt andhops. Chimay Poteaupre has beautifuldark ochre color, bloomy and ediblerind, and pleasantly spiced aromaticand unctuous flavor.www.atalanta1.com
GLUTEN-FREEWRAPSToufayan Bakeries, Ridgefield, NJ,introduces its Gluten-Free Wraps, agood-for-you food. Not only are thesewraps 100 percent gluten–free, butthey’re also as great tasting asToufayan’s flour tortillas. Let cus-tomers discover the great taste andpliability they expect from a wrap,without the gluten. Stop by IDDBAbooth #1502 and sample the newGluten Free flavors, including SavoryTomato, Garden Vegetable, andSpinach. All 100 percent gluten-free.All 100 percent delicious.www.toufayan.com
NEW SIZE ECOTASTEREcoTensil Inc., Corte Madera, CA,introduces the 4-inch EcoTaster Mid.Silky-smooth, brandable paperboardutensils fold perfectly for one-handedsampling. They save costs by replacingthe sample cup/utensil combo andallowing full-sized bites. FSC-certi-fied, recyclable, renewable and com-postable EcoTaster Mids save shippingand storage costs. Demo specialistsand customers rave about the sturdyand ample EcoTaster Mid with a fold-in backstop to contain liquids. Visit usat IDDBA Booth #5635. Find a freeproduct sample of the EcoTaster Minion page 51.www.ecotensil.com
TAMPER-EVIDENTRECYCLABLE CONTAINERSPlacon, Madison, WI, offers new 100percent recyclable Crystal Seal tam-per-evident plastic thermoformed foodcontainers in seven grab-and-go sizesfrom 8 to 64 ounces. With no remov-able byproducts or tear-away pieces,minimizing potential choking hazards,the food containers’ double hingedtamper-evident design eliminates thenecessity for shrink bands or tamper-evident labels. The packaging’s offset,recessed cavity instructional tabsensure easy gripping and openingwhile the leak-resistant design ensuresno messes or spills either in store aislesor while on the go.www.placon.com
DELI WATCH is a regular feature of DELI BUSINESS. Please send information on new products, personnel changes, industry, corporateand personal milestones and available literature, along with a color photo, slide or transparency to: Editor, Deli Business, P.O. Box810217 • Boca Raton, FL 33481-0217 • Phone: 561-994-1118 • Fax: 561-994-1610 • E-mail: [email protected]
8 DELI BUSINESS JUNE/JULY 2013
HPP PROCESSING ADDEDFrankly Fresh Wholesome Foods,Carson, CA, recently became one ofonly 17 companies in U.S. using highpressure processing (HPP) to keep itssoups, fresh salads, Classics and HipDips, among many other productsfresh on the shelf for up to 60 daysunopened. HPP preserves productfreshness, flavor, safety and increasedshelf life without the use of artificialpreservatives. Food is subjected tovery high pressures to kill bacteria pre-sent in the food. HPP works like heatto improve food safety by destroyingthe bacteria that cause food borne ill-ness and spoilage. www.franklyfresh.com
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PREMIUMCHICKEN BURGERSPerdue Foods Retail Deli, Salisbury,MD, introduces easy to execute,restaurant-quality Perdue ChickenBurgers for deli. These fully cookedand grill-marked burgers can be pre-pared in an oven, fryer, microwave orcombi-therm oven. Perdue ChickenBurgers have 40 percent less fat and30 percent fewer calories than broiledground beef patties (according toUSDA data). Perdue Chicken Burgersare moist and juicy at a 90-minute hothold time. Hot hold packaging isincluded in every case. Complete mer-chandising and self-serve racks areavailable. www.perdueretailtrade.com
D E L I W A T C H
10 DELI BUSINESS JUNE/JULY 2013
New Products
STONE-FIRED PIZZALittle Lady Foods, Elk Grove Village,IL, offers a new line of Thin & CrispyTake & Bake Pizza with a stone-firedthin crust and bold sauces. The crustis paired with popular toppings such asFour Cheese and Double Pepperoniand more unique offerings such asBuffalo Chicken and Philly Cheese-steak. Customizable as a square orround pizza, it arrives pre-packagedand ready to stack and sell. Made inhigh sanitation SQF certified level 3facilities, Thin & Crispy Pizza is acomplete solution. Sample its enticingflavors at IDDBA booth # 3133.www.littlelady.foods
SHALLOWCONTAINERAnchor Packaging, Inc., St. Louis,MO, has added a 38-ounce containerto its Mega-Meal line. This shallowcontainer is perfect for hot or coldapplications. It joins the deeper 80-and 100-ounce sizes as an alternativeto aluminum half-steam table pan. Allthree polypropylene containers share acommon clear, anti-fog, polypropylenelid, keeping SKUs and inventory coststo a minimum. Strong, durable, resis-tant to hot grease and oils, and able towithstand temperatures up to 230°Fwhen used under heat lamps, inwarming units, or in the microwave. www.anchorpac.com
GREEK LIFESTYLEFLATBREADKontos Foods, Inc., Paterson, N.J.,announces the re-launch of its Smart-Carb flatbread as Kontos GreekLifestyle Flatbread. The hand-stretched Greek Lifestyle Flatbreadhas been specially formulated toappeal to protein-seeking, carb-con-scious consumers who want to enjoysatisfying sandwiches, elegant appetiz-ers and Mediterranean-style meals aspart of a healthy diet. It has 15 gramsof protein, 21 grams of carbs, 2 gramsof sugar and 190 calories per serving.Available for both retail and foodser-vice, in a 4-pack, 10-ounce package.www.kontos.com
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D E L I W A T C H
12 DELI BUSINESS JUNE/JULY 2013
New Products
FRESHTORTILLA CHIPSTyson Deli, Springdale, AR, intro-duces Mexican Original Tortilla Chips.Deli operators seeking a great tasting,high impulse, high margin snack with a‘made fresh in store’ halo need look nofarther than Tyson Deli’s MexicanOriginal Tortilla Chips. Fried on-siteusing existing equipment, at threeminutes of frying time per batch, evensmall fryers can prepare one or two15-pound cases in 30 minutes. Eachcase yields approximately 14 bags ofchips that, once packaged, stay freshup to seven days. With a case or twoin the cooler, refilling displays is a snap.www.tysondeli.com
FUSION PLUS LINEMaster-Bilt, New Albany, MS, intro-duces its Fusion Plus line Energy Starqualified glass door merchandisers,coolers and freezers. The Fusion Plusline expands the Fusion foodservicecabinet offering with a line of glassdoor refrigerated and frozen merchan-disers that includes swinging and glassdoors. These models offer the ulti-mate full-feature, price-value experi-ence with a wide range of industrystandard sizes. Increased pack outspace, LED lighting, a backlit graphicpanel, noise reducing technology,maximum product display design,adjustable shelving, and three yearparts and labor warranty are standard.www.master-bilt.com
BURGER BOOSTER KITMrs. Grissom’s, Nashville, TN, hasadded a new twist to one of America’sfavorite summer time foods. The com-pany’s new Gourmet Burger BoosterKits contain packaged spices, cheesesand bacon bits that quickly and easilytransform five pounds of ground meatinto an enhanced, higher profit item.The kits come in a variety of flavorcombinations and provide a way forstore delis to expand their offerings.Flavors include: poblano fajita burger,Burgundy pepper mushroom burger,bacon Cheddar burger, Montereybacon burger, and Blue cheese baconteriyaki mushroom burger.www.mrsgrissoms.com
KALAMATAOLIVETAPENADENicola International, Inc., Sun Valley,CA, introduces Aiello Kalamata OliveTapenade, a fresh and healthy way ofturning appetizers into somethingnew, inviting and delicious. It can beused as a spread on crackers or bread,or added to a salad to give it an exoticflavor. Consider it as a topping on apizza or mixed with a Mediterraneanappetizer, such as hummus or babaghanoush. Available in foodserviceand retail formats: 17-pound pails or in12/8-ounce jars.www.nicolainternational.com
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F R O M T H E E D I T O R ’ S D E S K
by Jim Prevor, Editor-in-Chief High-Touch Interface
As the industry gathers in Orlando for its annualmeeting at the International Dairy Deli BakeryAssociation (IDDBA) Seminar and Expo, we arereminded that in this very high-tech world,where each of us walks around with a Dick
Tracy-like device that lets us FaceTime or Skype any-where at any time, human beings place enormousvalue on the high-touch interface of the personalmeeting. How else to explain that thousands of peopleget on airplanes, stay in hotels and choose to confab inthe shadow of the Mouse?It’s a metaphor of sorts against which to measure
our actions in all areas of business. We love our tech-nology. People can be so frustratingly human… theyare unpredictable, they get sick, their preferenceschange quickly, they have divided loyalties, sometimesthey turn against us, and sometimes they die. It is logi-cal and proper to devote great attention to mechaniza-tion and to finding technological solutions to problemsin every area of business, from procurement and pay-ment systems to in-store kiosks and self-checkout.Yet, in the end, the more we automate, the more weemploy technology, the more important people are toour operations. The folks in Bentonville have long struggled with
the question of whether Wal-Mart Supercentersshould feature a service deli. In many ways the logicalanswer, in its price-driven, self-service format, is no.Yet, in the end, there are so few times when Wal-Mart personnel come into contact with consumersduring their shopping experience that the chain’s exec-utives have always come down on the side of main-taining this touch point with customers in the store.Of course, just having people isn’t enough; people
do leave an impression – for good or for ill. Manyexecutives are finding that it is becoming more andmore difficult to find entry level staff with the rightcustomer-focused attitude. They blame the profusionof technologies that have young people texting, tweet-ing, putting status updates on Facebook, indeed doingeverything except talking face to face. This is a notinsignificant challenge; training programs are goodways of imparting product knowledge and technologi-cal fluency, but we all know that some people are“natural salespeople” or “people-persons” and ourtraining programs are limited in their abilities to changepersonality types.The demise of the “Company Man” of the 1950’s
and early 1960’s has led to an almost schizophrenicattitude toward training at all levels of an organization.In some sense, everyone recognizes the priority oftraining; after all, what is the alternative? Hire peopleand don’t train them? But without a conviction thatpeople are likely to stick around, who can deny thehesitancy to invest in people, especially the kinds ofinvestment in executive development that does nothave any obvious immediate pay off, but is part andparcel of developing the skill-sets that enable people totake on greater responsibilities within an organization. One reason British retailing is often a model is
because the dedicated supply chain those stores utilizeis willing to invest because they have the certainty ofbusiness that justifies the investment. American prac-tices are different and thus investment patterns aredifferent. The same applies to people. There was a daywhen great chains such as Kings in New Jersey hadextensive training programs, not built to meet immedi-ate needs but built to develop a deep bench, a cadre ofwell-trained and experienced executives who couldhelp the company grow and prosper. Such programswere never common, but are even rarer today as theexigencies of finance demand immediate returns andthe reality pervades that with workforce mobility, oneis often training one’s future competitors.This edition of DELI BUSINESS is always instruc-
tive and inspirational, for it honors and recognizes peo-ple in the industry who have made a difference. Rolemodels are crucial and in our cover story we providethem aplenty.One of the tragedies of our time is that true men-
toring has become rarer as concerns over harassmentclaims of various sorts have become more common.Our personal lives are the result of habits that defineus. Those same habits will make success in one’scareer more or less likely. One can’t be a truly greatmentor unless one feels OK about helping one’smentee not just work bet-ter but live a constructivelife. Today that intrusion isa recipe for getting introuble, so most execu-tives limit their commit-ment. That keeps themsafe, but means the nextgeneration isn’t getting allthe help it could use.DB
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Deli department sales are up as are new products,food safety and packaging options. While the lat-est statistics are, for the most part, only availablethrough 2011 and some from 2012, there’s enoughanecdotal information to make reasonable
assumptions about sales increases. Statistical informa-tion used in this editorial is from multiple sources,including the 2013 What’s In Store, published byIDDBA, and proprietary research conducted by DELIBUSINESS.This last year, we’ve seen housing prices begin to
rise in most parts of the country and foreclosuresdecrease. New product introductions are up, newstores are being built and for some chains the growth isvery aggressive.However, as in every economic upturn or down-
turn, there are winners and losers. General trends rarelyforetell the success of any single chain or independentstore since individual circumstances clearly outweighnational statistics. Regardless, it’s important to under-stand where the deli industry is going and find outwhere there’s room for significant growth and whatareas are producing only modest returns.If you think your delis’ growth in prepared foods is
unusual, you’d be incorrect. Prepared food sales nowreach over 50 percent of deli sales nationally. Chickenentrées, including rotisserie, fried, wings and tenders aswell as salads, are the real powerhouses, but sand-wiches are not far behind with over 6 percent of delisales and still showing strong growth. There doesn’tseem to be a ceiling on the sales of chicken wings,which just keep growing. Other categories are muchsmaller but also represent growth potential on a moreregional and individual store basis.Deli salads now represent close to 18 percent of the
department sales, including full-service and self-serveoptions. Part of the prepared-food category growthmay well be driven by more healthful, preservative-freeofferings. But beware. More deli operators are sayingthe drive for preservative-free is no longer the hot but-ton due to food-safety concerns at store level onceproduct has been opened.Deli meats come next with less than 25 percent of
deli sales and about 88 percent of those sales are in bulkdeli meats. For those who have been in the businessawhile, this is almost a complete inversion. Deli meatsused to be the dominant moneymaker with sales over40 percent of the category. Clearly, there has been ashift to entrées and sandwiches.The one bright light in the deli meat category is spe-
cialty meats, with an annual growth of slightly less than10 percent. Specialty meats are not a category for everystore, but for those stores with the correct demograph-ics, it’s an area to concentrate on. While sales of dry-cured imported deli meats continue to rise, American
artisanal producers are growing and showing impressivelevels of quality.Salami is an interesting category and while growth is
forecast, the potential is still not certain. One benefit ismost of the growth in salami falls into the grab-and-gocategory and, unlike bulk deli meats, there is less laborand shrink. Salami has also emerged as a growing snackand entertaining product. Closely aligned with the spe-cialty cheese category, proximity in displays seems toencourage growth of both product categories.However, there is a new development that may —
or may not — dramatically change the mix and salesprojections. The rules for importing Italian salami havechanged, and Italian salami along with other curedmeats that are aged less than 400 days are nowallowed in the U.S. Expect to see imports arriving asearly as mid-August. Depending on a chain’s demo-graphics, this could be a big winner, especially with theholidays approaching.Deli cheese is also another winner, with sales
approaching 20 percent of department sales. The moreinteresting sub-segment is specialty cheese, with salesapproaching 13 percent.Specialty cheese is one of the most problematic
areas of the deli department. While some chains aredoing a terrific job — to the extent cheese has becomea sub-department with its own dedicated staff to itactually becoming its own department with separatemanagement, buyers and supervisors — other chainsare ignoring the category with a few pre-wrappedcheeses displayed in the grab-and-go areas.An enigma for many deli executives, the quandary is
how to introduce fine cheese without being over-whelmed with shrink and inventory carrying costs.There is no doubt cheese is expensive and often veryperishable, especially the soft, fresh cheeses. There alsois no doubt there are rewards, but the outcome is notcertain in many executives’ minds and the risk is viewedas being too great.Specialty cheese may be an area to invest in hiring
someone who is experiencedin the cheese business anddeciding to allocate somecorporate R&D funds. Withnational department per-centages of cheese nowapproaching 20 percent, it isa category foolish to ignore.One must keep in mind thatas the newest category toshow strong growth, thepercentages still do not rep-resent a majority of retailersand individual store resultsmay be much better. DB
16 DELI BUSINESS JUNE/JULY 2013
P U B L I S H E R ’ S I N S I G H T S
by Lee Smith, Publisher Understanding Today’s Deli
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C O V E R S T O R Y
LEO BEGGEN
JOSE DIAZ
STEVE DRAGOO
BILL MARDON
DANIELLE MCINTYRE
GREG O’NEILL
VONI WOODS
9TH ANNUAL PEOPLE’S AWARDS
Each year Deli Business honors individuals who have made a significant contribution to the industry, their company and their community.Nominations for 2014 may be submitted to: Publisher Lee Smith ([email protected]) .
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How did you get started in the industry and who, or what, influ-enced you early on?
After leaving school, I pursued a career in store managementat a supermarket chain in Ireland. A few months after I started myjob, I was offered a development position in the deli and thor-oughly enjoyed the variety of the work every day, so I stayed.
How has your career evolved over the years?When an opportunity came up to move to America, I quickly
jumped on it. Within a few short weeks I got a job doing what I dobest and then rose through the ranks to my current position.
In my career, I have been an apprentice, clerk, departmentmanager, merchandiser/specialist and I am currently the director.
The position I enjoy the most is my current role becasue all mycombined experience in the different positions has given me theconfidence to make solid business decisions.
What is your leadership philosophy?Being open and honest and always available to spend time
with my direct reports and peers to answer their questions andsupport them in their roles. Never take failure personally and usefacts to make good decisions.
What hobbies do you enjoy outside work?Right now my goal is to bring my son to every NFL stadium.
We’ve been to 10 so far, so I still have a lot to look forward to.
What inspires you to make a difference in today’s world?The biggest thrill I get is supporting small start-up companies
as they venture to get a foothold in the industry. Their passion fortheir products and recipes is very inspiring.
What charity is your personal favorite? Why?There are many worthwhile organizations, but the ones that I
favor are those that have affected my family — cancer researchand Crohn’s disease.
What is your advice to people starting out in this industry?Work hard and learn from people with experience. Always be
prepared to go the extra mile, as your extra effort will be recog-nized.
What do you predict will be the next hottest deli trend?Meal solutions are still going to be a sales driver in the deli for
several more years. As retailers begin to understand that piece oftheir business and the manufacturers and suppliers adapt theirselection and production to support retailers, we will continue tocarve out other business opportunities that cater to ourcustomers’ demands and needs.
What’s your favorite read?“Good to Great” is probably the most impactful book I have
read and what I’ve learned from reading it is still true today, nomatter what business you are in.
C O V E R S T O R Y
9TH ANNUAL PEOPLE’S AWARDS
LEO BEGGENDIRECTOR OF DELI AND BAKERYHARRIS TEETERCHARLOTTE, NC
“Work hard and learnfrom the people with experience. Always be prepared to go the extramile, as your extra effort will be recognized.”
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JOSE DIAZDELI AND BAKERY DIRECTOR WESTERN BEEFRIDGEWOOD, NY
“It is very rewarding tobe a factor in the evolutionand growth of the companyand to know that the policyof hiring from within, whichpulled me up the ladder, isstill available to all who workhere.”
my job is increasing the product line. I have carefully selected andadded dozens of cakes, pastries, cookies, salads and ready-to-eatdeli items that are available at Western Beef’s deli and bakerydepartments.
What hobbies do you enjoy outside work?Outside of work, I love fishing. I love the water and I love
boating.I also collect classic cars and I love working on my cars. And I
am a handy man fixing stuff around the house. I learn how to fromwatching the home improvement shows.
What inspires you to make a difference in today’s world?It is very rewarding to be a factor in the evolution and growth of
the company and know that the policy of hiring from within, whichpulled me up the ladder, is still available to all who work here.During the years I have been with Western Beef, we have grownfrom three locations to 29 operating in three states.
I love what I do and enjoy it every day. I also like to help myemployees the way Fernando Montoya helped me. When I see aperson who could have a future at Western Beef, I make sure Ipass along what I have learned. I talk to them and tell them mystory in this company. How good the company is, my beginnings,how I started and where I am today. There are so many stories likemine here; people who started at store level and have workedtheir way up. This is a company that offers its employees a futureand that’s a great place to be.
What is your advice to people starting out in this industry?My philosophy and advice is to work hard and don’t stop until
you reach your goals. I love my family. I love my job. And I love Western Beef.
What’s your favorite read?I like to read all the food industry magazines.
How did you get started in the industry?I started with the company in 1986 at the age of 16 as a deli
clerk at one of the first Western Beef stores in Flushing, NY. I wasplanning on becoming an architect, a dream from childhood, but Ichanged my mind the day I started. I saw that there was a futurefor me and my family at Western Beef.
How has your career evolved over the years?My store manager, Fernando Montoya, was a great mentor and
friend. He came to this country, just like I did, with the Americandream of becoming successful. One day we were talking, andFernando told me that he started at Western Beef the same way Idid, as a deli clerk. I still remember it like it was yesterday. He saidif you work hard and do the right thing you will have a tremendousfuture. How right he was.
With hard work and dedication, I was promoted to assistant delimanager six months after starting. Eight months later the delisupervisor asked me if I thought I could run the department. I toldhim I knew I could. A pretty bold statement for a 17-year-old! Hegave me his phone number in case of “emergencies.” I didn’t callhim the entire week. When he came by to check in on me, hewalked the department with a smile on his face. I asked him ifeverything was OK.
He said, “The deli looks great.” I said, “Thank you,”He said, “No, thank you,” and appointed me the deli manager. I
was the deli manager at that store for over two years.My entry into the bakery department was as much the result of
an opportunity as was my promotion in the deli department. Therewas an urgent need for a supervisor in our growing bakery depart-ment. I was asked to step in temporarily until someone could befound. I quickly learned the ins and outs of making our famousItalian bread, rolls, cakes and cookies. My temporary positionbecame permanent, and eight years later I am fortunate to be thecorporate director of both deli and bakery. One of the best parts of
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STEVE DRAGOOFOUNDER AND PRESIDENTSOLUTIONS CONSULTING, INC. FRANKLIN, TN
“Embrace the challengeswith optimism, a sense ofwonder and curiosity. Bewilling to work hard, listenand share your ideas.”
How did you get started in the industry and who, or what, influ-enced you early on?
As an 8 year-old boy, I would walk to a small corner grocer withmy grandfather. On occasion, I would linger near the meat case tosee if the butcher needed help cleaning up. When he neededhelp, I gladly pitched in and was paid in bologna, salami andcheese. At this early age, I learned to love the sights, smells andtastes of fresh food. I also developed a fascination with the serviceinteraction at the point of decision.
My first “paying” job in the industry was just out of high school,when I took a part-time deli position for a local large supermarket.
How has your career evolved over the years? As a college student, I continued to work in the deli — moving
from part- to full-time and I eventually become the departmentmanager. While in grad school (now married and with a youngfamily), I continued to work in deli as part of a grand-openingteam. I moved from this role to a position as a deli/bakery buyerand director for a family-owned grocery chain. Next up, I movedover to the manufacturing side of the business to work for twodifferent divisions of the Sara Lee Corporation, holding variouspositions in sales and training. After 10 years at Sara Lee, I movedover to ConAgra Foods to work briefly in a senior position in sales— then moving into a director of training role. In 2004, I foundedSolutions Consulting, Inc. We design and stage immersive learningexperiences for our clients. Our client base is mostly food manu-facturers, retailers and restaurateurs. We do some work in healthcare, death care and broad-line retail, as well.
What positions have you held in industry organizations?I was on the advisory board of Cornell University’s Distance Ed.
Program. I have served as volunteer on a number of “behind thecurtain” industry projects.
What is your leadership philosophy?a) Listen. Learn. Instruct. Repeat b) Seek first to serve, then to be served c) Surround yourself with smart people and then get out of
their way
What hobbies do you enjoy outside work?Karaoke. (I am actually pretty awesome!) Reading. Regular
cardio workouts. Visiting great local foodie spots and dives.Hanging out with family and friends.
What inspires you to make a difference in today’s world?I try to take time to count my blessings every day — from fresh
clean water, a readily available source of clean wholesome foodand having people around who care. Unto whom much is given —much shall be required.
What charity is your personal favorite? Why?Heifer International is a great one (heifer.org). You can choose
a meaningful gift to give a loved one and help children and fami-lies around the world receive training and animal gifts that helpthem become self-reliant. We’ve given a number of corporate andpersonal gifts through this fine organization.
What is your advice to people starting out in this industry?Embrace the challenges with optimism, a sense of wonder and
curiosity. Be willing to work hard, listen and share your ideas. The“fresh eyes” of new-to-the-industry colleagues are invaluable aswe seek to serve our customers. I also encourage them to realizethey are doing honorable work by providing safe and wholesomefood for people around the world — and up their street.
What do you predict will be the next hottest deli trend?Small foods. Slow foods. Local foods. Plant-based protein
foods. More “artisan” and “artisan-style” meats and cheeses(supported by real backstories). I recently presented to a groupthat the hottest trends in restaurants can be summed up as “3Zations” – Miniaturization, Premiumization, and Customization.Supermarket retail will likely follow suit.
What’s your favorite read?“Life on the Line” by Grant Achatz“The Gospel of Food” by Barry Glassner“The Experience Economy” by Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore
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How did you get started in the industry?I started as a meat cutter in the first Costco meat department
in the late 1980s. My father owned a butcher shop and also was ameat cutter, so I guess it ran in the family.
2. How has your career evolved over the years?Until 1990, I worked in the meat department at Costco while
attending college at night. From 1990 to 1995, I went to collegefull time with the idea of becoming a teacher. But, it was notmeant to be and in 1995 I returned to Costco as an entry levelmeat buyer. By 2006, I had moved from being a meat buyer to aseafood buyer, and then in 2011, I added service deli to my buyingresponsibilities.
What is your leadership philosophy?As a leader, I think it’s important to create a team environment.
With everything we do, it must be a group effort. I also think it’simportant to teach people who work for me to carry on the Costcoculture and empower them to make their own decisions and tohelp them gain confidence when making those decisions.
What hobbies do you enjoy outside work?I loved playing sports but with work and family I don’t get as
many opportunities to play anymore; however, I make time tocoach Little League baseball and I still love fishing.
What inspires you to make a difference in today’s world?Costco’s philosophy of bringing great quality items into the
marketplace at a good price and not cutting corners to be“cheap,” has set the company apart from its competition. Qualityfirst, price second. For me, it’s really gratifying to be a part of thisphilosophy, which is based on a fair deal and also extends to the
way the company treats all the employees. Because we have acorporate culture of treating people fairly, it’s easy for me to makea difference every day.
What charity is your personal favorite? Why?I support United Way, which Costco also endorses with a
generous match for employees. I like that under one umbrellaUnited Way has responsibility for a number of different and worthycharities and I can channel my donations to one specific area oneyear and change to another area the next. It’s great that UnitedWay has a variety of worthy choices and gives people the option ofwhat groups to support.
What is your advice to people starting out in this industry?Pick a good company. Be patient. Be driven. Everyone that
I’ve seen who is successful has those three qualities. Successdoesn’t come instantly or overnight. But if you go above andbeyond the minimum asked of you, you will be rewarded in theend.
What do you predict will be the next hottest deli trend?We always have a variety of items that are traditional favorites
with members, but recently we’ve seen some great success withgrain salads and we’ll be looking at adding more “prepared fromorganic” offerings. Organic is definitely on the radar.
What’s your favorite read?Intrafish.com is an on-line business publication that is a good,
global resource for information about the seafood industry, espe-cially the shrimp and salmon marketplace. I pay very close atten-tion to this market because shrimp and salmon are key ingredi-ents in many of the high volume items in our deli.
C O V E R S T O R Y
BILL MARDONGENERAL MERCHANDISING MANAGER SEAFOOD & SERVICE DELICOSTCOISSAQUAH, WA
“As a leader, I think it’simportant to create a teamenvironment. With every-thing we do, it must be agroup effort.”
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DANIELLE CIOFALOMCINTYREDELI BAKERY MERCHANDISING DIRECTORD’AGOSTINO SUPERMARKETS, INC.LARCHMONT, NY
“I’d like to put myimprint on something thatwill make the customers say,”Wow!” and get the people Iwork with to say, ”Wow!”too.”
about making the vision a reality.
What hobbies do you enjoy outside work?I’ve done Tough Mudder, triathlons and competitive racing.
Right now I’m training for my next goal — to complete a halfmarathon at the end of the summer.
What inspires you to make a difference in today’s world?I’d like to put my imprint on something that will make the
customers say, ”Wow!” and to get the people I work with to say,”Wow!” too. That’s what gives me great satisfaction in my job.
What charity is your personal favorite? Why?My personal charity is Breast Cancer Awareness. That’s the one
that’s closest to home for me and my family. Also Multiple Scle-rosis gets a lot of support from everyone at D’Agostino’s. I find itreally rewarding to be a part of something that raises awarenessfor these worthy causes.
What is your advice to people starting out in this industry?Be willing to start at the bottom and work your way up. Working
in the trenches will give you an appreciation for what really needsto be done in order to achieve a superior result.
What do you predict will be the next hottest deli trend?We’re realizing that customers’ special diets, like gluten free
and vegan, are not just specialty anymore. Right now I’m thinkingmore about how we can meet that need in an even better way, bybeing the first to offer customers a great product in those cate-gories. It’s a challenge.
What’s your favorite read?As a former chef, I love Anthony Bourdain. His books are both
intriguing and entertaining and I can commiserate when I’mreading, because I was there.
How did you get started in the industry?I actually started out as a line-cook in New York City, while I was
working my way through college. When I started to get a littleburned out, I went to work for Whole Foods as a cook and that wasmy introduction to retail. In college, when I took classes on retail, Ithought to myself, “I’m never going to use this!” But life has afunny way of giving you what you need. When I was at WholeFoods, I found that I loved learning how to appeal to customersand especially how to meet customers’ unique needs.
How has your career evolved over the years?After cooking for Whole Foods, I returned to being a chef in a
restaurant, but realized that I really missed retail. I was lucky to goto work for D’Agostino’s where I value the relationships I forge withthe people I work with and our customers.
What positions have you held in industry organizations?I haven’t held any board positions yet, but I always look forward
to attending the NGA [National Grocers Association], IDDBA [Inter-national Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association] and FIA [Food IndustryAlliance]. These events provide fantastic networking opportunities.For me, each of these conferences give me the opportunity to findout about best practices, which gives me ideas about how toexpand the way our business is conducted. Also, I get to see howtraditional markets react to new ideas and to see what others aredoing to get ahead.
What is your leadership philosophy?I always thought that leading by example was the most impor-
tant principle for great leadership, but I now realize that it’s harderto practice than it is in theory. At D’Agostino’s there isn’t a lot ofhierarchy, so I’m charged with motivating both the store managersand the vendors. My job as a leader is to get them to buy into thevision, to see where we are going and to accept responsibility formaking it happen. I want to keep them motivated and excited
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GREG O’NEILLCO-FOUNDER/CO-OWNER & COO OF PASTORALARTISAN CHEESE, BREAD & WINECHICAGO, IL
“Leadership should be acollaborative effort. Bysharing the responsibilities,you won’t burn out and youget the benefit of construc-tive input from others.”
How did you get started in the industry?My partner Ken Miller and I lived all over the world where we
did our food shopping at local market stalls. We got to know thepeople who made the food we loved and how it was made. Weloved learning about food in a small environment. When I left thecorporate world, we met people like retail legends Ari [Weinzweig]and Paul [Saginaw] at Zingerman’s and small cheesemakers likethe Putnams at Thistle Hill Farm and the Kehlers at Jasper HillFarm in Vermont and in northern California with legends like IgVella, the folks at Cowgirl Creamery and others to learn about whatthey were making and why they were doing it. It was important tobuild our retail business around the knowledge they shared withus so we could pass it along to our employees and consumers.
How has your career evolved over the years?I went from a management career in advertising and global
marketing to working for big corporate companies where I devel-oped other people’s brands. My partner is a trained chef and soft-ware developer, so when we had our own brand to develop we hada good mix of artistry and business. In 2004 we opened a neigh-borhood store in Lakeview, Chicago. In 2009, we opened a thirdshop at the new Chicago French Market. During the years, weevolved a wholesale business serving more than 85 fine diningrestaurants and an on-line e-commerce business where we canship specialty food and wine nationwide .
What positions have you held in industry organizations?I’m very involved with the American Cheese Society. I served as
a conference co-chair and now I’m serving a two-year term as presi-dent promoting cheese in North America and ensuring themembership is well served. Last year I was honored to be inductedinto the International Guilde of Fromagers, a group that includeslegends in the world of cheese, so it was quite humbling. I am alsoan elected member of the National Retailer Council of the SpecialtyFood Association (formerly known as the NASFT). I like to getinvolved in a lot of task forces and committees that get the workdone in the specialty food and wine industry. It’s a karma thing;what you have received from so many others, you must give back.
What is your leadership philosophy?Don’t rule by decree. Don’t be a control freak; you have to leave
room for error and to learn from mistakes. Leadership should be acollaborative effort. By sharing the responsibilities, you won’t burnout and you get the benefit of constructive input from others.
What hobbies do you enjoy outside work?So that I can eat without weighing 300 pounds, I do a lot of
fitness training, bicycling and I do love to travel, especially when itinvolves amazing food and wine. I guess my favorite activity is myjob; they say the second career is the one you do for love.
What inspires you to make a difference in today’s world?Life’s too short to eat bad food. You don’t have to be rich to eat
well. Don’t have an attitude around food. Share and delightneophyte tasters and gourmands alike and they will pass on theknowledge to future generations.
What charity is your personal favorite? Why?One charity I passionately support is The American Cheese
Society Education Fund which, along with the Daphne ZeposTeaching Award, is creating an educational legacy for the cheesecommunity in perpetuity.
What is your advice to people starting out in this industry?Do. Your. Homework. Starting a retail operation isn’t a hobby;
it’s a business, albeit an enjoyable one. You’re going to need to putin extra time and by doing so, you’ll convince yourself that whatyou’re doing is the right thing and maybe even convince otherswho can help you with funding.
What do you predict will be the next hottest deli trend?Artisanal cheese exploded on the scene 10 to 15 years ago
and now we’re seeing the rise of all the related hand-crafted foodslike salumi and charcuterie, honey, micro-brews and confection.There’s a much more amazing depth of offerings becoming avail-able that are much more creative and robust and this trendcontinues to grow. They will go more mainstream over time.
What’s your favorite read?As a general rule, I like to read current, non-fiction books, but
right now I’m reading Tina Fey’s Bossy Pants. Sometimes you needa good chuckle at the end of a busy day.
Greg O’Neill and partner Ken Miller
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VONI WOODSSENIOR DIRECTOR OF DELI GIANT EAGLE INC. PITTSBURGH, PA
“I learned that transfor-mational growth into exceptional leadershipcomes through stewardshipand coaching — and morelistening than talking.”
teers. To keep fit, I’m a runner. I need to stay fit both physically andmentally to keep going in my amazing job. I’m pretty competitiveso I run three or four times a week, 45 minutes at lunchtime withother team members at Giant Eagle and I find it energizing.
What inspires you to make a difference in today’s world?I have two daughters, a son-in-law and a new grandson. My
grandson’s arrival in my world filled a hole I didn’t even know wasthere. Because of my family, I am more focused on how I can giveback, how I can inspire people to make better choices, to eatbetter, cleaner, healthier food — that is not so expensive. I believeeverybody can and should eat well. Even my keynote at the nextIDDBA annual show is titled “If you are what you eat, be delicious!”
What charity is your personal favorite? Why?My church! I serve on Parish Council and as a Eucharistic
minister. At Giant Eagle, we do a lot of different things in thecommunity — I try to support all of them. I like to give to everyonewho asks!
What is your advice to people starting out in this industry?My advice to anyone starting out would be to find a mentor who
can teach you about the work they are doing, who can show youthe ropes. It is important for you to be an individual contributor andto do something better every day. In doing so, that’s where you findthe true joy and rewards of work. Having a passion for the endresult, for families and meals on their tables, is pretty helpful, too.
What do you predict will be the next hottest deli trend?Right now we’re seeing a trend of shoppers moving away from
three square meals toward five snacks or small meals in the day.Lots of really creative things can be done with small bites orplates. This is definitely a trend. Healthy food in the deli isn’t atrend, but it is an area where education is needed. Deli is not theenemy of eating well and staying healthy and fit; we just need tocreate opportunities to educate people to shop according to theirdiets.
What’s your favorite read?Lean In by Cheryl Sandberg. The author raised some controver-
sial issues about individual responsibility that I love! I also enjoyedTake The Lead by Betsy Myers and Strength Finders by Tom Rath.
How did you get started in the industry?I started working in the deli when I was in college, where I was
studying to be a court reporter. College was never a waste of timeeven though I did not put that training to use! Initially, working inthe deli was a means to an end, that of paying my way throughcollege. But it was a cool job, in a cool category, and I found I had apassion for the business. I did stints in other departments, but Ikept gravitating back to deli and I’ve been in deli for 35 years.
How has your career evolved over the years?I have a pretty passionate, competitive spirit so I’m always
learning new things. I started behind the counter, and thenbecame a trainer, moved on to the buying department findinggreat items, and then rose to a leadership role and have movedthrough different levels of leadership in the organization. I’m stilllearning though. I’m never going to be touting myself as the big‘deli know-it-all’ on the hill!
What positions have you held in industry organizations?I served on the board of directors of the IDDBA for nine years in
a number of executive positions. I was delighted to serve as theIDDBA’s 49th president, a role that has recently transitioned intochairman of the board for the 2012/2013 term. I also serve aspresident of the Women’s Business Resource Group at GiantEagle where we ‘Advocate for the life-career of women across ourcompany, change the way women shape our success.…And do soin ways that are good for business’. My passions lie in these areas,outside my day-to-day responsibilities at Giant Eagle!
What is your leadership philosophy?You have to understand your own personal style to know how
you will lead others. Early on, I thought if I did well I’d lead byexample and others would follow. It wasn’t until I took an executiveleadership program, I learned that transformational growth intoexceptional leadership comes through stewardship and coaching— and more listening than talking. Great leadership is much morethan being the subject expert.
What hobbies do you enjoy outside work?I’m a type A personality, so I’m involved in lots of things! Ten
years ago I volunteered at my church to be a wedding coordinatorand two weeks later I was in charge of the program and the volun-
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Indulge your passion forcheese through thewritten word.Satisfaction without thecalories!
1. Cheese and Culture: A History ofCheese and its Place in Western Civilization.Paul Kindstedt. Embark on a journey beginning in the Neolithic Age and windingthrough the ensuing centuries to the present. A lens through which to view 21stcentury attitudes towards cheese and thefood system. Chelsea Green Publishing.www.chelseagreen.com
2. Mastering Cheese: Lessons for Con-noisseurship from a Maître Fromager. MaxMcCalman and David Gibbons. A frequentcontributor to Cheese Connoisseur, McCal-man shares his expertise. With helpful chartsand an index of more than 300 cheeses, thisis the definitive course you can use in yourown home to pursue your passion forcheese. Clarkson Potter.www.clarksonpotter.com
3. The Life of Cheese: Crafting Food andValue in America. Heather Paxson. Cheeseis alive, and alive with meaning. Dairy farm-ers and artisans inhabit a world in which theircolleagues and collaborators are a wild castof characters, including plants, animals,microorganisms, family members, employeesand customers. University of CaliforniaPress.www.ucpress.edu
4. DiBruno Bros. House of Cheese: AGuide to Wedges, Recipes, and Pairings.Tenaya Darlington. The cheese bloggerMadame Fromage peeks behind Philadel-phia’s largest and oldest cheese counter.Includes menu ideas, beer and wine pairings,buying, serving, storage tips plus 30 cheese-focused recipes. Running Press.www.runningpress.com
5. Cheese & Beer. Janet Fletcher. Capitalizes on the growing audience for craftbeer and the enthusiasm beer fans have forgood cheese. Enhanced by Fletcher’s reputation as a journalist and cheese authority, the book fills a wide-open niche forconsumer guidance in pairing craft beer andcheese. Andrews McMeel Publishing.www.andrewsmcmeel.com
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Hummus Is a Versatileand Varied Star
Line extensions keep the category in the spotlight
BY BOB JOHNSON
After years of double-digitgrowth, hummus hasemerged as a star in theMediterranean food sec-tion with sales eclipsing
$300 million in 2010 and showing nosigns of slowing down.
As hummus has become estab-lished in the mainstream, its uses haveexpanded — it serves as a healthy andversatile dip, a spread, a topping andeven a condiment. Packages are avail-able that grab the attention of on-the-go consumers looking for a single-serv-ing combination that also includes pitachips, carrots or other dipping compan-ions. And with the market continuingto grow, producers are working theirimaginations overtime to come up withnew ingredients that build on the flavorof the ancient Middle Eastern combi-nation of chickpeas, sesame tahini,olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and salt.
The latest twist to hit the market isto make the healthy dip even healthierby combining hummus with anotherrising star of the Mediterranean foodtrend — Greek yogurt. “At IDDBA2012 we launched a hummus thatincludes Greek yogurt,” says Bob Fer-raro, vice president for sales at TrystGourmet LLC, Port Washington, NY.“It gives you that smooth, creamymouthfeel of regular hummus, but it
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hummus, red bell pepper hummus, and blackeyed pea hummus.
“As far as flavors of hummus, there seemsto be no end. Most retailers start withMediterranean-style hummus — this is tradi-tional hummus with the main ingredientbeing chickpeas. Our R&D group has spent hundreds of hours developingnew/special/unique and some may say outof this world flavors,” says Bobby D. Ray,vice president for retail and store brands.
Hummus first became popular in the U.S.among consumers looking for healthier, non-animal sources of protein, and many of thelatest trends in hummus ingredients relate tothe demand for healthier food.
According to Dominick Frocione, vicepresident of sales at Cedar’s MediterraneanFoods, Inc., Ward Hill, MA, “Ingredients areheading towards all natural, gluten free, noMSG, and non-GMO certified. As con-sumers are becoming more and more edu-
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has only half the fat and one third the calories.The response has been tremendous.”
Greek yogurt and hummus are two ofthe most successful new foods, and thisleaner hummus gives the deli a product witha unique one-two nutritional and merchan-dising punch. “It gives the deli a chance tocapitalize on Greek yogurt, which is doing sowell in other parts of the store,” Ferraro says.
New ingredients and flavors are key tobringing expanded hummus offerings. “Wecontinue to focus on authentic ingredientsand bringing consumers the incredible tasteof this good-for-you food in flavors that helpthem experience the fresh flavor of authentichummus and experience the flavors ofregions around the world,” says RonenZohar, CEO of Sabra Dipping Co., LLC,Queens, NY. “For some, a new flavor meansmore variety, even more ways to includehummus in a daily menu. For others, a flavorlike spinach and artichoke or sundriedtomato may provide the inspiration to tryhummus for the first time. Sabra’s new gar-den variety hummus continues to fly off theshelves. Flavors such as Tuscan herb andSouthwest have really excited consumers.”
New textures are also important. “In ourresearch with consumers,” says Adam Carr,CEO of Tribe Mediterranean Foods, Inc.,Taunton, MA, “we realized that, just as withpeanut butter, some consumers like supersmooth hummus and some like a more rusticstyle. And some like both, depending on theoccasion. To meet this need, Tribe will belaunching a new kind of hummus calledExtra Smooth Classic Hummus — an evensmoother version of our top-selling Classichummus. With an extra touch of tahini, itfeatures a delicious, nutty flavor and a tex-ture that’s perfect for spreading on sand-wiches. Tribe Extra Smooth Classic Hum-mus will be debuting in stores this month.
“In addition, Tribe is continuing to roll outnew flavors for our Limited Batch Series —the category’s first-ever rotating line of hum-mus. Our first offering is Everything, aninventive and delicious flavor creationinspired by the New York bagel. It’s a modernand unexpected take on a classic ‘American’flavor, which features perfectly roastedsesame seeds, poppy seeds, garlic and onion.We just started selling this, and we’vealready had an overwhelmingly positiveresponse on our Facebook page.”
Other producers are coming to marketwith lines of hummus offering new flavorprofiles. Select Store Brands, Ontario, CA,has put forward a range of new hummus fla-vors including cilantro and poblano hummus,spicy chili hummus, white bean and basilhummus, Cuban black bean hummus, fireroasted garlic hummus, sundried tomato
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cated in food types and production, they’rebecoming more wary of what’s in their foods.Therefore, manufacturers such as Cedar’shave been satisfying these consumers withgluten-free certification, transitioning to all-natural product lines and becoming non-GMO certified. The key point of differentia-tion here is certified. It’s important to notethat there are many claims being made forgluten free, but without a certified logo,there’s no real assurance that a manufac-tured product is what it claims to be.”The new hommus (Cedar’s spells its
product this way) options aren’t just abouthealth; they’re also about making this healthyfood more exciting. “Hommus flavors havecertainly evolved in the last five years.Recently, we’ve seen a surge of funky flavors,like Cedar’s new wasabi hommus. Funky fla-vors have become extremely trendy in theindustry and consumers like to see thesefunky flavors as a fresh take on hommus.Manufacturers have also gotten creativewith the toppings on hommus, adding anextra value to the product. Fruit and sweetflavors are also making a comeback, espe-cially with the fall and holiday seasons com-ing up. Cedar’s introduced two new flavorslast September to satisfy the sweet tooth —
pumpkin spice and cinnamon raisin,” Fro-cione adds. Cedar’s also launched a newrestaurant themed line of hummus under theTGI Fridays label last year.“On the flavor side, you are seeing a mul-
titude of flavors: various spicy flavors, usingdifferent legumes as well as ethnic flavor pro-files,” notes Jeff Derr, senior manager forretail marketing & sales at Grecian DelightFood, Elk Grove Village, IL. “On the ingredi-ent side, you’re starting to see clean label andall-natural ingredients in hummus. Peoplewant to know they’re eating something thatprovides some form of nutritional value with-out being highly processed.” Yucatan Foods, Los Angeles, CA, is
offering hummus with Hass avocados as amajor ingredient, resulting in a vitamin-richand high-protein guacamole hummus. “Apremium texture, quality ingredients anddelicious flavor are the three most importantcomponents of a great hummus,” saysKristyn Lawson, vice president of sales. “Inour special formulation, Yucatan Foods hascreated a delicious, smooth and creamy tex-tured hummus that is complemented with50 percent Hass avocado and a special blendof chickpeas and tahini. This hummus blendis truly a ‘superfood’ that provides optimum
levels of protein, potassium and high fiber.”As producers are becoming more cre-
ative in their hummus flavor profiles, they’realso suggesting new uses. As hummusmerges with guacamole, flatbreads sit side-by-side with tortilla chips. “Hummus is won-derful served with flatbreads such as naan,as a healthy sandwich spread. My personalfavorite for snacking and entertaining is hum-mus served with tortilla chips! It makes agreat trilogy of dips when entertaining toinclude guacamole, guacamole hummus, andfresh salsa for a festive flair,” Lawson says.
New Uses for an Ancient Favorite“Hummus is a trendy dip that can be
paired with vegetables, chips and crackers,”says Greg Wilson, vice president for salesand marketing at Reichel Foods, Rochester,MN. “Roasted red pepper and original arethe best selling flavors.”But the growing interest in more exotic
food possibilities — which benefits hummusgreatly — has led to discussions on cabletelevision food shows and in magazines of amyriad of interesting uses for hummus. “New usages have been highly publicized
by authors, nutritionists, magazines, andmore,” Cedar’s Frocione says. “Consumers
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are reading about these new usages and areimplementing them into their daily meal rou-tines. What once was a favorite dip in the’fridge has truly transformed into an ingredi-ent, a spread, a condiment, a sauce, a pizzatopping — you name it. This is where newand funky flavors play a role. Consumerscatch on to the new flavors and are eager toimplement them into as many snacks andmeals as they can, multiplying usage and cre-ating new usage.”
Versatility is one of hummus’s strongestselling points. “We actually believe hummusis the most versatile food in the world. It’snever wrong to dip, and really you can dipanything into hummus — from carrots togrilled chicken to pretzels. But as the cate-gory grows and more consumers discoverhummus, there’s a lot of passion aroundusing it as a spread or in recipes — even indesserts,” Sabra’s Zohar says.
Some producers are offering recipes withhummus, many of them recipes in whichhummus serves as a flavorful substitute forhigher fat and higher cholesterol ingredients.
According to Grecian Delight’s Derr,“Hummus isn’t just for pita chips anymore.We have an extensive recipe catalog that
shows the versatility of hummus. Imagine aMediterranean salad with olive hummusinstead of a standard salad dressing. Or youcan use your favorite flavored hummus[instead of butter or mayonnaise] as a sand-wich spread. And you get the added benefitof making the sandwich better for you.”
Select Store Brands is also seeing interestin hummus as a nutritious sandwich spread.“Most of us think of hummus as a dip item,but let me tell you, folks are tossing out theirmayonnaise and mustard as hummus is nowbecoming the new sandwich spread. If onewants to spice up a sandwich, this is the wayto do it. If it works as a sandwich spread, itwill spice up almost any item,”’ Ray says.
Hummus is even finding a spot for itselfon olive bars. “We’re now seeing retailersreduce the amount of space for olives andmake an olive, hummus, salsa and antipastobar,” explains Ray. “One retailer told me theirtotal sales from the new concept went upover 90 percent to 120 percent after con-verting the old olive bars and yet they wereusing the same space. They’re giving theircustomers what they want. This hummusbar also gives retailers the option to see whatflavors the consumers want without going
through the expense of packaging develop-ment. Once it takes off, then put it in a cupwith their own store brand and see the saleshit another high as it really takes off.”
Part of the underlying appeal of hummusis the powerful protein punch that comes in apackage with zero animal fat. “Hummus isuseful in vegetarian and vegan diets; by com-bining it with grains, it serves as a completeprotein. Other serving trends with hummusinclude serving hummus as you would find inthe Middle East and Israel, by scooping outthe center of a dish of hummus and addingfresh toppings such as pesto, olive oils, pinenuts, tomatoes and sprinkling with freshherbs and dry seasonings that add beautifulcolor and extra layers of delicious flavor,”Yucatan’s Lawson adds.
Grab-and-Go PackagingOne of the most important hummus
merchandising developments is packagingthat includes a single serving of hummus anda carrier. “Dippin’ Stix offer hummus withcarrots and pita chips, a perfect combinationin a ready-to-eat package,” explains Reichel’sWilson.
Most major producers are hitting the
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market with single-service grab-and-go hum-mus products. “Sabra’s single-serve products,both with pretzels and the 2-ounce size, arevery popular. Hummus is a great snack foron-the-go and increasingly we see familiesand children taking hummus to work andschool with chips, fresh veggies andbeyond,” Zohar says.
Multi-packs of single-serve hummus arealso available. “Grab-and-go items and single-serve hommus products are vital in thisindustry,” says Aimee Tsakirellis, director ofmarketing at Cedar’s. “More now than ever,consumers are on the go and looking for con-venience, meal replacements and healthyitems. Hommus is a natural fit for thesedemands. Some manufacturers — likeCedar’s — have taken advantage of this andintroduced 2- to 3-ounce single-serve hom-mus cups, which are great for bagged schooland office lunches or for portion control.Some manufacturers have also introducedsnack-pack items of hommus packaged witha dipper. Cedar’s recently introduced a fullline of all natural snack packs of hommusoffered in three flavors, packaged with eithergluten-free hommus Chips or all-naturalpretzels. These are packaged in a tray withan easily removable tear-away film — conve-nient for on-the-go and for children.”
A variety of hummus packages can beeffective. “There are tons of grab-and-goand single-serve hummus products. Not justpita chips or chips and hummus but also veg-gies and hummus. And you are now seeinggrab-and-go deli boxes with hummus as thespread,” Grecian Delight’s Derr says.
Single-serve packages must allow theconsumer a good look at the product. “Pack-aging is always changing. The one constant is
that consumers want to see what they’rebuying before they buy it, so having clear,see-thru containers is important. Portionpacks are also very popular right now,” Derrcontinues.
Another new constant is green packag-
ing. According to Cedar’s Frocione, “Hom-mus packaging is ‘going green.’ Consumersand manufacturers alike are looking for eco-friendly packaging, and most manufacturershave transitioned to this type of packaging inthe last five to seven years. One other noteon packaging is in regards to private label.There’s a strong trend by retailers to moveinto their own store brand of topped hom-mus for their premium products.’
Hummus consumers appreciate attentionto detail in offering environmentally friendlypackaging. “Yucatan Foods is known for pre-mium packaging that is environmentallyfriendly and our crystal clear tubs are beauti-ful for merchandising with a high level ofshelf appeal. Additionally, surveys show thatconsumers prefer round tubs and we haveadded a resealability feature with an easyopen peel top lid to protect the freshness,”Lawson says.
Green packaging with a clear view of theproduct is the trend in hummus. “We con-tinue to focus on all elements of packaging,from the red rims to the ‘green’ elements.We love to give consumers the ability to seethe rich blends and vegetable toppings,which can inspire new flavor tries,” Sabra’sZohar says. DB
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The flatbread category’s popularity can becompared to the perfect storm. Theincreased focus on healthful eating andsales growth of all foods ethnic have putthis bread alternative in the spotlight.In the 2012 What’s In Store report from
the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Associa-tion, Madison, WI, Jonna Parker, director ofaccount services for Nielsen PerishablesGroup, Chicago, IL, states consumers arenow more interested in ethnic breads thanever, and these products are starting to fallinto the mainstream.
The Mediterranean food segment, partic-ularly Greek foods, is where the Mexicansegment was 30 years ago. But awareness isbuilding.
“The Middle East and Lebanon were thegenesis for a lot of products in this category,”says Karen Toufayan, vice president of salesand marketing for Ridgefield, NJ-basedToufayan Bakeries. “These foods started tobecome very popular in the ’60s and hum-mus in the last decade. Yet there is onlybetween 15 and 20 percent market penetra-tion currently.”
An ethnic and cultural link between hum-mus and flatbread goes back centuries.“There has always been an ethnic and cul-tural link between flatbreads and otherGreek and Mediterranean foods, especiallywith hummus and yogurt. Not only is flat-bread a great alternative to typical sandwichbreads, but it is also wonderful as a scoopingchip for yogurt and hummus as well as otherMediterranean-style dips. One look at thedairy department and it is easy to see thegrowth in Greek-style yogurt,” says WarrenStoll, marketing director, Kontos Foods,Paterson, NJ.
“Before common utensils were used,food was eaten hand to mouth,” says SalemKashou, marketing manager for KangarooBrands Inc., Milwaukee, WI. “In certain cul-tures, like the Middle East where flatbreads
Flatbread on the RiseWith the proliferation of Mediterranean foods and healthier bread options,flatbread popularity is growing in today’s delis
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and pita originated, the bread is used toscoop food into the mouth. Flatbread andpita work well with hummus for two rea-sons. First, the bread is firm yet pliable andnon-porous, which helps create ideal shapesfor scooping without spilling. Plus, the
hearth-baked flavor complements the dipmuch more than everyday sliced bread.”
It’s the versatility of flatbread that hashelped increase its popularity. It comes in avariety of shapes, varieties and flavors andcan be used for making sandwiches, dipping
as an appetizer or as a pizza crust. Supermarket delis can house these
breads in retail packaging within the delicounter or utilize it as part of a foodserviceprogram. “It also is very portable for grab-and-go sections,” says Jeff Derr, senior man-ager of retail marketing and sales at GrecianDelight, located in Elk Grove Village, IL.“Flatbread can be used for all day-parts.”
Mediterranean InfluenceThe Mediterranean diet, which includes
flatbread, hummus and other foods, has beentouted as a healthy way of eating. Even withthis generally healthy image, the flatbreadcategory has seen a proliferation of smallersizes and more healthful ingredients.
For example, Flatout Flatbreads, based inSaline, MI, has recently introduced a thincrust flatbread that is 5 x12 inches in size.“There are six flatbreads in each bag that canbe prepared in six minutes,” says Robert Pal-lotta, senior vice president.
Toufayan recently introduced gluten-freeand low-sodium wraps, capitalizing on thetrend towards healthier and allergen-freediets. The company also has offered no-saltpita bread for the last three decades.“Because flatbread and wraps are healthier
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alternatives to traditional sandwich bread,we’re taking it to another level,” Toufayansays. “We’ve introduced a number of optionsthat include omegas, flax flour and productswith less fat and carbohydrates.” For exam-ple, the company’s Smart Pocket line includesfewer calories than traditional pita bread.
Grecian Delight is working on a mapleflatbread in conjunction with a supermarketthat’s interested in offering a breakfast sand-wich. “Flatbread’s versatility and portabilitygive it an edge over traditional bread prod-ucts,” Derr notes.
At press time, Kontos was experimentingwith Ede’s Pita Styx, a new product line fea-turing pita that undergoes additional cooking.“It is then sliced into a bagel chip size to gowith appetizers,” says Stoll. “We see it beingsold on deli counters for a variety of usages.”
Anther new product launch from Kontosfocuses on increasing the nutritious proper-ties of flatbread. Greek Lifestyle Flatbread,which has twice the protein and half of thecarbohydrates as traditional flatbread, capi-talizes on flatbread’s growing popularity as amore nutritious alternative to other breadoptions.
Greek-style sandwiches are also gainingin popularity. Greek restaurants are becom-ing more numerous and some say Greekfood is where Mexican food was 20 yearsago. With the opening of more Greekrestaurants, consumers are being exposed totraditional Greek sandwiches served on flat-breads, such as gyros made with thinly slicedlamb and yogurt, or flatbreads stuffed withtraditional falafel. This is an area wheresupermarkets can enhance their offers andbring some excitement to the hero and subsandwiches that are often a staple of the delidepartment. “
Successful Selling Flatbread and hummus provide a bevy of
cross-merchandising opportunities in super-market delis. “These items are generallyaround in the same area of the store, withmany delis featuring hummus and flatbread,”Flatout’s Pallotta says.
Flatout has worked with hummus manu-facturers, including Sabra Dipping Co., LLC,Queens, NY; Athenos, Northfield, IL; andTribe Mediterranean Foods, Inc., Taunton,MA, to demo its flatbread at the store level.“With these products, it’s important to utilizein-store point of sale promotions,” saysNicole Simonds, director of marketing.
The company works with bloggers todrive traffic into stores and take photos offood creations to get the buzz going. “Retail-ers need to do a better job of educating con-sumers, whether offering a meatless Mondayprogram by substituting hummus and flat-
bread or emphasizing the Mediterraneandiet’s benefits,” Simonds adds.
A number of manufacturers recommendsupermarket delis promote flatbread andhummus together, which can stimulate trialand help increase sales of both items. “One ofour suggestions for cross-merchandising is tooffer one product at the regular price and theother on special,” says Toufayan of ToufayanBakeries. “For example, ‘Buy hummus andget a package of flatbread for $1 off.’”
These items have synergies that encour-age cross-merchandising since both can beused for meals, appetizers or a quick snack.“Sampling is great for delis, and cross-mer-chandising is convenient for deli managers tochoreograph,” Toufayan says.
Placement at the point of purchase also iskey. According to Grecian Delight’s Derr, “Inaddition to pairing these items and offering adeal, it’s important to have the flatbread dis-
play within view of the hummus. Properplacement and merchandising is beneficial.
Despite its popularity and growth, flat-bread still has an untapped audience. “We’reseeing more consumers become aware of it,”Pallotta says. “We’ve been able to capturenon-ethnic flatbread positioning becausewe’re able to recipe all things ethnic. Just astortillas are best used in Mexican applications,flatbread works across all ethnic directions.”
To elevate the flatbread experience froma health and eating standpoint, manufactur-ers continue to increase market penetration,distribution and trial by educating consumersand building awareness. “There are still peo-ple out there who’ve never tried flatbread,”Toufayan says. “As people continue lookingfor something new and different, they’ll dis-cover that these products not only tastegood, but are healthy. It’s all about awarenessand acceptance.” DB
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Most of the salads that catch the eyeand pique consumers’ interests tra-ditionally reside in the service coldcase, a mere glance away from thehot side dishes also behind the
glass. This arrangement makes for an inter-esting and appetizing stroll through the delisalad and side dish menu.But a growing number of consumers
don’t have time to wait in line for their turnto have service staff dish up, weigh andprice their order. These consumers are bestreached with prominent displays of healthyand interesting salads and sides in packagesalready marked and ready to go.“The packaged salads are doing
extremely well. The product behind theglass is also doing well, but that’s a differentcustomer. If you’re going behind the glass,you’re probably going to pay a little moreand you’re going to have to wait. The pack-aged salads get the impulse sales,” saysDominick Frocione, vice president for salesat Cedar’s Mediterranean Foods, Ward Hill,MA. “Packaged Mediterranean salads havebeen big in the Northeast for a long time,but we’ve seen them spread nationwide thelast three or four years.”The mega trend toward healthy salads
and sides shows no sign of slowing down.And while offering healthful and appetizingalternatives are important, another trendshows that salads and sides must be pack-
Salads and Sides Make the MealFlavor, variety and convenience are key to increased sales
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aged and presented in a way to make themeasy for the consumer.
Make It EasyThe single most popular center-of-the-
plate item at the deli is rotisserie chicken. It’sconvenient, tasty, relatively healthy andinexpensive. But while rotisserie chickenmay be the star, it’s only part of the answerto the “What’s for dinner?” question.
“A chicken isn’t a meal,” says TimOliphant, director of sales at BD&K Foods,Columbus, GA. “There were over 800 mil-lion rotisserie chickens bought last year. It’sour belief if they’re buying the protein hot,they’ll be looking for the side dishes hot, too.”
BD&K is rolling out a line of hot Southernside dishes, named Fixins, intended to turn arotisserie chicken into a complete dinner. Keyto success is packaging and displaying thesehot side dishes so they can be picked up right
along with the rotisserie chicken.“Traditionally they were sold in the hot
cases and the customer had to wait in line.We’re moving them out toward the rotisseriechickens. The No. 1 factor in purchasing hotsides is convenience,” Oliphant continues.“We’re launching May 1, and the deli opera-tor response has been outstanding. They seethe need. Now delis can bundle the entiremeal without having to use just sides.”
When time is short, consumers look forsides to help devise memorable meals, aneed that peaks during the holiday season.“The trend is toward fresh prepared, pre-packaged sides that will save time in thekitchen. People are looking for more compli-cated sides, especially around the holidays.We’ve seen a tremendous increase indemand for our holiday sides in Novemberand December,” says Neil Merrit, vice presi-dent for sales and marketing at Huxtable’s
Kitchen, Vernon, CA.Everyday opportunities abound during
the lunch day-part. Retailers can offer tastyside items to accompany the popular grab-and-go lunch sandwich. “Made-to-order orpre-wrapped sandwiches help customerscombine shopping with a lunch occasionand help retailers compete with fast feedersand sandwich shops. Items such as Pickle-In-A-Pouch help retailers offer full-mealsolutions, such as a sandwich and a pickle,sandwich and chips, etc.,” says Eric Girard,vice president of sales & marketing at VanHolten’s, Waterloo, WI.
Consumers’ need to save time positionsthe deli to cater “special events” food,including the salads and sides. “With ‘down-time’ being a luxury in most households,we’re seeing an increase in deli and super-markets catering requests,” says JeffLucash, director of sales for stock products
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Putting The Pressure On Pathogens
High-pressure processing, orPascalization, is a way to ridfood products of pathogens by
putting them in chambers under highpressure.Pascalization preserves shelf life,
and reduces shrink, without usingchemical preservatives or damagingthe food. But high pressure processingis, most importantly, the state-of-the-art answer to food safety.“The No. 1 reason we use it is food
safety,” says Mark Sandridge, CEO ofSandridge Food Corporation, Medina,OH. “It kills all the bacteria we’vebeen worried about — listeria, E. coli,and salmonella. You need a process-ing facility that gives you a cleanproduct, but this is a final step. It’s aninsurance policy to give you a bacte-ria free product.”This process is expensive, and
Sandridge preferred not to divulgeexactly how expensive. But the pay-off comes from being able to protectand promote your brand as one thatbelieves in — and uses — the goldstandard when it comes to foodsafety.“The goal is brand protection —
my brand and the brand of theretailer I sell products to. I put it inbecause I get a clean-label product.There are no chemical preservatives.It’s expensive but I haven’t run intomany customers who aren’t willing topay more for brand protection. Onecustomer didn’t want it for economicreasons, but that was a bad strategyon their part,” Sandridge says.This technology can be used to kill
pathogens in almost, but not quite all,food products. “I haven’t found manylimitations on what it will do. Youcan use it with chicken salad or pastasalad. It doesn’t work well with theleafy green vegetables or cabbage,”Sandridge said.Sandridge has become a believer
in this high-tech approach to foodsafety. “I owned the largest piece ofhigh-pressure processing equipmentin North America until a few monthsago, and I just bought a second one,”he says. “That should tell you how Ifeel about it.” DB
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at Placon, Madison, WI. “Consumers arefinding it easier and more worthwhile tospend the extra money on having foodcatered in for certain events rather thanspending the time to make it themselves.”
Lucash finds increased demand for con-venience packaging brings increaseddemand for packaging that promotes thestore’s brand. “We’re also seeing a desire byour customers to differentiate themselvesfrom the competition and promote theirbrand through custom embossing optionsor engraving of their logo on our plasticfood containers’ lids and bases. When man-ufacturing ‘stock’ plastic packaging prod-ucts, being able to differentiate our cus-tomers’ product from a competitors’ isimportant,” he continues. “Whether that’sthrough offering containers with tamper-resistant features that they can market,eco-friendly messaging or custom brandingsolutions, we have packaging with unique,differentiating features that help our cus-tomers’ products stand out, while lettingthe food take center stage.”
Merchandising salads and sides in thecold case, the hot case and the grab-and-godisplays allow retailers to have three loca-tions to reach a growing number of con-sumers. “Some of our items can be offeredhot or cold. If you ask if we should bebehind the counter, at the salad bar, or inthe hot or cold case, the answer is all of theabove,” says Carl Cappelli, senior vice presi-dent of sales and business development atDon’s Food Products, Schwenskville, PA.
Make It HealthyConsumers are increasingly shopping for
sides and salads to f it a lifestyle thatincludes healthy eating. “We’re seeing anincrease in interest around grain-based sal-ads, ethnic salads and healthier options saysTeresa Carter, category manager salads &dips at Reser’s Fine Foods, Beaverton, OR.“These salads can incorporate on-trendingredients including quinoa, bulgur, curry,fresh herbs, agave, nuts, ginger, tabouli andso forth.”
While potato salad, cole slaw and maca-roni salad still lead the category, retailers arealso looking for additional salads that areboth healthy and interesting. “We’re startingto see retailers ask for more specialty saladsto offer in conjunction with their core delisalad line-up. Some examples of specialtysalads include grain salads (quinoa, bulgur,wild rice), ethnic salads (curries, Asian fla-vors, Latin flavors), and legume salads(edamame, garbanzo beans, white beans),”Carter adds.
Health consciousness is also bringingsome nutritious new entries to the popular
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side dish menu. “Sweet potatoes, wholegrains, and kale and other vegetables aremore popular than ever and finding theirway into a variety of sides dues to theirnutritional benefits,” says John McCarthy,category manager at Reser’s. “Quality ofingredients and nutritional benefits are play-ing a bigger role in selecting foods in the deli,including sides. Shoppers are becomingmore aware of the importance of beinghealthy and eating wisely with the rise ofreports touting the health benefits of selectingredients and the rate of product recallsincreasing.”
Two years ago Don’s Food Products hadno items that could classify as all natural.Last year the firm counted seven, and thisyear the all-natural list grew to include 11items. “We’re trying to do more all-naturalproducts with cleaner labels. Consumertrends and some of the retailers have takenus in that direction. We would show retail-ers a bruschetta or a pico de gallo, and theywould ask if we could make it all-natural,”Cappelli says. “I think there’s a greaterawareness of obesity and high blood pres-sure. Folks want to be healthier.”
The desire for healthier foods is takingMediterranean salads, in particular, to an
entirely new level. “We look at the salads asa growth category as hummus was 15 yearsago. They’re healthy, but it’s more than that— they taste good,” explains Cedar’s Fro-
cione. “Salad is a hot commodity in the deliright now. A lot of it is Mediterranean withtabouli, chickpea, edamame or couscous.Retailers recognized their customers areinterested in healthy foods and they putthem on the shelves. Once they were onthe shelves, consumers tried them, and theyliked them.”
The connection between the desire forhealthy food and the desire for safe foodshows up in the popularity of new packag-ing options. According to Placon’s Lucash,“An ongoing trend will also be the call forsafe plastic food packaging products withdesigned-in tamper-evident and tamper-resistant features that eliminate the need forshrink banding or labeling.”
Make It InterestingWhile the market for healthier salads
and sides continues to grow, consumers stilldemand inviting dishes and delicious tastes.“You keep it interesting by maintaining theflavor and texture. People want to eathealthy, but they want to enjoy their food,”Cappelli of Don’s Food says.
Changing demographics and changingrestaurants menus are influencing deli cus-tomer expectations. “Younger adults arebeginning to spend more time in the deli andare looking for something special, whetherit’s a grain salad or something on the lighterside. To accommodate all ages and palates,deli operators need to strike a perfect bal-ance between specialty and core deli salads.Another factor contributing to these trendsis restaurant offerings. Quick-service andfast-casual restaurants are starting to offer
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more trendy items on their menus, and peo-ple are starting to look for those flavors andingredients from their grocery store aswell,” Reser’s Carter notes.
One way to keep it interesting is to offermore complex salads with a variety of ingre-dients. “We’ve seen an uptick in demand forhigh-quality prepared salads with a protein init — and a fork and a dressing. Consumersare looking for salads with a longer list ofingredients — grains, nuts, cheese, a dress-ing,” says Merrit of Huxtable’s Kitchen.“They want six or seven or eight compo-nents. They want more diverse and compli-cated salads.”
In the past, delis prepared many of theirown salads. But today, most have transi-tioned to the laborsaving option of preparedsalads. “It’s evolved over time. Three or fouryears ago, retailers were making their ownsalads with protein, doing the cutting at thedeli. But now they’re looking to save laborand we’ve seen an increase in demand inthe last year,” Merrit continues.
The newest wave of side dishes also fea-tures a healthy marriage of the spirit ofadventure and the need for convenience.“You’re seeing upscale versions of contempo-rary favorites, like Yukon gold or red skin
mashed potatoes instead of standard russetmashed potatoes, or 4-cheese macaroniinstead of simple macaroni and cheese,”Reser’s McCarthy says. “The selection ofthe side dishes continues to expand in thedeli as consumers look for more choices and
new varieties. Consumers aren’t contentwith the same old side dishes and are lookingfor something to spice up their meals. Peopleare more time poor than ever before so theywant delicious sides without the hassle andfuss. They want convenience.” DB
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AsianFoodTrends
Sushi sales arestrengthening andKorean is making a
strong debut
BY LAURA WHITEMAN
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I t’s said that everything you need to know, you learn from your kids. Whenlooking for upcoming trends in the deli, what’s going to be “hot” is whatthe kids want to eat. And one trend worth watching in Asian food iswho’s buying sushi.Sushi isn’t new to the deli, but it is poised to continue to make extensive
gains in the market in the coming years, and one of the drivers of this trend ischildren. Sushi — the name actually refers to the rolled rice integral to the dish— has expanded as a category to include a marriage of fish, fruit or vegetableswith sushi rice. Today, grade-school and middle-school children are requestingsushi because it’s fresh, healthy and delicious.
Asian food in general is all about the marriage and blending of flavors:sweet, salty, spicy, sour, and umami. It can be more sophisticated than much ofwhat America eats, but it has found great favor with Americans’ picky palates.Children who grow up exposed to these flavors are quite comfortable withsushi offerings that often include mango, ginger, crunchy onions, sliced porkand even eel.
Hissho Sushi, Charlotte, NC, has partnered with upscale supermarketsand foodservice operations to provide freshly prepared sushi on site for 15years. Its turnkey solution makes it easy to integrate sushi into grab-and-goofferings, meet the demand for fresh and healthy choices and drive profits;
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Hissho hires and trains qualified chefs anduses high quality, fresh ingredients. Andrea Lee, corporate communications
spokesperson, says Hissho keeps ahead ofthe customer curve by regularly introducingrolls with new taste surprises, such asSouthern Charm Roll, which combines spicyreal crab, tuna, salmon, yellowtail or cookedshrimp with cucumber and avocado toppedwith sesame seeds, spicy mayo, JapaneseBBQ sauce and crispy fried onions. To continue building market inroads, Lee
adds, Hissho’s priority is to build relationshipsin-store through sampling. Later this year,Hissho will roll out a new, more interactivewebsite that lets customers order online forpickup at their closest store. The companybelieves the best quality, natural ingredients isa differentiator consumers recognize; a grow-ing market means greater knowledge, whichin turn increases consumer expectations.
Korean Cuisine Makes InroadsAsian cuisines have more than sushi to
offer consumers for healthy, pickup mealsand this year will see Korean dishes becomemuch more than a rare curiosity in the deli. Hanryu — a Korean culture craze — is
sweeping America, from Gangnam Styledancing to K-pop music. Playing their part inthis cultural wave are the Korean foodtrucks. These street-corner entrepreneurshave been helping to promote Korean dishesand flavors in many major U.S. cities, butespecially in California, says Cheryl Tsang,co-founder of Starport Foods, LLC. Fuller-ton, CA. Through her Asian food brokerage, Ori-
ental Select Foods, Tsang says she has seena phenomenal boost in year-on-year sales fora range of Korean products designed for bothretail and foodservice. Sweet potato noodlesand fermented red pepper paste, both staplesfor many Korean recipes, are selling briskly.Wegmans Food Markets, Rochester, NY,clearly spotted an early trend in Koreanfoods and placed an early order for 40 differ-ent products.Tsang has seen surprisingly strong sales
this year for Orion’s ChocoLune Pies, a ubiq-uitous Korean version of a “moon pie”chocolate treat, which had a 77 percentincrease in sales. Korean BBQ sauce is up 29percent, Sea’s Gift seaweed snacks are up 88percent (and at the time of this article werethe No. 2 grocery/gourmet item on Ama-zon.com) and orders for Savia’s aloe juicewith pomegranate increased 47 percent overlast year.Tsang has a wealth of experience in Asian
foods, as a taste creator, broker, supplier andconsultant. She sold two companies —House of Tsang and Oriental Deli, which she
co-founded with her husband David — toHormel in 1992. She offers lucid insight intowhat works with consumers. “The biggestmistake anyone can make when building outAsian cuisine in foodservice is to hire anAsian chef and think that’s all they need todo. Asians, no matter where they are in the
U.S., will go to great lengths to track downtheir native dishes just to try them, and Kore-ans are no exception to the rule.” Asian Americans don’t expect to find
comfort food like Mom used to make, butthey are impressed with consistency. EveryAsian chef has his or her own recipe that is
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the only “right way” to create the dish. Oncea chef leaves, or even when he or she takes aday off, the creation is replaced by anotherfrom another chef with a different “right way.”
Non-Asians “want to be wowed by theauthenticity in your dish,” says Tsang. “Butwithout a recipe’s consistency from experi-ence to experience, the consumer can’t decidewhat is the authentic taste.” When that hap-pens, “Both the Asian and non-Asian con-sumers will turn away and buy elsewhere.”
The best way to create an Asian menu,according to Tsang, is to start by thinkingeasy — “Make it simple!” She recommendsfinding a sauce, a one-pour base, and thentweaking it for a store’s demographics. Trycombining sauces or adding ingredients andwhen it’s right, stick with the recipe so anychef can create the same dish every time.
This make-it-simple strategy is beneficialwhen expanding a store’s Asian offerings,
according to Tsang. The bane of many Asianrecipes is difficulty sourcing authentic prod-ucts and ingredients. If sweet potato or udonnoodles are key ingredients to a recipe butaren’t readily available, success will be elu-sive. Sourcing is critical.
For example, Jayone Foods, a Koreanfood producer exclusively represented in theU.S. by Tsang, sells bibimbap, which Tsangdescribes as a Korean table’s “national trea-sure” in frozen 5- and 10-pound bags. Thisveggie and rice dish with egg should beincluded in any Korean offering.
Green Chopsticks, a Korean-ownedcompany based in Alhambra, CA, producesdumplings and pot stickers with an authenticKorean taste. Primarily pre-cooked andfrozen, the products are very versatile. Thedumplings can be boiled in soups or steamedand then fried. The company also offers tra-ditional Korean meats, such as kalbi and bul-
gogi, which are cut and marinated meatsthat are easy to include in recipes.
Tsang believes one of the drivers for theKorean food trend is “that everything is veryhealthy. Grated fruit and veggies are includedin many dishes and natural sweetening isappreciated by consumers who look at thewhole health benefits.”
She predicts Asian food will continue toincrease its footprint in the deli and else-where to meet consumer demand. In fact,Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, recentlyapproached Tsang about creating a food cartdedicated to Asian snacks for the park. Thecart, which was operational in February intime to celebrate the Asian New Year, willsell Asian drinks, seaweed snacks, Starportsauces and Vietnamese iced coffees.
If Asian foods are so ubiquitous as toshow up in Disneyland, shouldn’t they beeasy to find in the deli? DB
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ing company, estimated the food truck industry revenue to grow at anaverage annual rate of 8.4 percent to $1.5 billion. After growing 6.1percent in 2008 and 9.5 percent in 2009, rising to $1.2 billion, thegrowth continued, reaching its peak in 2010 at 12.7 percent. Sincethen, growth was forecast to slow slightly in 2012, rising to 4.2 per-cent for the year. The report projects the revenue will grow at anaverage annual rate of 3.3 percent to reach $1.7 billion in the fiveyears to 2017.
The report also estimated that street locations make up about 55percent of the industry revenue, while shopping malls and work sitesgenerate approximately 12 percent. Sporting, entertainment and otherevents, where large numbers of people enter or leave, account for 18percent of the industry revenue.
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Are trendy mobile food trucks right for supermarkets?
BY BARBARA ROBISON
T he mobile food truck business has become a hottrend over the past few years. It’s come a long wayfrom the old days of the “roach coach.” As the busi-ness has developed, food trucks have taken on livesof their own, moving from offering primarily ham-
burgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches and pizza to a wholearray of specialty ethnic and fusion dishes. Some in the food industryhave asked if mobile food trucks are a viable business venture for thesupermarket industry. Would they work as an adjunct of the delidepartments of major supermarkets? Are they a good fit for a smallerchain? What are the pros and cons of supermarket involvement?
In its 2012 industry report Street Vendors in the US, Santa Monica,CA-based IBIS World, Inc., a research, strategy, analysis and market-
What aboutFood Trucks?
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Information of Supermarket Involvement LackingMost of the major organizations repre-
senting segments of the food industry havelittle or no information regarding supermar-kets operating mobile food trucks in theirmarketing areas. The International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association (IDDBA), Madison,WI, conducted a study, 2011 Innovation,Trends, Attitudes, Opportunities, whichincluded a rating for the top 50 interests offrequent deli and bakery shoppers. The inter-ests listed were such things as “papercoupons mailed to you” and “meet your localfarmers events.” A “mini traveling grocerystore truck” was mentioned by 33.4 percentof those queried. Of the in-store deli fre-quenters at least once a week 41.9 percentranked it and 47.2 percent of hot preparedfood shoppers ranked it, with 43.6 percent ofcold prepared foods shoppers mentioning it.The study did not, of course, refer specificallyto meals being served from mobile trucks, butonly to a “traveling mini grocery store truck.”In a 2012 Restaurant Trends Survey from
the Washington, DC-based NationalRestaurant Association, 73 percent of adultssaid they would likely visit a food truck if it
were offered by one of their favorite restau-rants. The feeling was much more prominentamong young adults. The interest was uni-form across the country. However, the sur-vey also found the vast majority of restau-rant operators do not anticipate getting intothe food truck industry.
Supermarkets Show Little Interest in Food TrucksIn speaking to a number of executives
from various size supermarkets, most haveeither not considered running food trucks orhad looked into the idea and chosen not toproceed. “We identified it as a trend two orthree years ago and thought we would lookinto it,” states Byron Hanson, director ofdeli, bakery and food service, Lunds andByerly’s, the 22-store 2-banner chain ownedby Lund Food Holdings, Inc., Edina, MN.“After doing so, we decided against it for anumber of reasons. It’s a big capital invest-ment and the logistic considerations formeeting many local and state requirementsare major. We felt we had so many opportu-nities within our stores themselves. We’redoing well, with new stores planned. Wealso plan to do more on the Internet and a
new mobile app.”Publix Supermarkets, Inc., Lakeland, FL,
a 1,069-store chain, is not pursuing foodtrucks at this time. “We’re always interestedin new trends. However, our core business iswithin our stores,” says Maria Brous, direc-tor of media and community relations.In Madison, WI, the Fresh Madison Mar-
ket, a single store located near the Universityof Wisconsin campus, has launched a non-profit grocery-on-the-go called Freshmobile.It’s a special project to bring more fruits andvegetables to communities that have beendeemed food deserts. About 10 percent ofthe 65,000 census tracts in the UnitedStates have limited access to a healthy diet.“We aren’t considering running regular
mobile food carts but wanted to simplymake more nutritious foods available to low-income families who have little or no accessto them. Our biggest request is for fresh pro-duce and we have a few other grocery itemsin the trucks. We don’t offer any items fromour deli,” says Jeff Mauer, the market’sowner.
Important Factors to ConsiderIBIS World’s report identifies some of the
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most important factors to be successful inthe mobile food truck business. Proximity tokey markets and significant potential cus-tomers are necessary to maximize potentialsales. Operators must be licensed and meetall local and state requirements, such as forfood storage and handling and cart cleanli-ness. Maintaining effective quality controland using efficient ordering and storage sys-tems are essential. Maximizing revenue andreducing purchase costs by avoiding wasteand spoilage are also critical.
Investments in the food truck businesscan run high. The food truck itself can costas much as $100,000, according to the IBISreport Street Vendors in the US. There arealso the costs of food equipment used withinthe truck itself and in the certified kitchenwhere the food is prepared. The sale ofhome-prepared foods is generally notallowed. The rental of a certified kitchen plusthe hiring of a chef or other well-trained per-sonnel to run the truck operation are othercosts incurred. The cost of insurance shouldalso be included.
One of the major considerations in thefood truck business is all the local and statelaws and regulations that must be met.These can vary widely, often within a fewblocks of each other. Some city Departmentsof Health, Sanitation, Transportation andConsumer Affairs all have regulations cover-ing food trucks and many can be conflicting.Licenses are required and usually permits foreach individual truck are required. In NewYork City, every mobile-food employee musthave a Health Certificate. There are exam-ples of great inconsistencies in issuing ticketsfor violations and some cities give out tickets
with abandon to food truck vendors. Costsfor the licenses, permits and certificatesrequired have also increased.
The IBIS 2012 street vendor report sug-gests foods should be appropriately packagedand labeled to meet license and permit
requirements. There need to be appropriatehot and cold temperatures for food storage,preparation and display as well. Internal andexternal cleanliness of vehicles, with noinsect or animal infestations, is also impor-tant. An annual inspection of each foodtruck is usually conducted, including thevehicle’s state of repair.
Food Truck Business UnpredictableIn Should You Join the Food Truck Revolu-
tion? by Deborah Moss, appearing in Spe-cialty Food Magazine, Matt Geller, CEO ofthe Southern California Mobile VendorsAssociation, states, “The only absoluteabout the food truck business is that it’sabsolutely unpredictable. This businesschanges constantly and requires you be anexpert at things that are always changing(such as licensing and permit requirements).The more you personally know, the betteryou can navigate it.” He recommendsresearch, research, research.
There is a question about mobile foodtruck market saturation, with supporters onboth sides of the question. Saturation mayvary with particular markets, but it’s defi-nitely something to consider when determin-ing the viability of food truck vending for asupermarket. DB
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California shaped the country’s wineindustry (and by extension the world’s),and now it’s poised to work its magicwith specialty cheese. New cheesesand new cheesemakers bespeckle the
countryside and complement a previouslyestablished nucleus of masters. They’re dish-ing up more of what consumers are seekingand influencing trends that will impact therest of the industry.
“Responding to growing consumer prefer-ence and an overall societal inclination,cheesemakers are paying more attention tothe overall carbon footprint of their opera-tion,” says Janne Rasmussen, sales manager
California CheeseTrends from California influence the country and the world
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at Cypress Grove Chevre, Arcata, CA. Thisover-arching societal concern impacts howcheese is made in the Golden State. It impactshow animals are cared for, what they eat, aswell as energy and water conservation.
Many examples of sustainability withinthe state’s industry play an increasing role inconsumer purchasing decisions. Accordingto Rasmussen, “Efforts include whey andanimal waste digesters that reduce pollutionwhile creating electricity, ozone generatorsfor creamery cleaning efforts, increased useof solar panel and wind generators, installingenergy efficient heat exchangers to maintainaging room temperatures, secondary use of
alternative feedstuffs for dairy animals —beet pulp from sugar production, spentbrewer’s grain from breweries, reusing theirown creamery’s whey to feed their animals— minimizing waste runoff into streamsthrough rainwater retention, and waste-water diversion and treatment.”
Environmental concerns are a factor incheese production, and as such, they offerretailers a marketing topic to promote. Forexample, Central Coast Creamery, PasoRobles, CA, offers Organic Big Rock Bluemade from organic cow milk. Sierra NevadaCheese Company, Willows, CA, is launch-ing Graziers, a cheese line derived from the
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milk of local certified producers who use sus-tainable rotational grazing practices. Red-wood Hill Farm and Creamery/Green Val-ley Organics, Sebastopol, CA, promotes itsorganic farming methods, solar energy andhumane husbandry. Fiscalini Cheese Com-pany, Modesto, CA, generates enough elec-tricity to power the entire farm; it usesmethane, a fuel derived from waste productsincluding whey.
Personal health combines with theplanet’s health in the realm of cheese fromgenuinely grass-fed animals. Always on thequest for good tasting food with health bene-fits, consumers are paying attention to theextra advantages of curds from grass-fed ani-mals. “Recent studies have shown grass-feddairy products to be up to four times higherin conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) andomega-3 fatty acids,” Meghan Curry, salesand marketing, Sierra Nevada Cheese,reports. “CLAs are a good type of fat thatmay protect the body from cancer formationand protection. Omega-3 fatty acids are anessential fatty acid needed by our bodies andhave been shown to increase heart healthand reduce triglycerides.”
Goat and Sheep MilkAlthough cow’s milk cheeses represent
the majority of cheeses, many cheesemakershave turned to other types of milk. “We canconfirm specialty cheese continues toincrease with more goat and sheep cheesescoming on the market faster than everbefore,” says Sharon Bice, marketing com-munications manager at Redwood Hill.
Carol Jackson, vice president of market-ing, Meyenberg Goat Milk Products, Tur-lock, CA, credits the popularity of goat’s milkcheeses to chefs nationwide incorporatinggoat milk cheeses in every part of the menu— hors d’oeuvres, salads, entrées and des-serts. She adds this category, considered“unusual” 10 years ago, now encompassesmany styles: Feta, Cheddar, Jack, spread-able, and, of course, fresh.
Lactose-intolerant cheese lovers sparkedat least part of the initial demand. Previously,“Those folks were left out in the cold,” Jack-son adds. “Goat’s milk still contains lactose,but people seem to be less sensitive to it thanfrom that of cow’s milk. It has smaller, moredigestible curds.”
Some cheesemakers are building onalready successful platforms. “At LauraChenel we’re making our award-winningclassic Crottin with delicate geotrichum cul-tures,” explains Lynne Devereux, marketingand PR for Marin French Cheese inPetaluma, CA, and Laura Chenel’s Chèvreand Sonoma Cheese Factory in Sonoma,CA.
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Sheep’s milk cheeses have lagged behindgoat’s milk in production because of a lack ofavailability in California, reports Devereux.She indicates the short supply may impededevelopment of these cheeses, leading to ahigher demand than what can be satisfied bycreameries. [EDITOR’S NOTE: As a point ofreference, a good dairy sheep gives fourpounds of milk a day. A dairy goat gives eightto 10 pounds, a Jersey cow 40 pounds and aHolstein 80 pounds.]Unlike sheep’s milk, as demand for goat
milk cheese rises, Meyenberg’s Jacksonexpects the supply to expand appreciably.
Fresh and FlavoredFresh cheeses, with or without flavor, are
getting extra attention in California. “Burratais a growing item in the specialty cheese casein California,” states David Freedheim, salesconsultant, California Milk Advisory Board(CMAB), South San Francisco, CA. Di Stefano Cheese Company recently
set up shop in Pomona and is stimulatingBurrata’s growth. “This is exciting as Burratacontinues to be a popular cheese on foodser-vice menus, which has contributed to itsgrowing demand at retail,” says Jim Dimat-aris, CMAB director of processor relations.
Flavored fresh cheeses are coming onboard, too. According to Dimataris, “NicasioValley [Cheese Company, Nicasio, CA] hasintroduced a basil and garlic version of itsaward-winning Foggy Morning. Dairy God-dess Farmstead Cheese [Lemoore, CA] hastwo sweet varieties of Fromage Blanc —one with peaches, almonds and honey, andthe other with white chocolate, pistachioand cranberry.” California’s cheesemakers are helping to
reinvent the reputation of flavored cheese —a category that has had to overcome its less-than-stellar origins. “Flavored cheeses aremore accepted than they were five yearsago. In the beginning, they were hard to sell,”says Heather Fiscalini, director of sales andmarketing, Fiscalini Cheese. She explains fla-vored cheeses of yore consisted of an indus-trialized, bland paste with a flavor added justfor that reason – to add flavor. “Chefsfrowned on flavored cheese,” she says. But specialty cheese with added flavor is
an entirely different product. Flavored artisancheeses start with a high-quality paste andthen add high-quality enhancements. “Wetake a cheese that’s full flavor and add a newtwist,” says Fiscalini. The company offers aline of flavored Cheddars that includes tar-ragon, chipotle, garlic and habanero.“Spreads are also popular, like jalapeño andhorseradish. It’s a nice platform to deliver
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hotter, spicier flavors.”“The flavored cheese category is still see-
ing growth,” notes CMAB’s Freedheim.“Fruit and nuts are strong additions to bothsoft ripened and Monterey-style products.”
Flavored cheese is popular enough thatCypress Grove is working on a sixth cheesefor its Flashback line. “We’re still in the begin-ning stages, but the new product along withthe five other Flashback flavors — PurpleHaze, Herbs de Humboldt, Sgt. Pepper,PsycheDillic and Ms. Natural — will rein-force our commitment to develop specialtycheeses that are ‘special’ and celebrate theunique characteristics of goat milk,” Ras-mussen says.
What’s behind this trend for flavoredcheese? The best explanation so far comesfrom Jennifer Giambroni, CMAB director ofcommunications. “Taking familiar texturesand adding a burst of flavor really taps intoconsumer taste buds and their drive to pairtheir favorite flavor profiles. Pairings are reallypopular — whether cheese and wine, beeror even chocolate and whiskey — and these
flavored cheeses capture that ‘perfect pair’ inone bite.”
Hispanic and Mediterranean“There’s a distinct effort by the large His-
panic-style dairy processors to educate main-stream consumer on how to use Hispaniccheeses traditionally thought of and sold asethnic products. This is being done throughthe use of professional chefs and demon-strating recipes outside of traditional Latindishes on televised food channels,” CMAB’sDimataris states. “Once the mainstreamconsumer understands the many uses forthese cheeses, their potential as specialtyitems at retail is endless.”
Giambroni sees continued growth of His-panic cheeses, which tend to be affordablespecialty options. “The continued growth ofLatin flavors both in the home and at foodser-vice is inspiring consumers to add authenticitywith Hispanic-style cheeses such as Asadero,Cotija and Queso Fresco,” she says.
“The growth in Mediterranean flavorsmeans that consumers are looking at cheeses
like Yanni – a white Halloumi-style grillingcheese from Karoun [Dairies, SunValley,CA] with a Mozzarella texture that can beheated and grilled without melting,” explainsDimataris.
The popularity of Greek yogurt is helpingthe Mediterranean cheeses. “It’s reallyopened the door to other Mediterranean fla-vors such as Labne and Yanni,” saysGiambroni.
Bold and Blue Consumers continue to seek out ever-
bolder, ever-sharper cheeses. According toGiambroni, the popularity of charcuterieboards is fueling this trend. “Consumers willbe looking for bold options to pair with theircured meats at home,” she says.
This trend bodes well for Blue cheesesand aged Cheddars. Dimataris cites the fol-lowing examples: “Sonoma Cheese has BlueJack, which combines the flavors of Mon-terey Jack and Blue. Marin’s Rouge et NoirMarin French Blue combines Triple CrèmeBrie with blue veins. And Point Reyes Farm-stead Cheese [Point Reyes Station, CA] isputting out a new Blue that’s aged longerthan its award winning Original Blue.”
What’s In the Pipeline?Up and coming on the cheese scene are
goat milk alpine cheeses, aged sheep milkcreations and fresh water buffalo Moz-zarella, according to Reggie Jones, cheese-maker at Central Coast Creamery. He callsout Ramini Mozzarella — a startup 40-headwater buffalo herd and creamery in Tomales.
Looking at trends in foodservice,Giambroni cites “the rise in smoked foods.We have a limited number of smoked spe-cialty cheeses in California but if that flavorprofile continues to grow, I can see ourprocessors experimenting more in that area.”
In support of that view, Redwood’s Bicenotes grassroots raves for Goat Milk Ched-dar when it was sampled at festivals.
“A host of new cheese shops, enthusias-tic, knowledgeable cheesemongers and chefsare educating consumers. There has neverbeen greater support for California’s specialtyand artisan cheeses,” says Devereux.
“People are travelling to the region forthis cheese and to get close to the cheese-makers,” notes Jill Giacomini Basch of PointReyes Farmstead. “It’s an exciting time for allof us. We’re known for our wine and nowwe’re known for our cheese.”
The upsurge of cheese-centered tourism,and newcomers in the industry are evidenceof California positioning itself as an authorityin specialty cheese. “California specialtycheese is still in its infancy with a ton of roomfor growth,” claims Jones. DB
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IN RECENT MONTHS, THE AMERICAN CHEESE SOCIETY(ACS) has been working steadfastly to support American cheesemak-ers in preparation for potential regulatory change. In February 2013,the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada jointly pub-lished a Draft Quantitative Assessment of the Risk of Listeriosis from Soft-Ripened Cheese Consumption in the U.S. and Canada. As the leader insupporting and promoting American cheese, ACS took on the task ofcarefully reviewing the risk assessment and developing a detailedresponse with leading experts. Our comment was posted to the FederalRegister in April, and nearly 100 industry members joined us by post-ing comments of their own and/or expressing their support of ourcomment. If you haven’t already done so, we hope you’ll take the timeto review our comment at www.tinyurl.com/acs-comment.
ACS focused on two primary areas of concern in our official comment:First, we observed that the conclusions and takeaway messages
from the risk assessment may be based on an incomplete data set andthus may not be entirely accurate. The data set used to determine Liste-ria monocytogenes contamination rates and levels was obtained fromsurveys of bulk tanks of milk from producers harvesting commodityfluid milk for pasteurization and not necessarily milk intended for themanufacture of cheese. In addition, the description of the risk of liste-riosis cites outbreaks that occurred in other countries with differentstandards and regulatory regimes, as well as outbreaks related tocheese made in unlicensed facilities or in violation of current regula-tions. Per FDA’s own data, there have been few, if any, outbreaks involv-ing legally made soft cheese in the United States and Canada.
Of particular concern to ACS, the risk assessment suggests thatsoft-ripened cheeses carry a high risk of contamination with Listeriamonocytogenes when the evidence and history suggest the risks are lowfrom such cheeses made in compliance withcurrent regulations. It also suggests soft-ripened cheeses made from unpasteurizedmilk are significantly more risky than thosemade from pasteurized milk. In fact, the analy-sis indicates at least one preventive strategyconsidered in the report can reduce risk inraw-milk products below that of pasteurizedproducts. Unfortunately, the analysis fails toconsider a wide range of preventative controlsand strategies that are available — and arealready used successfully — to ensure the safeproduction of cheese. In its comments, ACSasked that the final risk assessment considersuch strategies.
Second, we expressed concern that misrep-resentations in the risk assessment may leadto reduced sales of safe cheese products and
increased regulatory efforts beyond those justified by empirical evi-dence. The analysis in the risk assessment is based on data concerningCamembert cheese, but the conclusions — and the report’s title —appear to extend its conclusions to a broader class of “soft-ripened”cheese without clearly defining this class. We are concerned such anapproach may set precedent for future risk assessments with broaderreach than is justified.
ACS has asked FDA to clarify and offer more detail on the inconsis-tencies and concerns outlined in our comment and incorporate addi-tional, relevant research into its final findings. Just as importantly, weasked FDA inform stakeholders of how the risk assessment may ulti-mately impact policy and regulation. We recognize that regulatorychanges often have the greatest impact on smaller producers — jeopar-dizing small businesses, family dairies and the very types of producerswho are growing the economy through job creation and by fueling con-sumer desire for safe, delicious and unique cheeses. Our organizationis committed to working with FDA to ensure the unique needs of thesesmaller producers are kept in mind.
Although the official public comment period on the risk assessmenthas come to a close, we encourage you to read the full report atwww.federalregister.gov (docket # FDA-2012-N-1182) and reach out toFDA in support of ACS’s comment. FDA is working on the publicationof other draft risk assessments that could impact the specialty cheeseindustry, as well. One such assessment will attempt to analyze the riskof cheeses made from unpasteurized milk. Another, of particular inter-est to DELI BUSINESS readers, may be the “Interagency Risk Assess-ment—L. monocytogenes in Retail Delicatessens,” jointly prepared bythe Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS) and FDA. Stakeholderswere invited to share comments on the assessment at a public meeting
on May 22 in Washington, D.C. ACS was pre-sent to share the point-of-view of our members.Per FSIS/FDA, the draft “provides a scientificassessment of the risk of foodborne illnessassociated with consumption of [ready-to-eat]foods (i.e., deli meats, cheese, and deli salads)commonly prepared and sold in the deli of aretail food store and examines how that riskmay be impacted by changes to common orrecommended practices.”
ACS will continue to keep our membersinformed about these publications, and we willdo our best to ensure that the concerns ofsmall, artisan and farmstead producers areaddressed. Your voice can make a difference inshaping the future of this industry. Please joinus in championing the diversity and quality ofunique American-made cheeses. DB
RegulatoryChange Proposals
By Greg O’NeillPresident, American Cheese SocietyDenver, CO
Co-Owner/FounderPastoral Artisan Cheese,Bread & WineChicago, IL
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The Biggest Cheese Festival On EarthEvery other year, the Italian town of Bra plays host to world’s finest cheeses
BY LEE SMITH
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About 50 kilometers from Turino, Italy,in the region of Piemonte in theprovince of Cuneo sits the small city ofBra, which, every other year, trans-forms itself into the largest cheese fes-
tival on earth. The international organization Slow
Food, the city of Bra, and the tourismbureau of Alba, Bra, Lange and Roero orga-nize the festival that is often described ashaving the largest collection of fine cheese tobe found any place in the world. The gather-ing, simply called simply Cheese, is known toturophiles as Bra.
Most of the time, Bra has a population ofabout 29,000. With all the beautiful placesto visit in Italy, few tourists visit this smallenclave in the northwestern corner of thecountry. But during the third week in Sep-tember of odd-numbered years, Brabecomes the most heralded place on earthfor the cheese crowd. During Cheese 2011,160,000 people from all over the planet madetheir pilgrimage to what is usually little morethan a village. This year, Cheese will occurSept. 20-Sept. 23.
The downtown streets are closed to alltraffic and tents ranging from the size offootball fields to just enough to cover a tableare crammed into every conceivable nookand cranny. Cheesemakers from around theglobe set up stands to sell their cheese, meetbuyers and consumers, and join together tocelebrate the land. Music plays into the weehours of the night and street performersmake balloon animals to entertain childrenand adults. Cafes and restaurants serve upthe local cuisine, and outdoor cafes are scat-tered among the stands that are sellingcheese and offering samples.
But Bra is more than festivities and con-vivial atmosphere. It is in this little city thattourists, cheese retailers, buyers, distributors,journalists and turophiles from all over theworld immerse themselves not just in thecheese itself but in the issues affecting itsproduction, saving farmlands, healthy eating,and protecting a way of life that is thousands A
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of years old. For all the hustle and bustle, thisevent is about slowing down and appreciat-ing the beauty that surrounds us.
Why Bra? Bra is the birthplace of CarloPetrini, the founder of the International SlowFood Movement and the University of Gas-tronomic Sciences. The name Slow Foodwas chosen as a way of saying no to fastfood. Slow Food is, quite literally, aboutslowing down to appreciate and protect away of life that is quickly disappearing. It isabout preserving the land and its heritage.
The website, www.slowfood.com, says,“Slow Food stands at the crossroads of ecol-ogy and gastronomy, ethics and pleasure. It
opposes the standardization of taste and cul-ture, and the unrestrained power of the foodindustry multinationals and industrial agricul-ture. We believe that everyone has a funda-mental right to the pleasure of good food andconsequently the responsibility to protect theheritage of food tradition and culture thatmade this pleasure possible. “
Petrini has a vision of a world in which allpeople can access good, clean and fair food.Good is described as “a fresh and flavorsomeseasonal diet that satisfies the senses and ispart of our local culture”; clean as “food pro-duction and consumption that does notharm the environment, animal welfare or our
health”; and fair as “accessible prices for con-sumers and fair conditions and pay for small-scale producers.”
Slow Food embodies the belief that foodis tied to many important aspects of life. Thefood we eat is important to our health andour happiness, but it is also tied to strongfamilies, local agriculture, the ecology of ourplanet, politics and agriculture. It is aboutbringing people and their communitiestogether with the goal of slowing down andappreciating the world around us. It is aboutpreserving cultures and heritage.
“It’s important to talk about the real pro-tagonists of this event — the farmer, the
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herders and the cheesemakers — and theirfuture,” said Mauro Pizzato of Slow FoodItaly at a milk workshop at Cheese 2011.“The future is our youth — the people whowill decide whether or not to follow in theirparents footsteps.” Bra is a surprisinglyyouthful event — one quarter of the mem-bers of Slow Food are under the age of 30.
Among the festival’s most popular attrac-tions is the street of the shepherds. This longstreet is lined with tents that highlight thesmall producers who milk their own herdsout in rural areas and up in the mountains.Bra provides them with an opportunity tomeet the people who buy their cheeses.Recently, there has been renewed interest inthe “transhumance,” the seasonal moving ofanimals from the low valley pastures of win-
ter to the high mountain pastures of summer.The cheeses from herds that make thesetreks tend to be seasonal and unique sinceeach shepherd and his household craft theircheeses based on their own recipes and fam-ily traditions.
During Cheese 2011, representativesfrom food communities recounted the storiesof the men and women who make theirlivelihoods from their herding animals. Asthey told their stories and shared their expe-riences, they contributed to a globalexchange of ideas and traditional values.
In 2011, the United States occupied alarge area thanks to the hard work and gen-erosity of Atlanta Foods, a distributor head-quartered in Atlanta, GA. Watching Euro-peans taste American cheeses, often for the
first time, was a gratifying experience for theAmerican cheesemakers who attended. Bythe last day there wasn’t a sliver of U.S.cheese left to sell. Once again, at Cheese2013, Atlanta Foods will be sponsoringAmerican cheesemakers.
Maybe Bra is just a street fair full ofcheese; maybe the Slow Food mantra will bethe song of this century; but whatever thefuture holds, it still is an amazing confluenceof people, cultures and cheese. Hopefully, itforetells a future of understanding andrespect for all people and the environment.
For those who want to attend SlowFood’s Cheese 2013, make your reservationsfor both hotel and events as soon as possible.With over 150,000 people invading sleepyBra, everything sells out early. DB
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The Spanish plains of La Mancha havegiven the world two enduring trea-sures — Don Quixote, Miguel deCervantes’ eccentric hero, andManchego cheese, sheep milk’s
alchemical transformation. Cervantesactually mentions Manchego in his classictale. Perhaps it was the time he spent inprison while writing the novel that broughthim memories of the piquant cheese.
The Lord of La ManchaCelebrated Manchego cheese deserves the kudos
BY JAN FIALKOW
70 DELI BUSINESS JUNE/JULY 2013
La Mancha is a vast high plateau, some13,500 square miles located 500 metersabove sea level in the Castilla-La ManchaAutonomous Region southeast of Madrid.This agricultural area, which has some fer-tile land and lots of rocky outcrops, sup-ports mostly hardy plants that can survivethe extreme climate. The Moors who livedin Spain from 711 until their final expulsionin 1492 called the area Al Mansha — the
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waterless land.If you travel to La Mancha in early fall,
you’ll be greeted by a sea of purple flowers— Crocus sativus — whose stamens arehandpicked to produce saffron, the world’smost expensive spice. At any time of year,you’ll see a countryside still dotted withwindmills, though it’s unlikely you’ll see agaunt knight tilting at them.
And you’ll see flocks of Manchegasheep, the ancient breed that has survived
— and thrived — on the plateau for mil-lennia and whose milk is required to makeManchego cheese. Archeologists havefound evidence of the cheese and theManchegas’ ancestors dating back to theBronze Age.
Queso Manchego was granted PDO— Protected Designation of Origin — sta-tus in 1984. To earn the PDO, the cheesemust be made in La Mancha solely ofwhole milk from Manchega sheep and
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then aged in La Mancha’s natural caves fora minimum of two months. Today you canfind Manchego made from raw milk andfrom pasteurized milk. Since the raw-milkcheese ages for more than 60 days, it canbe brought into this country. Raw-milkManchego will have more complexity,more nuance, and more character than itspasteurized commodity cousin. The rawmilk retains the idiosyncratic notes of thewild grasses and herbs eaten by the sheep.
Wheels of Manchego weigh approxi-mately three kilos — a bit over 61⁄2 pounds— and have an inedible rind with a distinc-tive herringbone or zigzag pattern. Theshape and rind pattern reflect the tradi-tional molds made of esparto grass thatdate back to the Bronze Age. During theaging process, the cheeses are pressed topand bottom with boards that impartwheat-ear patterns and lines that dividethe cheese into four equal parts.
Two months in the cave earns PDOstatus, but it takes time and skill to createone of the world’s great sheep milkcheeses. If aged for three to six months,you get Manchego Curado, which is semi-cured. That means it’s about halfway tobeing completely solid. It breaks easily andhas just a hint of yellow in the paste. It’smild, tastes nutty and has a smooth,creamy mouthfeel. Manchego Curadomelts beautifully and is a wonderful cook-ing cheese.
But if the cheese is allowed a year inthe caves, it transforms into the extraordi-nary Manchego Viejo. It has completelycured and the texture is harder with acrumbly texture. The paste is now a richyellow and the taste has grown complexand salty with a sharp edge and intensespiciness. It can be grated and used to fin-ish a variety to dishes, but this is a cheeseto eat on its own. It’s the cheese that mostoften appears on tapas plates, accompa-nied by rustic bread and Spanish favoritesthat share its terroir — Serrano ham,Ibérico de Bellota (if you’re feeling flush),marcona almonds or dulce de membrillo(quince paste). Pair it with a glass of Rioja;
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there are some extraordinary optionsavailable in this country now, including the2001 Rioja Gran Reserva from Bodegas
Ontañan, the 2001 Rioja Gran Reservaand 2008 Rioja Cosecha from BodegasMuriel, and the 2005 Rioja Reserva fro
Bodegas Valdemar. Or you can go anotherdirection and opt for fino, amontillado, ordry oloroso Sherry or a Montilla. DB
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With the surge in American artisancheesemaking, many cheesemakersare looking to launch their owncheese caves so they can exercisecontrol over the process from begin-
ning to end. Other businesses have launchedcheese caves because they’re specialists inthe art and science of aging cheeses, morecommonly called affinage. Affinage is the methodical aging or ripen-
ing of cheese; the word affinage comes fromthe French word affiner, which means torefine. From the moment fresh molded curdis salted and put into a special aging chamberto age until the moment it leaves to be pack-
American Cheese CavesAging cheese is as significant as making cheeseBY CHARLIE KALISH
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aged and sold, that cheese is said to beundergoing affinage. Affinage may involveturning, washing, brushing, sprinkling withherbs — really any treatment the affineur(the cheese ager) performs on the cheese.Affinage is an essential step in a cheese’sdevelopment — all cheeses require a mini-mum amount of aging and care to acquiretheir defining features, in other words, theirflavor profile, texture, and aroma.Operating cheese caves is more compli-
cated — and more expensive — than dig-ging a hole in the ground or blasting a hole insome rock. Aging cheese effectively requiresexpertise, capital investment and planning,
not to mention a whole lot of hard work. Inthe United States, four companies are lead-ing the way in affinage: Bleu Mont Dairy,Caves of Faribault, Cellars of Jasper Hill,and Murray’s Cheese.
Bleu Mont DairyBleu Mont Dairy, located in Blue
Mounds, WI, is owned and operated by WilliLehner, a second generation Swiss-Ameri-can cheesemaker. His father, a Swiss immi-grant, moved to Wisconsin in the early1950s to manage a cheese factory. Theyoung Lehner trained alongside his father as a cheesemaker before traveling to Switzer-
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land where he learned to make traditionalSwiss cheeses in a copper vat over a woodfire. While in Switzerland, he made the con-nection between the cheese and what thecows eat. Today, he works with five differentdairies to produce a line of artisan cheesesthat he ages in his own cave.In the cheese industry, the term “cave” is
often used loosely. Just as it can indicate anatural underground cavern — like the cavesof Roquefort in France — it can also refer toa walk-in refrigerator. Lehner’s cave, whichwas dug out of a hillside in 2006, is man-made and indeed, situated underground. Theinsulation provided by the earth piled over thecave walls is so good that he manages tomaintain a near-constant temperature andhumidity within the cave year-round, despiteWisconsin’s immense seasonal temperatureswings.“The cheeses love the environment they
have in the cave,” says Lehner. “It can betwo degrees below zero outside but in thecave it’s around 52.”The facility, 1,600 square feet in all, is
ovular in shape and divided into two sectionsby a constructed wood barrier. On one sideis Cave 1, the washed rind cave; on the otherside Cave 2, where Lehner stores his nat-ural-rind cheeses, allows molds native to thecave and bioregion to flourish.Cheeses of different varieties are gener-
ally aged in separate chambers because opti-mal conditions for microbial environments onand within each type of cheese tend to differone to the next. Such is the case at BleuMont Dairy. Lehner says his washed-rindcheeses thrive under high humidity, around96 to 98 percent, while his natural-rindcheeses tend to do better with slightly lowerhumidity, 85 to 90 percent. The differences,he says, are apparent right away.“A lot of the transformation happens
because of the molds that grow on the sur-face of the cheese,” explains Lehner. “Thefirst three to four months, there’s this ongo-ing procession of various molds. You can seethe changes over time. There is literally awar on the surface of the cheese as the foodsource and the surface of the cheese change.“Because we’re aging the cheese at an
average temperature of 55°, that’s a wonder-ful temperature for the enzymes to be chang-ing the flavors and texture of the cheese. If Igive the cheese the proper environment, pro-vided that the cheese is made with goodquality milk, it’s hard to screw it up.“The raw-milk cheeses that I make from
cow and sheep milk are my favorite,” statesLehner. “However, my claim to fame is myBandaged Cheddar.”Of all the affinage companies in the coun-
try, Bleu Mont Dairy is probably one of the
smallest yet for being a one-man show, it’salso one of the most impressive.
The Caves of FaribaultThe Saint Peter sandstone caves of
Faribault, MN, have been used to age bluecheese since the 1930s, when a man by thename of Felix Frederikson made them thesite of the country’s first domestic cave-agedblues. Blue cheeses were aged in the Farib-ault caves until the 1990s, when anothercheese company bought them and then shutthem down after moving operations out ofstate. In 2001, the caves were reopened bythe Faribault Dairy Company, Inc. (nowknown as Caves of Faribault) and have sincebeen producing some of the country’s finest,aged domestic blue cheese.The Caves of Faribault specializes in
aging, but the company also produces itsown cheese. Among the cheeses made andaged by the Caves of Faribault are AmabluBlue Cheese (aged 75 days), AmaGorg Gor-gonzola (90 days) and Saint-Pete’s Select(100 days). The latest addition, the result of acollaboration with Jeff Wideman, mastercheesemaker at Maple Leaf Cheese in Wis-consin, is Jeff ’s Select, a sharp, creamy-in-the-mouth Gouda aged nine months. Thecheese is named after Jeff Wideman andafter Jeff Jirik, who oversees their aging atthe Caves of Faribault.What has made the Caves of Faribault
such a desirable location for aging bluecheese, Jirik says, is its Saint Peter sandstonedeposits, a unique geological feature that
provides optimal conditions for cave-aging.“What’s cool about it is it’s very pure,”
says Jirik. “It’s 99 percent silicon dioxide.”Fewer impurities, he says, mean strongercave walls, and because pure sand is biologi-cally inert, it’s also more hygienic.“Number two,” he adds “[Saint Peter
sandstone] is slightly acidic, because after thewater percolates through it after rainfall, itproduces carbonic acid.” This acidity assiststhe cheeses by pulling ammonia — a byprod-uct of fermentation — out of the air in a nat-ural process that returns nitrogen harmlesslyinto the atmosphere.“The third thing is, because of how clean
it is and its density, it’s self-supporting in agothic arch. None of our caves have support— they’re hewn out of the solid rock. Thefourth thing is that the caves maintain a con-stant temperature and humidity.”The natural temperature in the caves is
52° F, ideal for aging (read: natural refrigera-tor). The relative humidity: a whopping 99.9percent.“We didn’t believe that number until it
took me about three or four recordinghygrometers [breaking down] before I real-ized they couldn’t take that level of humid-ity,” laughs Jirik.The success of the Caves of Faribault is a
combination of the right place, the right peo-ple, and the right product. All these factorshave to come together to make a successfulaffinage company because in affinage, consis-tency is everything. The Caves of Faribaultwork hard, and employ a great deal of knowl-
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edge, to produce its line of cheeses.They are truly American originals.
Cellars of Jasper HillLocated in Greensboro in the
heart of Vermont’s Northeast King-dom is Cellars of Jasper Hill, a com-pany making waves across the coun-try and around the world with its lineof outstanding aged, artisan cheeses.Jasper Hill Farm (precursor to theCellars) was founded in May 2003 bybrothers Andy and Mateo Kehler. In2006, the brothers had their firstmajor breakthrough: a Best in Showribbon at the annual AmericanCheese Society (ACS) competition.The cheese: Cabot ClothboundCheddar, a toothsome, 40-pound,muslin cloth-wrapped round pro-duced by nearby Cabot Creameryand then aged for 10 to 15 months atJasper Hill.
Since 2006, Jasper Hill hasexpanded, in the process bringing onadditional staff, developing newcheeses, and constructing a 22,000-square-foot underground, state-of-the-art aging facility, which includesseven separate aging chambers or vaults.Nine different cheeses are aged in the Cellars,five of which are made onsite; the other fourare sourced from nearby producers: CabotCreamery, Landaff Creamery, ScholtenFamily Farm and von Trapp Farmstead.
Working with small-scale, local producersis central to the Cellars’ mission. The com-pany sees itself as a “bridge between small-scale production and large-scale markets.”The cheeses are all artisan and vary in type,from small-format bloomy rinds wrapped inspruce bark (Harbison) to Appenzeller-stylealpine cheeses (Alpha Tolman). Each is rele-gated to vaults of varying temperature andhumidity, optimized for each respectivecheese’s maturation.
Touring the aging facility at Cellars ofJasper Hill, one cannot escape a feeling ofawe. Vaulted ceilings tower dozens of feetoverhead, and thousands of pounds of deli-cious, artisan cheese slowly mature to per-fection. In the bloomy-rind vault are tworows of mobile racks loaded with fresh andwhite-bloomy cheeses. A veil of mist hoversin the washed-rind vault. In Vault 7, aworker pierces a table’s worth of BayleyHazen Blue with a stainless steel spike, aprocess that facilitates the development ofblue veins. In every vault, employees arebusy at work, turning, brushing, washing,and piercing cheeses.
Over the course of aging, the cheeses areroutinely tested by the Cellars’ staff for qual-
ity control. The tasters look at each sample’sflavor profile, texture and aroma, then comeup with a course of action. For example, thecheese may be perfect but need to sit in thecave for another week; or maybe it needs tobe shipped out right away. If a flavor needstweaking, they can look at the records fromthe cheese’s make and work with thecheesemakers and affineurs to come up witha solution, which might involve increasingthe humidity of the cave or cutting the curdinto smaller pieces.
Murray’s CheeseBleu Mont Diary, Caves of Faribault and
the Cellars of Jasper Hill are all companiesthat produce and age their own cheese.Murray’s Cheese, located on Bleeker Streetin Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, operateson a very different model: Rather than mak-ing and aging cheese, it specializes in agingand selling cheese. Murray’s is an urban retailshop that several years ago decided to startup its own in-house affinage.
The original goal when the caves werebuilt in 2004, says Brian Ralph, Murray’scave manager, was “to store the cheese inbest condition [and] distribute humidity andairflow properly.” Over the years, the caveshave become increasingly specialized, witheach cave tailored to the products Murray’sselectively ages in the caves: 152 differentcheeses, about 15 of which are bought freshand aged to full maturity.
Murray’s has f ive caves, eachequipped with a cooling unit to main-tain the low temperature needed foraging. A single humidifier generatesvapor, which is distributed room toroom through a series of tubes insidethe ceiling. Cave 1, “the fridge,” is akept at cold temperatures. Used forstorage of fresh cheeses, it also dou-bles as a drying room. Caves 2, 3 and4 house washed-rind, bloomy-rind andnatural-rind cheeses, respectively;Cave 5 is for the big boys: large-for-mat cheeses such as bandaged-wrapped Cheddars and ParmigianoReggiano.
All the caves have vaulted ceilings,which help air flow, and walls madefrom porous concrete, which has thebeneficial effect of buffering the caves’humidity by “breathing.” These fea-tures are vital to the proper function-ing of the caves, but most importantto Murray’s affinage isn’t what is builtinto the facility, but what is livinginside it.
“Microflora is behind the founda-tion of the caves and cave aging,”explains Ralph. “We have a series of
different environments that are suited to dif-ferent types of microflora on each of thecheeses we mature. For some, we have toculture our caves with distinct molds andyeast; for others, we depend on the naturalmicrofloras that have cultured our caves foryears to provide our product distinct andunique flavors.”
“For example, we depend on themicroflora in Cave 2 to give C Local — oneof Murray’s signature cheeses — its distinctorange hue, buttered truffle flavor from therind and to break down a thin cream line intothe paste.”
Like Neal’s Yard Dairy in London, theUnited Kingdom’s No. 1 cheese aging com-pany, Murray’s does not make its owncheese. If there’s an issue with a cheese, thefolks at Murray’s cannot simply walk into themake-room, like the folks at Jasper Hill, andstart making changes. Instead, their influencein driving a consistent product comesthrough close relationships and trust.
Our relationships, says Ralph, are “over-all, very tight, especially with domestic pro-ducers. We’re finding that as our programprogresses and becomes stronger, producersare more willing to let us age their cheeseexclusively or in full confidence that we’llpromote the end product in its best light toour customers. This makes customers wantto come back for that product again andagain, which is good for us and good for theproducers.” DB
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D E L I M E A T S
Deli Meat RoundupFinding prime opportunities in a tough economy
BY BOB JOHNSON
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The market for deli meat, like itsproduct, is not a single whole.Instead, it’s sliced into severaldifferent markets to satisfy dif-ferent consumer desires.
Many customers are responding toeconomic uncertainty by looking for themost economical deli meat alternatives.But there are also consumers demandingthe highest quality meats in order to gettheir money’s worth. High quality cantranslate into the cut, the processing oreven the grass the animal walked on.This all adds up to a complex and some-times confusing set of decisions as towhich markets deserve priority.
“When it comes to market position-ing, it does seem to be all of the above.Some chains are focusing on high end,some on the value end, and some havea mix,” says Alan Hiebert, senior coordi-nator for education at the InternationalDairy-Deli-Bakery Association (IDDBA),Madison, WI. “Obviously, each chain —and each store within that chain —needs to be aware of its shopper baseand what the neighborhood around thelocation looks like.” Of utmost impor-tance is knowing which consumers arecoming to the deli, and which meat prod-ucts suit their needs and desires.
According to James Dickman, CEO ofCharlie’s Pride Meats, Vernon, CA, “Retail-ers are targeting their customers better.Some look to sell the economy end ofproducts with no frills and just lowestcost positioning; others look to attractthe customer looking for gourmet itemsor a specialty niche. Then there are someretailers that are looking for the morehealthful, younger customer who doesread label ingredients with vigor. Andfinally there are the ‘hybrids’ where theymay feature one or more of the variouscategories I mention and do not fall intoany one category.”
There is little forgiveness for poormarket choices because, while importantgrowing opportunities in deli meat stilldo exist, sales overall have plateaued, orworse. “Pound and dollar sales are prettyflat, and same store sales are down 2percent. It’s flat; it’s a matter of the econ-omy,” says Steve Riley, marketing man-ager at Dietz & Watson, headquartered inPhiladelphia, PA.
What Price Value?A good starting point in developing a
strategy is learning what consumers meanby value. For some, value means findingan affordable price in difficult economictimes; for others, value means finding
superior quality to justify the price. “Quality and innovation are the cur-
rent trends in deli meats. There seem tobe two factions that are growing rightnow — the folks who want the inexpen-sive, no-frills products and the folks whoare willing to indulge in the moregourmet or ‘natural’ types of deli prod-ucts,” Dickman explains.
Industry-wide research confirms botha general cost consciousness and differ-ent consumers looking for value in differ-ent places. According to Hiebert, “IDDBAresearch has shown price is the mostimportant factor when shoppers choosetheir delis and when they choose tomake a purchase. That doesn’t necessar-ily mean shoppers aren’t interested inhigh-quality meats, but it does meanthey’re looking closely at prices through-out the deli.”
The economy has created opportuni-ties for deli poultry products that areboth affordable and interesting. Dietz &Watson has, for example, enjoyed goodresponse to new chicken products includ-ing chicken Parmesan, Buffalo chickenand chicken sausage. “Bulk chicken hascontinued to show growth, both inpounds and dollars. All of our newchicken products are doing very well.Chicken is very popular,” Riley says.
At the other end of the price spec-trum, some producers have experienceddemand for their select deli meats.“We’re seeing a move to high-qualityproducts,” says Guy Giordano, presidentof Vincent Giordano Corporation, Phila-delphia, PA. “We’re seeing that people
want to get something for their money.The price difference isn’t that much, soyou might as well pay a little extra forthe highest quality.”
One quality characteristic that contin-ues to gain momentum is a verifiableclaim that the meat is natural all the wayfrom the pasture to the plate. “We findconsumers are willing to pay a premiumfor pure, wholesome, natural deli meatsfrom a trusted brand with a sustainablefarm-to-table story,” says Barb Quijano,vice president of marketing and keyaccounts at Hain Pure Protein Corp.,Fredericksburg, PA.
Clean And SafeAll natural has become an important
— albeit vague — category so it’s essen-tial descriptions of what is meant by allnatural be as easy as possible for thecustomer to understand.
“‘Clean’ labeling is another term thatmeans different things to different peo-ple,” says Hiebert. “For the most part, itmeans people are looking for productsthat are minimally processed. The mostcommon metric is the number of itemson the ingredient list. In the deli meatsegment, particularly in the service case,many products are sold without nutritionor ingredient labels. Today’s information-hungry shoppers should be able to findnutrition information for every productthey’re considering. That means storesshould have information available in writ-ing, on their websites, and available formobile devices.”
Among a growing number of con-
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sumers, all natural begins with the livingconditions for the animals on the farm.“Demand for products that consumersfeel good about serving their families,sourced from credible suppliers whoraise animals humanely, is the growingtrend,” Quijano says. “Plainville Farmsfocuses on providing retailers with all-natural ingredient deli meats producedfrom turkey raised on our family-ownedfarms. The turkeys are raised without theuse of antibiotics, are fed a 100 percentvegetarian diet, and humanely raised in alow-stress environment. Retailers not car-rying all-natural ingredient, antibiotic-freedeli meats are providing a disservice totheir customers.”
High-pressure pasteurization is animportant way to preserve shelf life —and reduce shrink — without usingchemical preservatives. The process,called Pascalization, submits food prod-ucts to extremely high pressure that killspathogens without using heat or chemi-cals. “It’s definitely a safety advantageand also a shelf-life advantage” Giordanoexplains. “It can extend shelf life three orfour times without additives. You get aclean product and, if you refrigerate itright, you get almost no shrink. I thinkretailers will demand it in the future. Wewere one of the first to be doing high-pressure pasteurization and one of thefirst letting our customers know we aredoing it.”
The importance of transparency isgrowing. “The big thing we’re seeing isinterest in food safety and the GlobalFood Safety Initiative. A lot of retailers
are requiring Safe Quality Food andGlobal Food Safety Initiative certificationsnow,” Giordano continues. “It takes acommitment to changing the culture inyour facility from the top to the bottom,from management to the guy sweepingthe floor. It also takes a lot of documen-tation — if it’s worth doing, it’s worthwriting down.”
Other TrendsBecause consumers are a busy bunch,
demand continues for meat products thatstreamline sandwich or meal making.And the convenience of pre-sliced meatshas garnered them accolades. “Pre-slicedmeat sales have increased. It’s the newcustomer looking for ease of shopping.Generation X and Y are doing more shop-ping, and people are looking for some-thing quick and easy,” says Dietz & Wat-son’s Riley.
Pre-sliced packages of all-naturalmeats that do not have chemical preserv-atives can also help manage potentialshrink problems. “If shrinking bulk prod-uct is the deterrent, offer pre-sliced pack-ages as an option,” Quijano advises.
A number of producers are offeringpromotions targeting consumers whoprize convenience. “Retailers are lookingfor innovative ways to get folks into theirhot and cold delis,” says Dickman. “Pro-motions such as Charlie’s Pride meatsand Italian gravy entice customers tocome in and buy our roast beef at thelocal service deli. The promotion is buythe roast beef and get a package of freegravy for your family. People love it, and
it’s fast and easy to prepare as well.”One facet of the deli meat category
enjoying unprecedented popularity is His-panic meat products. “All Hispanic itemsseem to be on the upward trend ofthings. Old fashioned deli items are atbest holding their own or declining insales volume,” Dickman adds.
This is part of a general trend towarddeli products, including meats, thatmatch the ethnic diversity of the country.“Overall, people are eating more ethnicand ethnic-inspired foods. What’s inStore 2013, the latest edition of IDDBA’sannual trends report, indicated a surge inethnic-inspired flavors hitting the deli,including Asian, Mediterranean and Mexi-can flavor characteristics,” says Hiebert.“Studies also show that a majority ofhouseholds in the United States makesome kind of ethnic meal regularly. Nowwe’re seeing young adults who grew upeating ethnic or ethnic-inspired mealslooking for familiar ethnic flavors. Andthere are plenty of young adults whocan’t or don’t want to cook. They’re look-ing for ready-to-eat options that fit theirpalates.”
Another growing trend is locally pro-duced meats. And, as with all natural, itcan be well worth the time to clearlycommunicate what local means.
“We’re seeing interest from shoppersin locally produced products and in cleanlabels,” Hiebert continues. “It’s not feasi-ble for most stores to carry exclusivelylocally produced deli meats, not to men-tion the fact that different people havedifferent definitions of local. For one per-son, it means buying lunch meat from afarmers market, while it may mean buy-ing from a locally owned business toanother. Overall, however, there is aninterest in eating products that were pro-duced as close to home as possible.There’s a move in some cities back toneighborhood butcher shops and bak-eries where shoppers can feel like they’redeveloping a relationship and buyingfrom friends. These days, such neighbor-hood products are often available inlocal supermarkets.”
But even with tough economics andshifting consumer tastes, deli meatcomes back largely to doing a good jobof presenting the long-time favorites.
“There are always new flavors when itcomes to deli meats, but the perennialbest-selling varieties are turkey, ham, androast beef. Historically, turkey has been agood canvas for flavors, which mayexplain some of its popularity,” Hiebertadds. DB
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86 DELI BUSINESS JUNE/JULY 2013
Easy Peasy Wings & RibsPopular barbecued ribs and wings offer deli sales opportunities
BY BARBARA ROBISON
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Consumer interest in barbecuedribs and wings sold in the delihas increased with the popular-ity of prepared foods for take-out meals and casual entertain-
ing. More and more supermarket delis arefeaturing barbecued ribs or wings in spe-cial promotions, often combining themwith other deli items for complete pre-pared meals, but these proteins still offersubstantial opportunities for increasedsales.
According to a 2012 study by MintelGroup Limited, a leading market researchcompany, cited in the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association’s (IDDBA) What’sIn Store 2013, only 15 percent of shop-pers surveyed purchased ribs or wings atdelis every time or most every time. Fivepercent purchased ribs or wings everytime, 10 percent purchased them most ofthe time, 32 percent purchased themsome of the time — and 53 percentnever purchased them. Creative marketingshould help reach a good number ofthose non-purchasers.
Barbecued Ribs a Deli Favorite“When purchasing ribs, consumers
want flavor and consistent quality, whichwe can provide with our decades ofexperience,” states Philip Burger, vicepresident and wholesale manager, Burg-ers’ Smokehouse, California, MO, mar-keter of specialty meats and food items.“We allow extra time for our ribs to ‘rest’prior to cooking and smoking. There aregrowth opportunities for our ribs in delisbecause we can eliminate store laborcosts, and supply consistency in theproducts.”
The signature St. Louis sauced anddry-rub ribs are its specialties. Deli oper-ators are provided with reheat instruc-tions and product specifications sheetsso they know proper storage tempera-tures, handling and re-heat procedures.“The sauced ribs are the most popular,probably due to price,” adds Burger.
St. Louis, MO, claims to have thebiggest per capita consumption of barbe-cue sauce, hence the popularity of St.Louis-style barbecued ribs.
For deli operations that prefer tosauce the ribs themselves, Ford’s Food,Inc., Raleigh, NC, markets Bone Suckin’Sauce, which is available in degrees ofheat for marinating ribs and wings. “It’san excellent all-natural sauce, made withhoney, molasses and a tomato base.There are no preservatives and it’s avail-able in gallon and half-gallon contain-ers,” explains vice president Pat Ford.
Ford’s also offers a teriyaki sauce and amustard sauce. The company providesshelf talkers, print signs and samplingdemo suggestions.
Rib PromotionsSupermarket delis promote their BBQ
rib specialties in many ways. Kirwen’sSuper Market, an independent store inGibsonburg, OH, promotes BBQ ribs onits website, calling out its rotisserie andstating that it roasts whole chickens,chicken parts and ribs in the rotisseriedaily. “Hot and ready daily for a quickdinner,” it adds.
Dierbergs, a supermarket chain head-quartered in Chesterfield, MO, promotesBob’s Signature Smokehouse Barbecueon its website. A platter of baby backribs is pictured, along with a descriptionof the smoking process used in cookingthem. The ribs are smoked slowly oversweet apple and cherry wood.
Surf Supermarket, Gualala, CA, barbe-
cues ribs in its parking lot on many week-ends. The grill is started at 7:00 AM andthe ribs are ready at 11:00. Customerscome from all over and are enthusiastic,with comments such as “BBQ outside isso good it is difficult to justify cooking”and “Absolutely worth it.”
Chicken Wings Are HotChicken wings are one of the hottest
food trends. They’re ideal for grab-and-godinners or casual gatherings anytime.IDDBA’s What’s In Store 2013 reportedthat according to the Nielsen PerishableGroup, in the 52 weeks ending Feb, 25,2012, fresh chicken wing dollar salesincreased 7.9 percent while volume salesrose 17.1 percent in traditional supermar-kets. Attributed to that growth is a 7.8percent dip in the average price. Theytold the Los Angeles Times that about 36billion wing segments in the UnitedStates sold last year amounting to 115wing parts per person.
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The National Chicken Council’s (NCC)2012 Wing Report predicted more than1.25 billion wing portions would be con-sumed during Super Bowl weekend in2012, totaling more than 100 millionpounds of wings. About half would beordered from restaurants and half pur-chased from grocery stores.
While the Super Bowl period is agreat time to enjoy chicken wings, manyother occasions throughout the year lendthemselves to serving chicken wings.Memorial Day, graduation festivities,wedding showers, Father’s Day, Fourth ofJuly gatherings, and Labor Day picnicsare all occasions for delis to promotebarbecued chicken wings (as well as fla-vorful ribs).
“Our wings are precooked andsauced, then frozen and packaged inbulk boxes,” says Scott Worthington,director of foodservice sales, FosterFarms, Livingston, CA. “All the deli opera-tor needs to do at store level is heat andserve. Sometimes raw wings are frozenand the operation uses its own sauce forbarbecuing. The advantages we see to
having the wings already pre-cooked andsauced is that less labor is required andthe product is more consistent. We haveseveral flavors for the wings, such as hotor mild, honey BBQ and, of course, Buf-falo wings are very popular. We also doproprietary sauce blends for a customer.Sometimes we get requests for smaller
packs so the operator does not need tothaw as many wings at one time. Ourrelationship with our customers involvesproviding greater efficiencies in the useof the product and labor.”
Wing-Time, Inc., Steamboat Springs,CO, a marketer of chicken wing sauces,often starts on the retail grocery side. “If
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they like the sauces, they ask if we havea foodservice size product. Then we’reintroduced into the deli area, where weare now doing a lot of business. We havea variety of sauce flavors, from the mildto hot and super hot, a Buffalo sauce, aJamaican jerk sauce, as well as one withgarlic and Parmesan cheese. Our saucesare designed for chicken, tangy but notsweet, whereas the rib sauces are usually
sweeter,” says Terry Brown, founder,owner and sauce creator.
The company doesn’t have a formaltraining program for deli operators butworks closely with its customers on howto apply its premium sauce to the wings.“Chicken wing bars, offering a variety offlavors, have become popular with somemarkets and we help them with the useof our sauces,” Brown adds.
Wing PromotionsIDDBA’ What’s In Store 2013 cites
information from Technomics MenuMoni-tor online menu tracking resource that agood way to spur wing sales has beenlimited time offers promoting new wingflavors, with 28 percent of sales comingfrom such promotions.
One Southern California market chain’sdeli recently offered 11⁄2 pounds of bone-less chicken wings for $5 on their $5special Friday. Two chicken wings werealso included in an 8-piece chicken spe-cial, with two side dishes or a 1-pounddeli salad for $9.99. A drink, rolls, breador tortillas could be added for 99¢.
Publix Supermarket, based in Lake-land, FL, has offered Signature PublixDeli Wings, which are double hand-breaded and “fried to perfection.” They’reserved fresh chilled, with barbecue, bluecheese, ranch, honey mustard, or Buffalosauce.
Ingles Markets, based in Asheville, NC,has promoted a Boneless Wing Tray in asmall, medium or large size. It’s adver-tised as “a platter piled high with fresh,tender boneless wings, dipped in zestysauce of your choice, accompanied byfresh carrots and celery from our ownElmer’s Produce Department. Great forany get together!” The company also haspromoted a Chicken Wing Combo withspicy chicken wings, chicken drumettes,fresh carrots and celery and a deli dip. A“Touchdown Pack” promotion included50 chicken wings, 30 chicken tenders,fresh carrots and celery, a dipping sauceand a bag of tortilla chips with salsa.
Cross-Merchandising Can Build SalesBarbecued ribs and chicken wings
offer cross-merchandising opportunitiesto sell other deli items in combo-mealpromotions. Ribs and wings combinewell with beans, potato dishes, quinoaand other grain specialties in the servicedeli, as well as slaw, potato salad andchilled desserts from the self-serve deliarea. Offering complete green salad kitsfrom the produce department might addan interesting departure for a promotion.
“When an identification tag is usedon our BBQ ribs in the delis, consumerswho like the products will often purchaseour BBQ ribs in the meat department forpreparation at home,” comments Burgerof Burgers’ Smokehouse. Or it can workin reverse, especially for a busy con-sumer who initially likes the product pur-chased in the meat department and thenbuys the same product ready-to-servefrom the deli. DB
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92 DELI BUSINESS JUNE/JULY 2013
The Exquisite Ibérico de BellotaThe world’s most exceptional, most expensive dry-cured ham
BY LEE SMITH
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It was close to eight years ago duringa trip to the Italian trade show Cibusthat I had my first taste of Ibérico deBellota — the precious dry-curedham of Spain. Someone had told me
a booth was giving away samples and Ialmost didn’t stop because there wassuch a large crowd of people seeminglybegging for a small sliver.
But given the enthusiastic praise I hadheard, I waited my turn — and wastransported to culinary heaven. So smit-ten was I with Ibérico de Bellota that Iwaited until the afternoon of the last dayof the show, when few crowds remained,to speak with a company representative.
Fortunately, I was able to spend sometime with the experts to learn about thisrarest, most expensive dry-cured ham inthe world. The whole ham was dark red,long and lean with a black hoof attachedto the end of the leg. The taste was rich,almost creamy thanks to the marbled lay-ers of fat, but what really stood out wasa nutty sweetness hidden under complexlayers of flavor.
The nutty sweetness comes from adiet high in bellota — the acorns of theDehesa, the native oak forests of Spainand Portugal.
I was told Ibérico de Bellota was veryexpensive with a very limited supply andwould never be exported the UnitedStates. So for years I waited, looking forIbérico de Bellota at every Europeantrade show, in every fine food shop, onevery restaurant menu.
Then I received a long-hoped-for emailfrom Michelle Buster of Forever Cheese,an importer of Spanish specialties.“Ibérico de Bellota is now available bothfresh and dry-cured,” the message read.
The journey to appreciate this culinarytreasure must begin with the pig. Thenthe trip moves to the ancient oak forestsof Spain and on to the acorns. This is astory as complex as the ham itself.
The Ibérico PigThe Ibérico is Spain’s original native
pig with a recorded history that goes asfar back as the country’s Neolithic cavepaintings. The Ibérico hog is a large,black, muscular, almost hairless animalwith long legs and a pointed snout. It isan unusually calm pig; ranchers and visi-tors can easily walk around a drove with-out fear of being attacked, most unusualin the world of hogs.
By the way, a group of pigs, or swineas they’re also known, can be called adrove, a passel or a sounder. All are cor-rect and using the proper term is sure to
impress any vendor or salesperson.The hoof of the Ibérico is black, which
is where the term pata negra comesfrom. Pata negra refers to the hoof thatwill remain on the leg during the entirecuring process and the term is oftenused to describe Spanish ham. But becareful, because the term can be ambigu-ous; there’s no guarantee that hamlabeled pata negra is authentic Ibérico deBellota. It just means black hoof. Not allIbérico pigs are black and not all blackpigs are Ibérico.
The Ibérico is more than just anunusual looking pig — structurally it isalso quite different from other breeds.Genetically, the Ibérico’s fat is intramus-cular. While most pigs put on fat that’sdeposited on top of muscle and underthe skin, the Ibérico’s fat in distributedthroughout the meat. What’s more, inorder for the pig to put on fat, it mustwalk, generally around 10 miles a day. Sothese animals are athletic foragers. Theyneed to increase muscle in order to addthe fat that adds the sweetness.
The Ibérico’s fat makes its meat thehealthiest in the world. Its fat is 65 per-cent oleic acid due to the pig’s consump-
tion of acorns. In Spain, the Ibérico isknown as the four-legged olive tree.
Oleic acid is a monounsaturated fattyacid found naturally in many plantsources but it’s very unusual to find it inanimal fats. Oleic acid can lower totalcholesterol counts and increase the lev-els of HDL while lowering the levels ofLDL — the bad cholesterol.
In addition to the dry-cured, Ibérico isalso now available in its raw form, knownas Ibérico Fresco. High-end restaurantsare beginning to feature it on theirmenus. Like the dry-cured, the raw meatis a deep red. Beautifully marbled, it’ssweet and fork tender. Most people see-ing a dish made with Ibérico Fresco maymisidentify it as beef or venison. TopSpanish chefs strongly recommend neverusing Ibérico in a well-done preparation.It must be served rare to appreciate itsextraordinarily fine qualities and preservethe fat. The fat has a very low meltingpoint so it must be cooked quickly overhigh heat. After all, it’s the fat that makesthis meat so healthy and delicious.
The DehesaThe Dehesa — the oak forest of Spain
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— is a land that lives in ecological har-mony. The original oak woodland, knownas the encina, was a primeval forest thatstretched over much of Europe and cov-ered wide swaths of Spain. Humanencroachment — wars, farming, the needfor more pastureland — resulted in thedemise of the continent’s great forests.
A remnant of the encina covers aboutfive million acres in modern Spain, bor-dering on Portugal. Today, due to carefulmanagement, the Dehesa is a tree-cov-ered area of meadows, grasslands andancient oak trees. The area is home tomany animals other than the Ibérico pig.It’s an important bird sanctuary forEurope and provides natural areas forbirds that migrate south for the winter.
Because of the increased interest inIbérico pork and the commitment of porkproducers, this unique ecosystem is pro-tected for its economic value, providingimportant jobs for young people.
Here — and only here — can the trueIbérico pig survive. The oak trees thatproduce acorns in abundance are nativeto the area. These acorns are quite a bitlarger than the acorns produced by Amer-ican oak trees. They’re also very high infatty acids, especially the much desiredoleic acid. These are the acorns responsi-ble for the sweet nuttiness of Ibéricoham, and the pigs need the acorns tothrive.
The Ibérico pigs have developedsome unique feeding mechanisms. Justlike the shell of any nut, the acorn hull isnot easily digestible. The Ibéricos havedeveloped the ability to separate thenutmeat from the shell, crushing the nutsand spitting out the shells from the sidesof their mouths — and preventing belly-aches in the process.
The Ibéricos are free-ranging pigs, eat-ing grasses, wild legumes and the occa-sional grub. Each day during acorn sea-
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son, the pigs will walk about 10 miles,eat 22 pounds of acorns and put onabout 2.2 pounds of intramuscular fat fortheir efforts.
Selling IbéricoThis is where it gets a little tricky.
While the nomenclature is very clear, itcan be somewhat confusing to an unedu-cated buyer. The top of the line is “PureIbérico.” Representing only 8 percent ofproduction, this is highly sought afterand very expensive.The next level is “Ibérico.” Ibérico
pigs are often crossbred with other
breeds, usually the White Duroc and theresulting meat has less fat. There aregood reasons for crossbreeding — itadds a degree of flexibility. White Duroccrosses, for example, have larger littersand more meat, making them commer-cially more viable. The pure Ibérico needs14 to 18 months to grow up, while theIbérico crosses need only nine to 10months.Laws regarding the percentage of
Ibérico are very strict; the pig must be atleast 25 percent Ibérico to be calledIbérico.Serrano ham from Spain is more com-
mon, less expensive and readily avail-able. It’s delicious and well worth thetime to find a good source of supply, butit’s not Ibérico. There is no such thing asIbérico Serrano.The other term often used is pata
negra or black hoof. Of course, a Spanishpata negra may be delicious, but theterm is often tossed around with a winkand smile, leading the unwary to believethey’re purchasing Ibérico or even thebest of the Ibérico. Just not true.Whether you sell Pure Ibérico or
Ibérico ham, the eating experience isamazing. DB
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......................................................................Deli Breads ......................................................................773-826-1245Sandridge Food Corporation ............................................47 ............................................................................Soups ......................................................................330-764-6178Sargento ......................................................................15 ........................................................Home Meal Solutions ......................................................................920-892-3673Arthur Schuman, Inc. ......................................................12 ..............................................................Specialty Cheese ......................................................................973-227-0030Seacrest Foods International Inc. ......................................76............................................................Manchiego Cheese ......................................................................781-581-2066Select Store Brands ..........................................................5 ................................................................Dips & Spreads ......................................................................877-980-4295Swiss Valley Farms ........................................................10............................................................................Cheese ......................................................................800-325-8150TH Foods, Inc. ..............................................................81 ..........................................................................Crackers ......................................................................800-896-2396Toufayan Bakeries, Inc. ..................................................43 ............................................................................Bakery ......................................................................800-328-7482Tribe Mediterranean Foods ..............................................39 ........................................................................Hummus ......................................................................800-8-HUMMUSVentura Foods, LLC ........................................................19 ..................................................Shortening, Oils, Spreads ......................................................................877-VENTURAVincent Giordano............................................................31 ..............................................High Pressure Pasteurization ......................................................................215-467-6629
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GENERAL POLICIESAdvertisers and advertising agencies agree and accept responsibility for all statements and product claims made in their advertisements for themselves or their organizations. The publisher
is not responsible, nor does he necessarily agree with any of the opinions or statements expressed in such advertisements. Advertisers and advertising agencies agree to accept responsibility forall content of such advertisements, and agree to assume liability involving any claims arising from such advertising that are made against the publisher. Advertiser and advertising agencies agreeto indemnify the publisher and to hold him harmless and to defend him from any such claim or claims, and to be responsible for the payment of any expenses or legal fees incurred by the pub-lisher associated with such legal action or claims. The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject advertising that he believes does not meet the publication’s standards. Advertising appear-ing in editorial format may or may not be accepted by the publisher, and if published will be properly labeled “advertisement.” Publisher is not liable for non-delivery or delays, caused by anyfederal or state agency or association, or by fire, flood, riot, explosion, strike, embargo, either legal or illegal, material or labor shortage, transportation or work interruption or slowdown, orany condition or act of God affecting delivery and beyond the control of the publisher.
oufayan Bakeries, Inc., headquartered in Ridgefield NJ,began in North Bergen, NJ, as a small 3,500-square-footfacility that primarily baked pita bread. Today its threestate-of-the-art facilities total more than 500,000 squarefeet and bake a range of specialty items that include pitas,
wraps, bagels, tortillas, lavash, cookies and bread sticks.Toufayan is one of the largest family-owned baking facilities in the U.S.
And just as has been true since the company started, there's a Toufayan run-ning the place. Today it’s dad Harry, ably helped by son Gregory and daugh-ters Karen and Kristine. Harry’s father started the business in the MiddleEast in 1926, and worked until he was 94 years old. The family emigrated tothe U.S in 1963 and opened their first baking plant in this country in 1968 andsince then “families have been relyin' on the fresh taste of Toufayan!”
The company’s present-day facilities include, from left to right: Ridgefield,NJ (110,000 square feet), Orlando, FL (250,000 square feet) and Plant City,FL (155,000 square feet).
T
Blast From The Past
Toufayan Bakeries
Blast From The Past is a regular feature of DELI BUSINESS. We welcome submissions of your old photos, labels or advertisements along with a brief description of the photo. Please send material to: Editor, DELI BUSINESS, P.O. Box 810217, Boca Raton, FL 33481-0217
or e-mail [email protected]. For more information contact us at (561)994-1118.
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