Podcasts about Good Food Awards

Send us a textSummary: Sam and I talk all about chocolate and golf and the challenges of entrepreneurship!________________________________________________________Sponsor: This show is supported by the Top Five Newsletter. If you want a simple and to-the-point update on Raleigh commercial development you can subscribe to the Top Five. It's free if you want it to be!________________________________________________________Big Take Aways:- How Sam had to pivot from his original business plan.- How golf relates to life.- The power of blind foolish courage.________________________________________________________About Sam: Sam Ratto's path to the craft of making bean-to-bar chocolate started behind the wheel of a 40-foot RV. Sam used to drive that RV around America slanging skate shoes to skateboarders, surfers, snowboarders and dirt bike racers. But when Sam lost that job in the Great Recession of 2008, he relocated to Raleigh and found a part-time job roasting cacao beans for a local chocolate maker. Sam fell in love with the art and science of making bean-to-bar chocolate from sorting to roasting, grinding and tempering. He quickly started day dreaming of opening his own chocolate factory. In 2011, Sam opened Videri Chocolate Factory in downtown Raleigh, joining the ranks of the less than two dozen bean-to-bar chocolate makers in the country at the time. Videri chocolate is made with the finest cocoa beans, cocoa butter and organic cane sugar. The company does not use artificial flavorings or fillers, such as soy lecithin, xanthan gum and emulsifiers. All ingredients are thoughtfully procured, using sustainable purchasing standards. Videri's production facility is allergy friendly and the chocolates are made without tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, soy or gluten. Since 2014, Videri has won eight Good Food Awards for its chocolate bars and confections; the awards honor superior tasting products made by companies that demonstrate social and environmental responsibility. Its 4,000 square-foot facility in Raleigh's Warehouse District is home to a small batch chocolate factory, coffee shop and chocolate shop. In 2023, Videri was named one of the 10 best chocolate shops in the country by USA Today. For five years in a row, Videri has been named Best Chocolate in the Triangle in the annual readers' poll by Indy Week. Videri has also been featured in GQ, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Southern Living, Garden & Gun, Condé Nast Traveler, The Associated Press, Our State Magazine, North Carolina Weekend and many more. In 2017, the Triangle Business Journal named Ratto one of its 40 under 40 winners, which honors outstanding professionals under the age of 40 for their contributions to their organizations and to the community. In 2019, Ratto was honored by the publication in its annual CEO of the Year awards. The company has more than 20 employees and its products are available for purchase at its Raleigh location, online and at various retailers in eight states. More info: viderichocolatefactory.com. In 2024, he opened Golf Golf Golf Indoor golf lounge & club. Venturing into the golf space has always been a dream and now it is a reality for Sam Ratto. Swing on by, have a beer, high five your pals and have a blast.Connect with Sam: Videri Chocolate Factory | Golf Golf Golf | LinkedIn | Instagram Mentioned in the show:Uncommo

Few names in craft chocolate carry as much esteem as Goodnow Farms. Tom and Monica Rogan founded the company in Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 2015, and they cover pretty much the full spectrum of what bean to bar chocolate is all about in their portfolio of chocolate bars, including elegant single origin bars, classic inclusion bars with coffee, nuts, or fruit, unusual inclusions like caramelized onions or green Sichuan peppers, and bars made in collaboration with craft alcohol producers. In this episode, Monica and host David Nilsen talk about those collaborations with distilleries and cideries, the compatibility of coffee and cacao, developing unique flavor concepts, and how Tom and Monica find the right profile to let single origin beans sing. Specific bars discussed in this episode using alcohol include Lawley's Rum, Putnam Rye Whiskey, and Demon Seed made in collaboration with Boston Harbor Distillery, and Unfiltered Hard Cider made in collaboration with Downeast Cider.Other bars discussed include Caramelized Onion, Herbaceous Green Sichuan Pepper, Las Palomas Coffee, Café con Leche, El Carmen with Coffee Crunch, and a variety of single origin bars. You can learn more about Goodnow Farms and order their bars at goodnowfarms.com.Guest: Monica Rogan is the CEO, co-founder, and chocolate maker at Goodnow Farms Chocolate. Her passion for creating exceptional bean-to-bar, single origin chocolate has made her a leader in the craft chocolate industry.Monica has spent years developing strong, direct relationships with cacao farmers and producers throughout Latin America, ensuring mutually beneficial relationships and access to consistently high-quality beans. Transparency, traceability, and an emphasis on fine flavor define her approach to chocolate.Her chocolate has received seven consecutive Good Food Awards, hundreds of international fine flavor awards and a spot on Food & Wine's list of “The Best Chocolate in America.”Monica has a background in construction and real estate development, a BS from James Madison University and an MBA from Pepperdine University. While not making chocolate, Monica enjoys traveling and exploring, edible landscaping, refinishing old furniture and doing science experiments with her children and husband. Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 1256, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: My Tv Dads 1: James Gandolfini led 2 types of families, each with their own unique sets of problems, on this HBO drama. The Sopranos. 2: In "Two and a Half Men", he was just Duckie playing Alan Harper, dad to the half-man. (Jon) Cryer. 3: On this show, Will moved in with his Auntie Viv and Uncle Phil, parents to Hilary, Ashley, Nicky and dance master Carlton. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. 4: Taiwanese immigrant Louis Huang makes a go of it in 1990s Orlando with his wife and 3 sons on this ABC sitcom. Fresh Off the Boat. 5: His 2017 Emmy award as dad and son on "This Is Us" was his second in two years--for your information, the "K" is for Kelby. (Sterling K.) Brown. Round 2. Category: That Book Was A Horror! 1: Anne Rice, 1976: "Interview with" him. the Vampire. 2: Ira Levin, 1967: her "Baby". Rosemary. 3: Stephen King, 2009: "Under" this. the Dome. 4: Shirley Jackson, 1959: "The Haunting of" this "House". Hill. 5: John Wyndham, 1951: "The Day of" these invading plants. the Triffids. Round 3. Category: The Brightest Stars 1: Regulus, from the Latin Rex, for "king", is in this king of beasts. Leo. 2: It's brighter than its twin, Castor. Pollux. 3: This brightest star in our night sky shares its name with a Keanu Reeves grunge band. Dogstar. 4: This red supergiant in Orion is over 300 light years away from you, but it's much closer to Michael Keaton's heart. Betelgeuse. 5: Proxima, a component of this constellation's brightest star system, is a super close 4.3 light years away. the Centaur (Centaurus). Round 4. Category: Nom Nom Nominations 1: Alaska's Copper River Fish Market got a 2023 Good Food Award nom for its locally sourced Copper River sockeye this. salmon. 2: From 2001 to 2006, Emmy voters didn't quite get the "essence of" this chef, but in 2017... bam! he got a trophy for "Eat the World". Emeril Lagasse. 3: A 2022 Beard nominee for Outstanding Restaurant, Brennan's in New Orleans is famed for this flambéed fruit and rum dessert. bananas Foster. 4: "Beat" this chef? as a 1991 and '92 nominee for Beard's rising chef of the year, yes, but in '93? Winner winner barbecue dinner!. Bobby Flay. 5: She got a BAFTA TV must-see moment nomination for her pronunciation of "microwave" on "Cook, Eat, Repeat". Nigella Lawson. Round 5. Category: Uniquely American Literature 1: A brutal 1959 mass murder was the basis of this Truman Capote nonfiction novel. In Cold Blood. 2: A battle to keep a girl from the clutches of Satan takes place in this William Peter Blatty novel that turned heads in '71. The Exorcist. 3: In this Tom Robbins novel, Sissy Hankshaw is born with enormous thumbs and hitchhikes across America. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues . 4: One of the 2 Erskine Caldwell novels of the 1930s that were censored for their portrayals of poor whites. Tobacco Road (or God's Little Acre). 5: This American's stories like "Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?" are in a style some have called K-Mart Realism. Raymond Carver. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia!Special thanks to https://blog.feedspot.com/trivia_podcasts/ AI Voices used

Jael Skeffington is the co-founder and CEO of French Broad Chocolates in Asheville, NC. What started in 2006 as a chocolate passion and a cafe in Costa Rica with her partner Dan, has grown to 85 employees, a Chocolate Lounge & Boutique in downtown Asheville, and an experiential Chocolate Factory & Cafe. French Broad sources the finest cacao from farmers and producers in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Perú and transforms it into 50 tons of chocolate a year. They sell not only their bean-to-bar and craft chocolates online but also to wholesale partners, and they directly wholesale chocolate to other artisans, from chefs to coffee brewers, Her in-house products have won numerous Good Food Awards, and in short, Jael's world is chocolate-fueled, fueling community, a life full of flavor and connection, and the delicious potential in every day.

Hey Pickles!This week, we take you with us to the Pittsburgh Vegfair. We'll tell you about the food, the vendors, and the wonderful people that we met!Our Noteworthy segment is a vegan cheese scandal. After winning a cheese competition, the vegan cheese is disqualified from the prestigious Good Food Awards!Oh dairy, your jealously is showing!In our Main Topic, we are sad to announce yet another vegan restaurant owner that is abandoning their ethics and adding animal flesh to their menu. In the name of environmentalism, Sage Plant Based Bistro is adding animals and changing their name to Sage Regenerative Kitchen.Our second installment of Restaurant SOS goes out to Aurora's Cafe & Gifts in Syracuse NY. If you're in their area, please support them as much as you can. Find out more about Aurora's here:   https://www.aurorascafeandgifts.comOur Vegan Org of the Week is Friends of Animals. This is a wonderful vegan organization!Learn more about their work here:   https://friendsofanimals.orgWe also have a new Listener Shout Out, and more!Thanks for listening!Love, Sam & ChristineSupport the Show.Join Our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/CompassionandcucumbersSign Up For Our Newsletterhttps://www.compassionandcucumbers.comOur YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@compassioncucumbersveganpod/videos72 Reasons To Be Vegan *paid link https://amzn.to/3W8ZwsUVisit Our Website https://www.compassionandcucumbers.comSam's Etsy https://www.etsy.com/shop/CucumberCraftworksJoin the AFA Vegan Voter Hub https://agriculturefairnessalliance.org/vegan-voter-hub/

This episode contains: These three fools are back at it this week. Steven's had a rough go with little sleep, and he really enjoys the new videogame Manor Lords (are those two things related?). Ben's super excited to play the new Venice course in Walkabout Minigolf. All we can say is “Good Job, Mighty Coconut!” Devon's had a rough go of it too, what with dealing with extended family staying at his house. There's also been car troubles. TEST THE BATTERY! FIX THE GARAGE DOOR! GET IN THE CHOPPA! Steven had a different experience this week: he attended the DisneyLand Star Wars night “Season of the Force.” It was AWESOME: so many Star Wars nerds everywhere, and since it was after hours, there was a much smaller park population. Goes to show you gotta give the mouse his due to be around Steven's people: Star Wars people meets Disney people in a capitalist Venn diagram of scum and villainy. He also got to try out new food. The events were a little boring. I mean, the wrong era is represented in Galaxy's Edge: Steven wishes it was Vader and the 501st instead of the “March of the First Order.” And then they changed Space Mountain to… HYPERSPACE MOUNTAIN??!?! Star Tours premiered some new characters and scenarios from Mandalorian and Ahsoka. And… well, Ben's ready for May the Fourth with his Star Wars Day shirt: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1100663519/galaxy-far-away-sw-space-wars-inspired    Shock to the Heart: How Pluto got its heart. The mystery of how Pluto got a giant heart-shaped feature on its surface has finally been solved by an international team of astrophysicists. The team is the first to successfully reproduce the unusual shape with numerical simulations, attributing it to a giant and slow oblique-angle impact. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/04/240415163720.htm  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tombaugh_Regio    Big Cheese: A vegan cheese beat dairy in a big competition. Then the plot curdled. A vegan cheese called Climax Blue was selected as a finalist for the prestigious Good Food Awards, shocking traditional cheesemakers. However, the cheese was later disqualified by the awards foundation, leading to a controversy over the definition of "cheese" and the role of plant-based alternatives. https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2024/04/27/vegan-cheese-good-food-awards-climax    Book Club: Void by Veronica Roth (from The Far Reaches Collection). https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4QLYVHG  TLDR, here are the ratings: Steven: 4/4 stars. The mystery allowed him to turn off his brain and just enjoy it. The characters were just right. Ben: 3/4 stars. This could have been a decent pilot for a tv show on the Redundancy. Devon: baseball analogies? Something about a bunt? Does that mean 1/4 stars? Devon compared it to other murder mysteries (Apples Never Fall, the works of Liane Moriarty) and this falls short. Next week: 2043…(A Merman I Should Turn to Be) by Nisi Shawl, part of the Black Stars collection. Ben's excited because the Audible version is read by LeVar Burton. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B098QPR7QG 

As we head into the new year, we wanted to celebrate the vibrant cheese scene in the Madison area, and not many have done it better than Landmark Creamery of Paoli. They make some of the best cheeses in the world. You don't have to take our word for it - that's according to judges at the American Cheese Society, the Good Food Awards, and the World Championship Cheese Contest. They make various tasty handmade sheep-milk cheeses. And they are even making artisan butter down the street at Seven Acre Dairy in Paoli. So in August, we talked to Landmark Creamery co-owner Anna Thomas Bates to tell us how what makes the cheese so special.  Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We're also on Instagram!  Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the Madison Minutes morning newsletter.  Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever wondered how one person's commitment to giving can transform the lives of others? We explore this question and more in an engaging conversation with the remarkable Bonnie Boroian, a fervent social entrepreneur and Angel Mom at Place of Hope's Leighan and David Rinker Campus in Boca Raton, FL. Bonnie's passion for compassion-driven giving and her business, Blissfully Better Chocolates, is making an indelible mark on the lives of the children, single-moms, homeless youth, and human trafficking survivors. Her story may just inspire you to find ways to effect positive change in your own community.In the heart of our discussion with Bonnie, we journey into the realm of companies leveraging their success for philanthropic causes. Bonnie peels back the curtain on her own company's journey to the Good Food Award, attributing some of their triumph to their work with Place of Hope. She gives us a glimpse into her hands-on approach in the kitchen with the children, emphasizing the importance of fostering healthy relationships and providing stability for these young people. The case Bonnie makes for businesses to support charitable organizations is both compelling and inspiring.As we delve deeper into our dialogue with Bonnie, she underscores the significance of giving back to the community. She candidly shares her volunteering experiences at Place of Hope and the integration of philanthropy into her business operations. You'll hear about the weight of small acts of kindness and how businesses can effectively partner with charitable organizations. We wrap up our enlightening discussion with Bonnie by shining a light on a recent event hosted by Way FM, the World's Biggest Baby Shower, that benefited Place of Hope. Trust us, you'll walk away understanding the life-changing power of hope and its ripple effect on individuals and communities.Host: Charles L. Bender III, Founding CEO and Board Member of Place of HopeTitle Sponsor: Crypto Capital Venture | Follow Dan Gambardello's on Twitter (@cryptorecruitr)Looking for assistance  in south Florida? Visit VillagesOfHope.netLink:  Visit the Place of Hope Website, PlaceOfHope.comConnect with Place of Hope on social media: Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | LinkedInEmail the Show: POHPodcast@PlaceOfHope.com ----------------- Producer: Maya Elias Copyright of Place of Hope 2023.

Follow Him: @rob_levitt ABOUT HEAD BUTCHER AND CHEF ROB LEVITT: Acclaimed chef and butcher Rob Levitt first got his feet wet in the culinary world working as a dishwasher while pursuing a degree in Jazz Performance at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Sparked by his new passion for the restaurant industry, Levitt continued to cultivate his skills at the Culinary Institute of America before landing at the Park Avenue Café in Manhattan. With a desire to move back to the Midwest, Rob relocated to Chicago and worked his way through some of the city's most popular restaurants including modern Spanish tapas spot, del Toro, Michelin-starred North Pond and acclaimed Italian eatery 312 Chicago before opening his first restaurant Mado, with his wife Allison in 2008. After three years of critical acclaim, the duo took the next step and opened The Butcher & Larder, Chicago's first local, sustainable, whole animal butcher shop, which has been recognized for excellence in its craft by Food & Wine, GQ, The Travel Channel, The Food Network, The Good Food Awards and more. In 2015, Levitt joined Chicago-based Local Foods, to share knowledge and further expand The Butcher & Larder's offerings with café, retail and wholesale distribution opportunities. After nearly 20 years mastering his skill and with nine years of butcher experience under his belt, Levitt eventually caught the attention of James Beard Award-winning Chef Paul Kahan, landing the coveted role of head butcher and chef of One Off Hospitality's beloved Publican Quality Meats. Expanding upon Kahan's signature "snout to tail” approach to butchery, Levitt captains the culinary program at PQM, creating a seasonal menu featuring rustic soups, gourmet salads, and sandwiches, while mastering an array of natural and organic meat products, house-made sausages and more at Chicago's critically acclaimed butcher shop, neighborhood café, bakery and gourmet market.

On this episode of Makers of Minnesota, we hear from Angela Comeck and Jessica Ammel, daughters of Janet Birkin, as they share how they turned their family recipe into Janet's Finest Compotes, a successful company. They discuss the unique flavors of their compotes, the difference between jelly and compote, and how they maintain high standards of quality set by their mother. The guests discuss their unexpected success during the pandemic, their direct-to-consumer growth, and how cheeseboard preferences have changed. Tune in to hear their journey and learn how they became the premier jam brand for cheeseboards on Instagram.SHOW TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS:Stephanie [00:00:12]:Hello, everybody, and welcome to the makers of Minnesota podcast, where we talk to cool people doing cool things. Today we have Angela comeck, and we have Jessica AMMEL, and they are the daughters of janet birkin, and the name of their product is janet's compotes. And I have to hear how you guys decided that janet's product was so worthy that you wanted to start a company behind it, because this has been like, a family recipe for a long time. So let's see how you guys got started.Angela Kmeck [00:00:50]:First of all, thanks for having us on. This is really she actually created the products in forever ago when we were teenagers, so we were her kind of little guinea pigs when she was just kind of, like, playing around in the kitchen. She just loved to cook. She's still around. She's still our best friend. That was real interesting. She kind of struck on gold in the 90s when spicy wasn't really that popular in the midwest, so kind of getting this sweet and spicy combination was unique and pretty cool at the time. Angel, I don't know if you want to give a little couple of minutes.Jessica Amel [00:01:44]:Yes. Hi. Thank you so much for having me. So she actually grew her business in a commercial kitchen. She moved out of our house, the one that we were growing up in. She lived in the house, but she moved the production out, obviously. And she really grew the business out of her commercial kitchen, which was just a few blocks away from our house. And she was shipping all over the country to gift shops and specialty food shops until she retired in 2017. And she said, if you want the recipes, you can have them. There's no pressure. Jessica and I were both doing different things at the time, and we both had kids, but we were like, yeah, we'll do it. Of course, knowing nothing about how much work was going to go into it. So we actually renamed the company after her because why not? We had the opportunity, the time to change. And we always say she's the finest. So janet's finest compotes makes sense, and it also not just sort of honoring our mom, but also being able to honor her legacy of what she had built, that she always did things the right way to the finest. And so even now, when we're doing things, it's like, that's not Janet's finest. We really make sure that our quality is high and kind of everything we do, we sort of set this bar from our mom.Stephanie [00:03:11]:A compote is different than a jam or a jelly in what way?Angela Kmeck [00:03:20]:I'll describe, a jelly really is made from fruit juices. The bulk of the fruit is strained out, and you're left with the juices, which are then processed with pectin, and it's delicious. A compo, however, is started with whole fruit, and it remains as a part of the ingredients the whole way through so what you end up with are the textural elements, like the seeds and parts of the fruit in there that kind of give it a little bit.Stephanie [00:04:00]:More oomph, if you will, and your current flavors. I know the Blueberry Jalapeno is a big seller, but you also have is it Raspberry Habanero?Jessica Amel [00:04:11]:Actually, all of our this is my sisters. We talk over each other. All of our compotes are just Jalapeno. We don't use any other kinds of peppers. We are still using just our mom's recipes. So that's what she used. Raspberry Jalapeno is our best seller. And then Cranberry Jalapeno is actually our second bestseller, which is something that a lot of people don't think about. We think it's super unique, but especially for the holidays and entertaining in the fall, it's just a really unique flavor that she came up with, which, of course, we always ask, how did you do this? And she's like, I don't know. Typical Midwestern woman. So humble, so true.Stephanie [00:04:53]:Now, as we've matured in our palate, since the Food Network came on board, we are having boards and cheese and Shakuta platters. But in the day, how were people using the compuls? Were they using it in the same way, or has it changed over time?Angela Kmeck [00:05:15]:It's funny how things have evolved. She always said it's best over a block of cream cheese. And so that was sort of the easy Midwest kind of cheese board back then, like in the she still loves it. A lot of people love it. We've kind of moved forward and we think that goat cheese and Gouda and some of the other cheeses that are more available now than back in the day are also really great pairings and what we see a lot more on the cheese board these days.Stephanie [00:05:55]:Were you able to retain a lot of Janet's original accounts? And then how did you build on that? Or how are you building on that moving forward?Jessica Amel [00:06:07]:Yeah, we have I mean, it took us a little bit of time to get back to her level. We did retain a lot of her accounts because it was so relational. She had so many amazing relationships with her customers. And for us, customer service is really high on importance. So the quality of our ingredients, the quality of our product, and then paired with just good old fashioned good customer service, we actually have retained a lot of her customers, wouldn't you say, Jessica? And then this crazy thing happened during COVID We had made this grand plan that we were going to grow, and here's how we were going to grow. And then COVID hit. And so, like everybody else, you take a few weeks to go, let's go watch Netflix for a little bit, and then now let's go assess how we're going to do this. I think we made plan B-C-D-E-F that year and what ended up happening. And I have to give a little bit of credit to Jessica here on this one, is that we sent samples to, I think, like, eight cheese board makers on Instagram. And we were pretty new to Instagram at the time. We're both in our 40s, full disclosure. So we hadn't been on Instagram before. That not a lot, at least. But anyway, so we met, for example, Kelsey from the board Loon locally, and then several others nationwide. And then out of nowhere, we became kind of the premier jam brand for cheeseboards on Instagram. And so we had built a website out, and we started selling wholesale off our website to these cheeseboard makers all over the country. And, I mean, that first year we sold I don't even know what percentage, like, so much more than we thought we would ever do. In fact, they asked, can you make smaller jars? Can you make mini jars? We need some for our small cheese boards. We need some for our medium size. And so our jar size actually changed. Our product changed because of this, which was such a shock. So, anyway, your long answer to your question of how are we growing, that was the next step, and it was not the plan. But it has been incredible, actually, because now we're doing kind of backwards where we're getting on shelves after having an explosive growth via straight to direct to consumer.Stephanie [00:08:39]:That is a pretty cool story. That probably couldn't have happened without the pandemic because cheese boards in general sort of branched out during the pandemic because it was one thing that you could buy or arrange or have or deliver to feel like you're having this communal experience because we were all having these weird food experiences, for sure. Can you guys talk about were you nominated or did you apply for a Good Food Award?Angela Kmeck [00:09:11]:We have not. We recently became a Good Food member just a few months ago. So we did miss the window for the Good Food Awards. Definitely one of our goals.Stephanie [00:09:25]:Yeah, because I can see your product is really a premium flavor and it's unique, and I can see that being a good next step for you.Jessica Amel [00:09:34]:We did attend the Good Food Awards, though, in April, and that was super fun just to be around that community and the people who care, really passionate about quality food. That was awesome.Stephanie [00:09:45]:Were there any products that you encountered there that you've just not been able to get out of your mind or you thought were excellent?Jessica Amel [00:09:54]:My gosh, they had the smorgasborg the first night for all of us. Yeah, we're both like remembering it. I mean, it was unbelievable. Like, the cheeses and just the chocolates and the way things all interconnected. It was overwhelming.Stephanie [00:10:08]:Stephanie, to be honest, I love it. That sounds amazing.Angela Kmeck [00:10:11]:It was. You should come with us next time.Stephanie [00:10:14]:Yeah, I think I'm angling for an invite here. Okay, so your mom is still around and are you guys making your own products in a commercial kitchen, or do you make them through a distributor at this point? Or a copacker?Angela Kmeck [00:10:29]:Yeah, right now we're using a copacker in Minneapolis northeast, and that has been a wonderful experience for us. We've been with them for about a year and a half. It feels really nice to contribute to the Minnesota community in that way. Sure. Long term goals are to have our own facility. We would love to have that. We're just not quite there yet. Yeah.Stephanie [00:10:57]:And I'm happy to hear you say you've had a good experience with your copacker, because in a product setting, some people don't have such a great experience right away. It takes them a long time to get their product refined in exactly the right way. But it sounds like your experience was pretty good.Angela Kmeck [00:11:14]:Yeah, knock on wood. Thankfully, right?Stephanie [00:11:17]:Besides the Internet, where can people find your products in Minnesota?Angela Kmeck [00:11:25]:Angela, want to take that one?Jessica Amel [00:11:27]:Yeah. So we recently joined the Kowalski's cheese counters. So every Kowalski's location has our compotes, and we are blown away by their support. A lot of times they're right up front. We keep seeing the displays when we're delivering. It's like, oh, my gosh. So we're having so much fun getting to know their cheesemongers because they are awesome. And it's not me, actually. It's Jessica who's doing that, who's been delivering. So I can't take any credit for that. And we're at cruise market also and looking forward to getting on some other shelves in the city.Stephanie [00:12:04]:Yeah, and selling wholesale to all these people making boards, which there is a lot of them. I just interviewed the greater good at Minnesota. I don't know if you guys work with her yet, but have we worked with greater?Jessica Amel [00:12:17]:I can't remember.Stephanie [00:12:18]:Yeah. She's cute.Jessica Amel [00:12:20]:Cool. We'll have to meet her. That's our people.Stephanie [00:12:24]:All right, well, it has been super fun to talk to you. Thanks for reaching out. I'm a big canner, and I like making my own stuff, so I think it's really cool that you're taking your mom's recipe and not even changing it. Just kind of helping spread the word. And also Janet's finest. I don't know that I'm going to get that out of my head. Like, what would Janet do? How you think about quality and just thinking about doing the right thing, because sometimes it's hard to remind yourself to do the right thing when there's shortcuts that you could take. My mom has died a while ago, so I think I might just adopt Janet for a while.Jessica Amel [00:13:09]:She's everybody's mom. Yeah, I love that idea.Stephanie [00:13:12]:Yeah. We all need a mom too, right?Angela Kmeck [00:13:15]:We do.Stephanie [00:13:16]:I love it. Guys, thanks for joining me today. It's been super on.Jessica Amel [00:13:20]:Thanks so much for having us.Stephanie [00:13:21]:All right, we'll talk soon.Angela Kmeck [00:13:23]:Okay.Jessica Amel [00:13:31]:ThanksStephanie's Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Stephanie's Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

On this episode of Makers of Minnesota, we hear from Angela Comeck and Jessica Ammel, daughters of Janet Birkin, as they share how they turned their family recipe into Janet's Finest Compotes, a successful company. They discuss the unique flavors of their compotes, the difference between jelly and compote, and how they maintain high standards of quality set by their mother. The guests discuss their unexpected success during the pandemic, their direct-to-consumer growth, and how cheeseboard preferences have changed. Tune in to hear their journey and learn how they became the premier jam brand for cheeseboards on Instagram.SHOW TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS:Stephanie [00:00:12]:Hello, everybody, and welcome to the makers of Minnesota podcast, where we talk to cool people doing cool things. Today we have Angela comeck, and we have Jessica AMMEL, and they are the daughters of janet birkin, and the name of their product is janet's compotes. And I have to hear how you guys decided that janet's product was so worthy that you wanted to start a company behind it, because this has been like, a family recipe for a long time. So let's see how you guys got started.Angela Kmeck [00:00:50]:First of all, thanks for having us on. This is really she actually created the products in forever ago when we were teenagers, so we were her kind of little guinea pigs when she was just kind of, like, playing around in the kitchen. She just loved to cook. She's still around. She's still our best friend. That was real interesting. She kind of struck on gold in the 90s when spicy wasn't really that popular in the midwest, so kind of getting this sweet and spicy combination was unique and pretty cool at the time. Angel, I don't know if you want to give a little couple of minutes.Jessica Amel [00:01:44]:Yes. Hi. Thank you so much for having me. So she actually grew her business in a commercial kitchen. She moved out of our house, the one that we were growing up in. She lived in the house, but she moved the production out, obviously. And she really grew the business out of her commercial kitchen, which was just a few blocks away from our house. And she was shipping all over the country to gift shops and specialty food shops until she retired in 2017. And she said, if you want the recipes, you can have them. There's no pressure. Jessica and I were both doing different things at the time, and we both had kids, but we were like, yeah, we'll do it. Of course, knowing nothing about how much work was going to go into it. So we actually renamed the company after her because why not? We had the opportunity, the time to change. And we always say she's the finest. So janet's finest compotes makes sense, and it also not just sort of honoring our mom, but also being able to honor her legacy of what she had built, that she always did things the right way to the finest. And so even now, when we're doing things, it's like, that's not Janet's finest. We really make sure that our quality is high and kind of everything we do, we sort of set this bar from our mom.Stephanie [00:03:11]:A compote is different than a jam or a jelly in what way?Angela Kmeck [00:03:20]:I'll describe, a jelly really is made from fruit juices. The bulk of the fruit is strained out, and you're left with the juices, which are then processed with pectin, and it's delicious. A compo, however, is started with whole fruit, and it remains as a part of the ingredients the whole way through so what you end up with are the textural elements, like the seeds and parts of the fruit in there that kind of give it a little bit.Stephanie [00:04:00]:More oomph, if you will, and your current flavors. I know the Blueberry Jalapeno is a big seller, but you also have is it Raspberry Habanero?Jessica Amel [00:04:11]:Actually, all of our this is my sisters. We talk over each other. All of our compotes are just Jalapeno. We don't use any other kinds of peppers. We are still using just our mom's recipes. So that's what she used. Raspberry Jalapeno is our best seller. And then Cranberry Jalapeno is actually our second bestseller, which is something that a lot of people don't think about. We think it's super unique, but especially for the holidays and entertaining in the fall, it's just a really unique flavor that she came up with, which, of course, we always ask, how did you do this? And she's like, I don't know. Typical Midwestern woman. So humble, so true.Stephanie [00:04:53]:Now, as we've matured in our palate, since the Food Network came on board, we are having boards and cheese and Shakuta platters. But in the day, how were people using the compuls? Were they using it in the same way, or has it changed over time?Angela Kmeck [00:05:15]:It's funny how things have evolved. She always said it's best over a block of cream cheese. And so that was sort of the easy Midwest kind of cheese board back then, like in the she still loves it. A lot of people love it. We've kind of moved forward and we think that goat cheese and Gouda and some of the other cheeses that are more available now than back in the day are also really great pairings and what we see a lot more on the cheese board these days.Stephanie [00:05:55]:Were you able to retain a lot of Janet's original accounts? And then how did you build on that? Or how are you building on that moving forward?Jessica Amel [00:06:07]:Yeah, we have I mean, it took us a little bit of time to get back to her level. We did retain a lot of her accounts because it was so relational. She had so many amazing relationships with her customers. And for us, customer service is really high on importance. So the quality of our ingredients, the quality of our product, and then paired with just good old fashioned good customer service, we actually have retained a lot of her customers, wouldn't you say, Jessica? And then this crazy thing happened during COVID We had made this grand plan that we were going to grow, and here's how we were going to grow. And then COVID hit. And so, like everybody else, you take a few weeks to go, let's go watch Netflix for a little bit, and then now let's go assess how we're going to do this. I think we made plan B-C-D-E-F that year and what ended up happening. And I have to give a little bit of credit to Jessica here on this one, is that we sent samples to, I think, like, eight cheese board makers on Instagram. And we were pretty new to Instagram at the time. We're both in our 40s, full disclosure. So we hadn't been on Instagram before. That not a lot, at least. But anyway, so we met, for example, Kelsey from the board Loon locally, and then several others nationwide. And then out of nowhere, we became kind of the premier jam brand for cheeseboards on Instagram. And so we had built a website out, and we started selling wholesale off our website to these cheeseboard makers all over the country. And, I mean, that first year we sold I don't even know what percentage, like, so much more than we thought we would ever do. In fact, they asked, can you make smaller jars? Can you make mini jars? We need some for our small cheese boards. We need some for our medium size. And so our jar size actually changed. Our product changed because of this, which was such a shock. So, anyway, your long answer to your question of how are we growing, that was the next step, and it was not the plan. But it has been incredible, actually, because now we're doing kind of backwards where we're getting on shelves after having an explosive growth via straight to direct to consumer.Stephanie [00:08:39]:That is a pretty cool story. That probably couldn't have happened without the pandemic because cheese boards in general sort of branched out during the pandemic because it was one thing that you could buy or arrange or have or deliver to feel like you're having this communal experience because we were all having these weird food experiences, for sure. Can you guys talk about were you nominated or did you apply for a Good Food Award?Angela Kmeck [00:09:11]:We have not. We recently became a Good Food member just a few months ago. So we did miss the window for the Good Food Awards. Definitely one of our goals.Stephanie [00:09:25]:Yeah, because I can see your product is really a premium flavor and it's unique, and I can see that being a good next step for you.Jessica Amel [00:09:34]:We did attend the Good Food Awards, though, in April, and that was super fun just to be around that community and the people who care, really passionate about quality food. That was awesome.Stephanie [00:09:45]:Were there any products that you encountered there that you've just not been able to get out of your mind or you thought were excellent?Jessica Amel [00:09:54]:My gosh, they had the smorgasborg the first night for all of us. Yeah, we're both like remembering it. I mean, it was unbelievable. Like, the cheeses and just the chocolates and the way things all interconnected. It was overwhelming.Stephanie [00:10:08]:Stephanie, to be honest, I love it. That sounds amazing.Angela Kmeck [00:10:11]:It was. You should come with us next time.Stephanie [00:10:14]:Yeah, I think I'm angling for an invite here. Okay, so your mom is still around and are you guys making your own products in a commercial kitchen, or do you make them through a distributor at this point? Or a copacker?Angela Kmeck [00:10:29]:Yeah, right now we're using a copacker in Minneapolis northeast, and that has been a wonderful experience for us. We've been with them for about a year and a half. It feels really nice to contribute to the Minnesota community in that way. Sure. Long term goals are to have our own facility. We would love to have that. We're just not quite there yet. Yeah.Stephanie [00:10:57]:And I'm happy to hear you say you've had a good experience with your copacker, because in a product setting, some people don't have such a great experience right away. It takes them a long time to get their product refined in exactly the right way. But it sounds like your experience was pretty good.Angela Kmeck [00:11:14]:Yeah, knock on wood. Thankfully, right?Stephanie [00:11:17]:Besides the Internet, where can people find your products in Minnesota?Angela Kmeck [00:11:25]:Angela, want to take that one?Jessica Amel [00:11:27]:Yeah. So we recently joined the Kowalski's cheese counters. So every Kowalski's location has our compotes, and we are blown away by their support. A lot of times they're right up front. We keep seeing the displays when we're delivering. It's like, oh, my gosh. So we're having so much fun getting to know their cheesemongers because they are awesome. And it's not me, actually. It's Jessica who's doing that, who's been delivering. So I can't take any credit for that. And we're at cruise market also and looking forward to getting on some other shelves in the city.Stephanie [00:12:04]:Yeah, and selling wholesale to all these people making boards, which there is a lot of them. I just interviewed the greater good at Minnesota. I don't know if you guys work with her yet, but have we worked with greater?Jessica Amel [00:12:17]:I can't remember.Stephanie [00:12:18]:Yeah. She's cute.Jessica Amel [00:12:20]:Cool. We'll have to meet her. That's our people.Stephanie [00:12:24]:All right, well, it has been super fun to talk to you. Thanks for reaching out. I'm a big canner, and I like making my own stuff, so I think it's really cool that you're taking your mom's recipe and not even changing it. Just kind of helping spread the word. And also Janet's finest. I don't know that I'm going to get that out of my head. Like, what would Janet do? How you think about quality and just thinking about doing the right thing, because sometimes it's hard to remind yourself to do the right thing when there's shortcuts that you could take. My mom has died a while ago, so I think I might just adopt Janet for a while.Jessica Amel [00:13:09]:She's everybody's mom. Yeah, I love that idea.Stephanie [00:13:12]:Yeah. We all need a mom too, right?Angela Kmeck [00:13:15]:We do.Stephanie [00:13:16]:I love it. Guys, thanks for joining me today. It's been super on.Jessica Amel [00:13:20]:Thanks so much for having us.Stephanie [00:13:21]:All right, we'll talk soon.Angela Kmeck [00:13:23]:Okay.Jessica Amel [00:13:31]:ThanksStephanie's Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Stephanie's Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

Landmark Creamery of Paoli makes some of the best cheeses in the world. You don't have to take our word for it - that's according to judges at the American Cheese Society, the Good Food Awards, and the World Championship Cheese Contest. They make a variety of tasty handmade sheep-milk cheeses. And now, they're making artisan butter down the street at Seven Acre Dairy in Paoli.  Landmark Creamery Co-owner Anna Thomas Bates tells us why. Join us every Thursday as we explore Madison's food culture, from the brewers and bakers to the chefs and cheesemakers. Also on the show: Rest in Power, Ada Deer Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We're also on Instagram!  Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the Madison Minutes morning newsletter.  Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yvonne Finde, founder of Portland, Oregon based Momo Coco was the very first guest in our show series. This interview is a great opportunity for aspiring food entrepreneurs to hear not only how a fellow founder has survived and grown over the last years, but also managed to navigate the challenges of the COVID lockdown. She is the maker of a variety of non-dairy coco mixes so that everyone can enjoy a delicious, warm cup of coco. Most of their products are vegan and all are gluten free. The high coco butter content makes the drinks exceptionally creamy and highly comparable to dairy based coco drinks. So, since that first show in 2019, how have things changed for Momo Coco? For one thing, Yvonne was a startup back then with two or three products. The line has expanded greatly and the company has revamped its packaging since then. The coco mixes now come in a pouch you tear open and the company logo was enlarged and a bright color coding scheme was adopted to differentiate between flavors and to help the package stand out on the shelf. And if you look at the package you'll see, front and center, a cat. That's Momo, who represents “Curl Up With a Cup!”, the company's trademarked slogan. Yvonne's creativity and her mission to have everyone enjoy a cup of coco has earned the company Good Food Awards. These awards are given by organizations that support and honor food companies whose products are nutritious, sustainable and created with quality control. It's not only an honor to be recognized, it's great publicity and puts Momo Coco in a category shared with only the best companies. Part of the magic of Yvonne's story is that chocolate is everywhere in the world and offers a way for everyone to connect. And by including those who cannot tolerate dairy, the ingredient becomes even more omnipresent in the globe. Momo Coco can be found in Farmers Markets in the Greater Portland/Vancouver area, at regional grocery stores plus The Meadow and its NYC stores, or purchase online: https://www.momococoa.com/. Follow them on Instagram - @momo_cocoa_co and Facebook - @momococoaco. Our hosts: Twitter - @sarahmasoni and @spicymarshall, Instagram - @masoniandmarshall.

It's Founder Friday! Leaving a legacy and making an impact on the industry is something we all want for our businesses. Few companies get to the place where they can say they have not only achieved this but done so it a way that stays true to their values and traditions, while also artfully evolving with the changing landscape of coffee. Mr. Espresso in Oakland, CA is one such company.  Established in 1978 and now celebrating 45 years in business, Mr. Espresso is a specialty coffee roasting company that has stayed true to the Italian coffee culture and roots of founder Carlo Di Ruocco while embracing innovation to inspire the next generation of coffee drinkers. In keeping with the sensibilities of the modern coffee consumer, Mr. Espresso is committed to responsible sourcing, sustainable production and investment in community. Offering wholesale beans, premium commercial brewing equipment, and service and training support, Mr. Espresso made its mark as one of the first full-service, coffee roasting retailers in the U.S. and has since become a trusted supplier to noteworthy restaurants, cafes, bakeries and coffee houses around the San Francisco Bay Area and nationally. Additionally, Mr. Espresso has expanded its online presence and grown its retail customer base well beyond the Bay Area.  Mr. Espresso uses traditional wood-roasting methods over oakwood. This technique results in high moisture content and an increased retention of natural oils, producing a complex and full-bodied coffee with less acidity. Mr. Espresso has received numerous high-scoring reviews and accolades over its long history, and is a two-time Good Food Awards winner for its organic single-origin coffees. Founder Carlo Di Ruocco was awarded the 2015 Alfred Peet Passionate Cup, one of the Specialty Coffee Association's most prestigious awards. In early 2023, Mr. Espresso will open a cafe in downtown Oakland, not far from its roastery in Jack London Square. Today we are talking with Carlo DiRuocco's sons, John and Luigi DiRuocco, who Co-Own and run Mr. Espresso.    Luigi Di Ruocco is Co-owner and Sales & Marketing Vice President of Mr. Espresso, and Co-owner of The Caffè by Mr. Espresso. An alumnus of Saint Mary's College, Luigi earned a double major in Business Administration and Economics, followed by two years in portfolio accounting. However, in 2001 at age 24, Luigi returned to the family business, drawn by the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to the family enterprise. Currently, Luigi is at the helm of the newly opened – The Caffè by Mr. Espresso, in the heart of Downtown Oakland. John Di Ruocco is Co-owner and Vice President of Coffee for Mr. Espresso, and Co-owner of The Caffè by Mr. Espresso. After earning an undergraduate degree in architecture from UC Berkeley. After receiving his degree, he returned to the family business, learning the art of wood-roasting coffee from his father. John went on to become roastmaster in the early ‘90s, and eventually Vice President of Coffee. John has moved the company forward as a leader in both single-origin and blended coffees. John has been instrumental in expanding the offerings to reflect changing coffee preferences, adding distinguished lighter-roasted coffees, most often organic and fair trade in origin. In this conversation we discuss the rich history of this iconic company, their values, traditions, and how they have grown and evolved over the past 45 years! We discuss: The beginning of Mr. Espresso  The importance of tradition and craft Creating an authentic product and brand Why wood roasting is unique in method and outcome How they source coffee and approach QC Evolving with the industry  Knowing what to say no to and trusting your gut Advice for impact and longevity in coffee Offering a product that appeal widely but keeps tradition Links: www.mrespresso.com Instagram: @mrespressooak    @thecaffeoak     Listen to these episodes next! 081 : Founder Friday w/ David Schomer of Espresso Vivace

Come along with 7Bee Podcast for a conversation about all things coffee with Randy and Rick Evans of Evans Brothers Coffee. The Sandpoint-based coffee roaster recently won its third Good Food Award — a recognition of EBC's quality and dedication. Sit back, grab a cup of Joe, and enjoy.

You’re a food crafter making tasty, high quality products in an industry with many challenges. Ever wonder if there’s a way to receive recognition for YOUR product? Look no further than the Good Food Awards. In this Original Recipe episode, we revisit a past episode where Alli and Sarah Weiner, the executive director of the Good Food Foundation, chat about how the Good Food Awards began and how & why you should apply. As of June 1st, 2023, the entry period is now open until June 30th! Listen in to… Hear how the Good Food Awards celebrates thoughtful food crafters and products Learn about the evaluation process, which focuses on taste, social responsibility, environmental consciousness, and local influence Know how winning an award can benefit your brand’s recognition and sales And how and where to apply! Will your brand be entering any products to the Good Food Awards? Let us know by sending us a DM on Instagram or LinkedIn, or joining our Food Biz Wiz Facebook group. Be sure to check out our full show notes here to find all the links mentioned, including a $10 off discount code for first-time entrants, the Good Food Awards’ site, and more! This episode is sponsored by our Wholesale Success System Workshop! This FREE training is for all our listeners who know that they want to take control of their sales, land on more shelves, and have higher sales once they’re there. Alli will outline her simple sales system so that you can repeat this process in your biz. Follow this link to save your spot and join us!

The Good Food Awards winners for 2023 were just announced and so we thought it fitting that Marcus should do an episode about the Good Foods Awards, given his own personal experience with the competition. In this episode, Marcus tells us about the Good Food Awards and the process to become a winner. We also highlight the two coffee roasters from Illinois who won. Pedestrian Coffee is a Chicago based coffee roaster and the second coffee company of Tim Taylor, the first being the well known Ipsento Coffee. Tim Taylor has been involved in specialty coffee for many years and is on the board of the Alliance for Coffee Excellence.Goshen Coffee is based in Edwardsville, IL, near St. Louis. Lead roaster Tony is a veteran of the coffee industry, competing in coffee competitions across the United States. He used to be the lead roaster for Kaldi Coffee, another Good Food Award winning coffee company and is an Executive Council member of the Coffee Roasters Guild. We can say without a doubt, these are some of the most interesting and complex coffees we've ever tried, ever. Listen to learn more and to find out what we think!Good Food Awards 2023 winners: https://goodfoodfdn.org/awards/winners/Pedestrian Coffee: https://www.drinkpedestrian.com/Goshen Coffee Roasters: https://goshencoffee.com/-Buy a mystery box of past products that we have tried on the podcast! For $10 you will receive 10 cups worth of coffee. Includes shipping! Limited supplies, buy here: https://www.paypal.com/instantcommerce/checkout/YUHJNDHDX2CTEHelp us buy questionable coffee!https://www.patreon.com/nobadreviewspodhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/nobadreviewspod

Welcome to the Boozebuddy Update. For you Boozebuddies today I have - Maple Tripple Awards, Patrón 4x Tequila, & Big Brew Day Maple Tripple Awards have arrived for Lawson's Finest Liquids. Maple Tripple Ale helped them win a Good Food Award for the second year in a row. Lawson's Finest Liquids does great community work with their Social Impact Program, donating more than $1.5 million to worthy causes since 2015. Their solar project is also slated to make more than 100% of the brewery's annual electricity usage. Get more at the link https://tinyurl.com/27v6jnhb Patrón 4x Tequila, El Cielo, is here. The world's first four-times distilled agave spirit follows a premiumization of alcohol brands that has been happening across the board. Contrary to popular belief, distilling doesn't remove or dilute flavors, it actually concentrates them and brings more out. Expect it to cost about $130 a bottle, get more at the link https://tinyurl.com/24acp49z The Boozebuddy Update is brought to you by Green Mountain Payments - helping local business owners save thousands of dollars by providing complimentary credit card processing equipment and zero cost credit card processing. Visit greenmountainpayments.com or posandzero.com today! Big Brew Day is coming up on May 6th - National Homebrew Day where many around the country will get together to brew this years' beer, Nearly Nirvana Pale Ale. It's also a way to support homebrewing with the American Homebrewers Association. Those who join (usually at a discount that day) get some exclusive offers and benefits To get all the details on Big Brew, head to the link https://tinyurl.com/y7jmwh49 Buy me a Beer or merch for yourself at https://shop.boozebuddyupdate.com *Affiliate links* El Gato Retractable Green Screen - https://amzn.to/3gKm4jr LED Streaming Key Light Desktop - https://amzn.to/3TYfV10 Canon 80D - https://amzn.to/3JwYpiB MOMAN MA6 Lavalier Mic - https://amzn.to/3ZktFHf Try TubeBuddy https://www.tubebuddy.com/pricing?a=boozebuddy #theboozebuddyupdate #boozebuddy #boozebuddyupdate #beerindustry #boozenews #booze #maple #maplesyrup #craftbeer #craftbeerlover #craftbeerlife #lawson #goodfood #awards #solar #fundraiser #fundraising #patron #elcielo #distillation #distilled #distillery #distillation #agave #spirits #blueweberagave #still #tequila #margarita #margaritas #homebrew #homebrewer #homebrewing #bigbrewday #nationalhomebrewday #aba #nirvana #paleale #brewing #brewingequipment #brewingbeer the boozebuddy update, beer industry, global news, booze news, booze, Maple, Tripple, Maple Syrup, Lawson's Finest Liquids, Social Impact Program, solar power, Vermont,Good Food Award, World Beer Cup, Patron, Patrón, tequila, premium tequila, four times distilled, copper still, distillation, agave, agave spirits, blue weber agave, margarita, margaritas, homebrew, brewing beer American Homebrew Day, Big Brew Day, National Home Brew Day, Nearly Nirvana, Pale Ale, --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/boozebuddy/support

The Good Food Awards celebrate products that are “tasty, authentic and responsible.” Makers are recognized in eighteen different categories each year based on a blind tasting and the organization's social and environmental responsibility standards. After more than a decade in San Francisco, the awards celebrated their first year in Portland this past weekend. Sarah Weiner, co-founder and executive director of the Good Food Foundation, joins us to talk about the move. We're also joined by award winner Holly Ong, co-founder of Sibeiho, to talk about the impact the awards can have on small producers.

Are you heading to the Good Food Awards and Mercantile in Portland this coming April? In this week’s episode 189 of the Food Biz Wiz Podcast, I chat with Joyce Attar. Joyce is the Director of Operations at World Foods Portland and is a member of the Good Food Foundation. You won’t want to miss our conversation, where she shares key information for trade shows… including the Good Food Mercantile! After listening in, you’ll know: Where you can find a list of retailers that are values-aligned What BUYERS do to prepare for trade shows Why knowing your end customer and store audience is critical What piece of information not to miss in your buyer followup email Get all this and more in this episode! As I mentioned, you can find out more about Joyce, World Foods Portland, the Good Food Foundation and Mercantile, my Instagram, and our Food Biz Wiz Facebook, all in our full show notes linked here! This episode is sponsored by our mini Reorder Checklist! This checklist is the one I mention in this episode: it’s a list of ways to onboard a new retailer so that you’re more likely to sell off those shelves and receive reorders. You can find our simplified version at the link here OR, if you’re a Retail Ready® student, you can find the longform version and training directly within our course platform!

Dahlia Graham – Co-Founder / CEO, Fruition Chocolate Works   Dahlia Graham is the Co-Founder and CEO of Fruition Chocolate Works, an award-winning bean to bar chocolate maker in New York's Hudson Valley that has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Bon Appetit. With her husband Bryan Graham, she sources transparent, high-quality cocoa beans, which are then carefully crafted into dark, milk, and white chocolate bars and confections.    Dahlia holds a B.S. in Human Development with a minor in Spanish and International Studies from Binghamton University, and a Masters in Teaching from Pace University.  She is a Teach for America Alumna, and previously held the role of Director of Educational Programs at REACT to FILM in NYC. She also founded Corazón de Dahlia, a nonprofit organization that provided education and community development to impoverished, marginalized Peruvian children and families for 10 years.   Bryan Graham – Founder / Creative Director, Fruition Chocolate Works   Bryan Graham is the Founder of Fruition Chocolate Works and Confectionery. From a very young age, Bryan has been passionate about chocolate, pastry and food of all types. Bryan attributes his interest in the field of baking and pastry to his grandmother, an outstanding baker. During visits to her farm in upstate New York, Bryan learned how to pick perfectly ripe ingredients and transform them into pies, cakes, jams and jellies. At the age of 16, Bryan began an in depth study through a high school mentor program where he became an apprentice at the renowned Bear Café in Woodstock, New York. Within the first week of working beside Executive Pastry Chef Heather Haviland, Bryan confirmed his love for pastry. After showing commitment to the craft and dedication to the restaurant, Bryan was offered a permanent position as an assistant to the baker and Pastry Chef. At age 18, after graduating high school, he took over that role. Five years later, Bryan decided to continue with a formal education at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. He completed his externship at Jacques Torres Chocolates in NYC. However, it wasn't until Bryan made a tiny batch of chocolate from bean to bar with Chef Peter Greweling that an interest in the history and science of chocolate and confectionery was sparked. Since, Bryan has educated himself on the science, technique, and craft of chocolate. In 2013, Bryan was named Top 10 Chocolatiers in North America by Dessert Professional Magazine. He and his team continue to be recognized with a multitude of awards including Good Food Awards, Academy of Chocolate Awards, and International Chocolate Awards. On this episode, Dahlia and Bryan join host Mitchell Davis and discuss Cacao's long journey from bean to bar, the temperamental nature of chocolate, and why every small business should find a bookkeeper they can trust. Follow Fruition Chocolate Works on Twitter: @TasteFruition, Instagram: @fruitionchocolate and Facebook: @FruitionChocolate For more on Fruition Chocolate Works, visit fruitionchocolateworks.com

Sarah Kaminski is the founder of Best Ever Granola and recipe developer for The Veg Out Project. She has a background in holistic health, lifestyle coaching and plant based nutrition. In 2020, during the pandemic, Sarah realized she needed to pivot her serviced business and launched Best Ever Granola. She has been recognized by the Good Food Awards for ingredient sourcing, sustainability standards, and epic taste.

Philly native and Brooklyn resident Khia Nelson is founder and owner of K Bloody Mary Mix, an overnight success after 10 years of hard work. Winner of the 2020 Good Food Awards, a major specialty food competition, and Gold Medal Winner of Fifty Best in 2021, Khia's plugging away one step at a time is really paying off. And no wonder. Her unique formula is organic, vegan and gluten free and that equals a unique taste. Her mix is not just hot, it's savory and begs to be rolled around in the mouth like fine wine. Fabulous with alcohol in the traditional Bloody Mary, Bloody Maria or Red Snapper, it also is delicious and refreshing over ice. So, it's the perfect item for any party to surprise both the alcohol and non-alcohol guests equally. It's such a versatile elixir it also doubles as an addition to a cocktail sauce recipe or a marinade to add a spicy kick to your favorite foods. All this because of Khia's background. 20 Years in hospitality as a bartender, restaurant manager and vegan home chef, she has always been a fanatic Bloody Mary lover. But she was always constantly tweaking her recipes because she never quite fell in love with other people's mixes. It was at a social gathering a decade ago that Khia's dream of starting her own company was conceived. She was always experimenting with her recipes during her bartending stints, but at this particular event, her latest creation drew raves and accolades just too good let pass as mere kudos. It was a sign that she had something special and it was time to share that recipe with the world. Khia had other goals for her recipe besides great taste, she wanted it to be of the highest nutritional and sustainable qualities. Therefore, her mixes are hand made and bottled in Brooklyn, New York. All ingredients are organic and gluten free (other Bloody Mary mixes contain Worcestershire sauce, which contains anchovies). All are bottled in glass, which is recyclable and easier on Mother Earth than plastic. This makes K Bloody Mary Mix more expensive than most other mixes, but you get what you pay for. Great side story: Khia and our host Sarah Marshall first met at the Good Food Mercantile Awards in Brooklyn setting up booths across from each other. Khia offered Sarah a bottle of her mix and it wound up being a meal for Sarah. In the rush and hectic race to set up for the show, Sarah hadn't had time to eat any breakfast, but the rich, nutritious K Bloody Mary filled her up, gave her energy and the spicy flavor gave her a much needed recharge to get her through the day. You can purchase bottles online at the website and the packaging is absolutely gorgeous. Gift packages also are available and make very special presents. Distribution is growing but check the website for stores near to you and also for restaurants that serve the mix. And somehow, with all this going on in her life, Khia also is a former model, animal rescue advocate, animal lover and eclectic music lover. https://www.kbloodymarymix.com/the-mix/, FB and IG @kbloodymarymix, Twitter @kbloodymary Our hosts: Twitter - @sarahmasoni and @spicymarshall, Instagram - @masoniandmarshall

It's a couple of weeks later than we had hoped to release this episode, but we found the history of Juneteenth to be incredibly fascinating and we were excited to try the coffee from BeanFruit Coffee, so we thought better late than never. In this week's episode, Jenni covers the history of Juneteenth and the end of slavery in America. We all learned surprising facts that they didn't teach us in school about slavery, like the Emancipation Proclamation didn't actually proclaim emancipation for enslaved people in all of the states.Then we try a signature blend from BeanFruit Coffee out of Mississippi. BeanFruit has won a Good Food Award not once, but twice, in 2015 and 2017! We were very excited to try this coffee and to support a Black owned coffee roaster in honor of Juneteenth. Listen to find out what we think of this blend of coffees from Costa Rica and Guatemala.BeanFruit Coffee: https://beanfruit.com/products/crimson-stamp-signature-blend-1?variant=508372661Further Reading:Jemar Tisby podcast episode: https://play.anghami.com/episode/1022834168Fresh Air with Annette Gordon-Reed: https://www.npr.org/2021/05/25/1000159311/the-history-of-juneteenthhttps://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/general-order-no-3https://www.npr.org/2021/06/17/1007315228/juneteenth-what-is-origin-observationhttps://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/emancipation-proclamationhttps://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/aug/12/20050812-083451-8700r/https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article262339362.htmlHelp us buy questionable coffee!https://www.patreon.com/nobadreviewspodhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/nobadreviewspodSponsored by Modest Coffee! Single-origin coffee without the snobbery. Visit https://www.modest.coffee/nobadreviews to see what they're roasting today.

It's time to go back to an amazing episode of Founder Friday that teaches us about the power of taking risks and listening to what your heart is saying about your business. Back on episode 43 we interviewed Kathy Turiano of the multiple Good Food Award winning and roastery in Rochester, NY, Joe Bean Roasters. Joe Bean was founded in 2005 and has gone through several transformations but has always served the community through coffee and stayed true to their values in the process.  In this episode you will hear all about their origins and their first transformation and I hop you will be encouraged by Kathy's example, wisdom, and insights so you too can find the courage to make a move in the right, but maybe scary, direction for your own coffee shop.  Please do also listen to episode 207 where Kathy comes back to talk about hope is difficult times around the pandemic and what their latest and current iteration is.  Links: www.joebeanroasters.com 207 : Hope in Difficult Times w/ Kathy Turiano of Joe Bean Coffee Roasters   Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.groundcontrol.coffee www.pacficfoodservice.com  

Holly Ong is the co-founder of Sibeiho, a Portland, Oregon-based startup that offers Good Food Award-winning sambal sauce and other Singaporean dishes. As a former marketing and branding professional for Fortune 500 companies like Nike, Holly brings go-to-market expertise and corporate wisdom to her role at Sibeiho. The business began as a supper club showcasing the nostalgic foods that Holly and co-founder Pat Lau wanted to recreate from memories of their childhood in Southeast Asia. Now, the pair is focused on expanding production of their consumer product line of sambal sauces made from their own family recipes. In the episode, Holly shares her passion for bringing the flavors and stories of Singaporean cuisine to customers and discusses the challenges of growing a culinary product-based business — from perfecting the recipes to managing cash flow. Shop Sibeiho sambal sauces and get recipes.

Erin is a food, beverage, and lifestyle photographer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She's inspired by honest food, real people, and the magic of light. She approaches every project with enthusiasm, flexibility, and a collaborative spirit. With experience in all aspects of the multifaceted world of food and lifestyle photography, she welcomes projects of all scopes and sizes - from independently photographing, cooking, styling in her garden studio (featured in Remodelista + images below), to shooting on location, to bringing together creative teams for extensive editorial and commercial shoots. Erin comes to food photography as a passionate eater, veggie gardener, and cook. Erin has photographed over 30 books and authored her own cookbook as well. Erin's book, which she wrote, shot and styled, was published by Rodale Books in 2014. Erin has also been a Good Food Awards judge for the past 3 years. Her recipes and photography have been featured on Food 52, Saveur, Design Sponge, Huffington Post, Edible San Francisco, Lonny, Jamie Oliver, 7x7, The San Francisco Chronicle, Sunset Magazine, Cottages + Bungalows, Cherry Bomb, Refinery 29, Architctural Digest, and Gestalten Books. SELECT CLIENT LIST Peet's Coffee | Real Simple | Good Eggs | Annie's Homegrown | Williams-Sonoma | Artisan Books | Sunbasket | Chronicle Books | Caliva | Stasher | Nowadays | Mixt | Alice Waters | Bryant Terry | Coyuchi | Ten Speed Press | Rizzoli Books | Kitchen Toke | Flowerland | Fun Uncle | Cherry Bombe Magazine | The Edible Schoolyard | Forager Project | Om Edibles | Lucky Peach | Pine Ridge Vineyards | Roost Books | Redwood Hill Farm | Well | Traditional Medicinals | Green Valley Creamery | Brava Oven | Kinfolk | Duncan Channon | S-Shots | Weldon Owen | Homestead Design Collective | Rodale Books | Deli | Fernway Foods | Meyenberg Goat Milk | True Story Foods | Sarah Kersten | Rodale | Bull Valley Roadhouse + Hotel Burlington | Yamasa | Pereira O'Dell | Edible Communities | Tassajara Zen Mountain Retreat | Trinity Brand Group | Copow | Seghesio Family Vineyards | SF Chronicle | Enzo's Table Cookbook:Yummy Supper: 100 Fresh, Luscious & Honest Recipes from a Gluten-Free Omnivore: A Cookbook https://www.amazon.com/Yummy-Supper-Luscious-Gluten-Free-Omnivore-ebook/dp/B00GG0UZN0 Erin Scott Photography: https://www.erinscottstudio.com/ This episode is sponsored by Culinary Historians of Northern California, a Bay Area educational group dedicated to the study of food, drink, and culture in human history. To learn more about this organization and their work, please visit their website at www.chnorcal.org If you follow my podcast and enjoy it, I'm on @buymeacoffee. If you like my work, you can buy me a coffee and share your thoughts

Everyone knows that cheese and mustard go together. So it made perfect sense for artisan cheese purveyor Michael Januska to develop a product line of mustards to go with his curated collection of cheeses. Since opening Old Brooklyn Cheese in 2016 he's made a number of pivots and changes to manage his business through the pandemic and to grow it for the future. I talked to Michael at his Old Brooklyn location about his recent (his 4th) Good Food Award, how he changed his focus from making cheese to affinage, which means aging and finishing cheeses, and how he started making mustards, including the famous "Cleveland Caviar" whole grain mustard that Michael Symon loves. Just as we posted this episode, Michael started making his mustards available on tap!

Navigating our way through the coffee industry can be a daunting task. Especially if you want to make a difference. As you go you are confronted with many challenges that threaten your stability and test both your resolve and faith in the reasons you began the journey in the first place. Through it all though, there is a kind of wisdom, strength, and perspective that you gain if you use your experiences, good or bad, as opportunities to refine yourself, what you do, and why you do it.  Today we are going to be talking with the co-founder of Metric Coffee in Chicago. Xavier is someone who has had all these experiences and more working in the heart of the specialty coffee world since the early 2000's as a barista, roaster and roasting manager, and now for the last 8 years founding and running his own roastery and cafe space along with business partner, Darko Arandjelovic.  Metric Coffee was born from a common desire of both founders to create a better way for themselves and for those producers they represent as roasters. A Good Food Award winning company, Metric definitely roasts and sources excellent coffees, but the relationships and commitment they develop along the way with producers is a hallmark of what makes Metric truly special.  In today's conversation we are going to hear Xavier detail his own beginnings in coffee, growing in skill but also restlessness, developing resiliency through personal and professional trials, and of course the values, mission, and motivations behind starting Metric Coffee. This conversation gets deep and hopefully speaks to your heart and mind and gets you to see the world around you and your business in a clearer light.  We cover: Developing values early in life  Learning as a roaster The catalyst fo beginning Metric Revelations via relationships Using your position to build solutions Developing resiliency through hardships Personal responsibility and not blaming others Why it's not a race Iterating the mission Long term relationships  Intuition and who to work with Inspiration to pay it forward through business Having a serving heart Representing the coffee well in a cafe Resourcing staff Defining success  Related Episodes:  Sustainability Series #2 : Importing & Roasting 060 : Serving the Coffee Plant w/ Hanna Neuschwander, World Coffee Research 265 : Gaining Clarity on Transparency w/ Jonas Lorenz of The Pledge 020 Joe Marrocco : Transparency, Origin Knowledge,and Your Shop : How to approach and apply coffee origin information to enhance, not detract, from the cafe experience 288 : The Truth behind Cheap Coffee w/ Karl Weinhold   Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.prima-coffee.com/keys www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com      

On today's show, we welcome back Jay Williams of William's Honey Farm and South Hall Farms. Right off, Jay, who was with us in December, talked about preparing and entering the Good Food Awards contest for Honey Has WON this very prestigious award for this year. You heard him here first! This time, Jay walks us through his beekeeping operation, looking at the products he sells, the marketing and branding operation he has developed, and his work at South Hall Farm, near Nashville. Jay spends about 30 – 40% of his time actually managing his 100+ colonies, raising queens and harvesting products. Another 20% or so is spent on marketing the products his bees produce, and about 30 – 40% of his time is aimed at giving lessons and teaching, giving tours and otherwise using what he does to make money by sharing and showing. His philosophy starts with “What is your time worth?”, and follows that with telling stories to get the customer involved, getting his message out, using social media, finding and catering to his niche market of local honey users, knowing your costs, staying ahead of the curve with bees, beekeeping and beekeeping products, being ready to fail but getting up and figuring it out, and making it all work together. His work at South Hall Farms consists of managing the pollinator gardens that surround the Southern Hospitality Farm and Resort, supporting the many native bees, birds and butterflies that visit these gardens, and taking care of the bees they have on site. When you are done listening to this fantastic marketing genius, great beekeeper and award-winning honey producer, you will be much better prepared to make it all work for you, too. Also in this episode, we welcome back Ed Colby as he reads story from his new book, A Beekeeper's Life: Tales from the Bottom Board. This time we learn a little about quarterback Terry Bradshaw and spring time management. Listen and subscribe/follow today! Links and websites mentioned in this podcast: Williams Honey Farm - https://williamshoneyfarm.com South Hall Farms - https://southallfarms.com Good Food Foundation / Awards - https://goodfoodfdn.org/awards/ Ed Colby - A Beekeeper's Life: Tales From The Bottom Board - https://www.amazon.com/Beekeepers-Life-Tales-Bottom-Board/dp/1912271885/   Honey Bee Obscura Podcast - https://www.honeybeeobscura.com ______________ We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. BetterBee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode!  We want to also thank 2 Million Blossoms as a sponsor of the podcast. 2 Million Blossoms is a quarterly magazine destined for your coffee table. Each page of the magazine is dedicated to the stories and photos of all pollinators and written by leading researchers, photographers and our very own, Kim Flottum. _______________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: questions@beekeepingtodaypodcast.com Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening!  Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"; Musicalman, "Epilogue". Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott Beekeeping Today Podcast is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, LLC

Emily Darchuk is the Founder and CEO of Wheyward Spirit, a farm-to-flask, award-winning company that creates specialty spirits made from upcycled ingredients. Emily forged her career as a food scientist in the natural food and dairy industry before disrupting the liquor sector through ingenuity and a commitment to sustainable spirits. After many trial runs, Emily perfected the distillation process of turning whey into alcohol. Since its launch, her company has gone on to win a Double Gold Medal from the 2021 NY World Wine and Spirits Competition and a 2021 Good Food Award.  Emily dedicated her undergraduate studies to food science and nutrition at the University of Illinois. She has a master's degree in food science from Oregon State University, and a master's in innovation and entrepreneurship from the University of Oregon. Emily has held product development and innovation positions at Coca-Cola, Whitewave Foods, Kellog's, and NASA. In this episode… Emily Darchuk saw a gap in the food system and decided to do something about it. After working in the natural food and dairy industry, she realized that products were going to waste. Instead of waiting around for a solution, Emily created her own through an agricultural-based spirit: Wheyward. Wheyward is not a tequila, vodka, or gin — it's something that is innovative and can't be categorized in the traditional sense. However, this one-of-a-kind spirit can be incorporated into your favorite drink or sipped on its own, all while offering a sustainable solution. So, how did Emily get this revolutionary product off the ground? It started with being bold and unapologetic.  On this episode of the Alexi Cashen Podcast, hear from Emily Darchuk as she shares her story of creating a specialty base spirit. Alexi and Emily discuss the “why” behind Wheyward Spirit, how the business is making a difference in the spirits industry, and Emily's advice to other entrepreneurs going after their lofty goals. Stay tuned!

Last year, we talked with The Good Food Foundation about their annual honey contest (S3, E14). This year, we bring you four of the 15 finalists to talk about their entries and their beekeeping operation. Winners will be announced the week of the episode's release! Honey for the contest is entered and only compared to honeys from the region it is produced and it can be liquid, comb or infused. The honey must be entered by the beekeeper who produced it.  The judges look at how it was produced and harvested, overall animal husbandry, and is there any community engagement with bees, beekeeper and the people in their world. First up in the episode, we have Max Kirwin, the Good Food Awards leader, who oversees all 18 committees for this contest. Joining Max is Mark Carlson, the Honey Committee chair who will share what it is they are looking for in each honey submission category. Mark was with us back in August of 2020 in our first episode with the Good Food Foundation. We have 4 very different finalists this time. Jay Williams of Williams Honey Company and South Hall Farms, is working to build a destination luxury resort dedicated to sustainability, agricultural, culinary discovery and the circle of life. Of course, honey and pollinators play an important role to the theme. Ethan West, of Republic of Vermont Honey Company, they manage a treatment free apiary with bees spread out over 3 counties in the Champlain Valley of Vermont and the Green Mountains. Dustin Vanasse, along with Michael Gilbert of Bare Honey, produces honey in solar panel yards all over California. Dusty has learned the tricks of Solar Based Beekeeping, utilizing the acreages and space around these large installations to produce infused honey, using organic and local peppers for his flavoring. Before they left, we asked each of these finalists give tips on how to get ready for next year's competition. A whole lot of good advice in this final segment. Think you have good honey? Then think about entering next year's Good Food Awards. Links and websites mentioned in this podcast:  Good Food Foundation - https://goodfoodfdn.org Good Food Award - Honey Competition - https://goodfoodfdn.org/awards/categories/honey/ Honey Bee Obscura Podcast - https://www.honeybeeobscura.com ______________ This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode!  We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. BetterBee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com We want to also thank 2 Million Blossoms as a sponsor of the podcast. 2 Million Blossoms is a quarterly magazine destined for your coffee table. Each page of the magazine is dedicated to the stories and photos of all pollinators and written by leading researchers, photographers and our very own, Kim Flottum. _______________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: questions@beekeepingtodaypodcast.com Follow Beekeeping Today Podcast today! Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening!  Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"; Musicalman, "Epilogue". Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott Beekeeping Today Podcast is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, LLC

Meet Maya:Maya MacLaughlin is the Co-Founder and Owner of Maya's Syrup & Jam, together with her mother and grandmother. Early on into starting her company, Maya and her family began a tiny orchard in the Catskill Mountains growing some of the most unique and hard-to-find fruits and flowers like black currants and elderflowers. Over the years their products have won several national and international culinary awards. Most recently Maya's won a Good Food Award for their Peaches + Lavender Syrup.Maya was born and raised in Germany and moved to the US in 2007 to attend Bard College in Upstate NY. She just got married to her high school sweetheart from Germany in a tiny pandemic wedding in her favorite bakery in the Catskills. She lives in Manhattan and loves to explore the NYC cocktail scene, playing ukulele and picnicking in the park.Website: https://www.mayasjams.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayassyrup----About Us - Women Who Brunch:Women Who Brunch is a community for  women who love connecting, networking, and learning from each other over the most important meal of the week...BRUNCH!Check out our website for updates on events, recipes, brunch spots, product reviews and more or say hi on Instagram!WWB Website: https://womenwhobrunch.comWWB Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenwhobrunch

Returning to join us in this episode is Tammy Horn Potter. (She originally visited us back in Season 2!) Not only is Tammy the State Apiary Inspector for Kentucky, but she is also an accomplished author. She has just finished her fourth book entitled, “Work I Knew I Must. Reminiscence of Forty-One Years of Factory Life.” Jane Cole worked for the A. I. Root Company for 41 years, starting when A.I. Root was making jewelry in his factory on the Town Square, in Medina, Ohio. She worked through the construction of the new factory built on the Country Fair Grounds on the edge of town to manufacture beekeeping equipment, and the many, many factory expansions they made after that. During those 41 years she did almost every job that could be done in a factory that sawed wood, made smokers, extractors, bottled honey, printed a magazine and books, and took orders and filled orders and delivered orders to customers, the railroad and the post office. She wrote about building the new factory, child labor, factory dangers (and there were many), factory politics, noon prayers, the hundreds of people she worked with over the years, the company sponsored picnics, the men, women and children she was in charge of, and the people she worked with, and for. When A. I. Root retired, he, too, wrote an autobiography, about running the factory that Jane Cole worked in. What Tammy has done is take Jane Cole's work and stand it side by side with A. I. Root's work to give you a very unique look at factory life, from the perspective of an employee, and her employer. Many of the events Jane found worthy of writing about were also mentioned by Root in his work. Because neither was aware of the other's work, the telling of these events is about as straight forward from each as you can imagine. The story Tammy as sewn together tells much about early beekeeping history and equipment, the evolution of factory equipment and science, about working as a single woman in what is mostly a man's world, and about life in a small town in northeast Ohio at the turn of the century. Links and websites mentioned in this podcast: "Work I Knew I Must" - https://store.beeculture.com/books/ Bee-ing Diverse - Bee Culture October Event: https://store.beeculture.com/beeing-diverse-inspiring-leaders-in-beekeeping-october-2021/   Honey Bee Obscura Podcast - https://www.honeybeeobscura.com ______________ Calling all craft food and drink makers! Entry period for the 12th annual Good Food Awards is open now thru June 30th, and we're accepting entries from 18 different categories of food and drink, including honey. Entries are $78 a piece to help cover logistics, and entrants can add on the option to receive judge feedback from the Blind Tasting in August for $15. Head over to goodfoodfdn.org for all the details and use code BEEKEEPING at checkout for $10 off. We look forward to seeing your entries soon! Click here for Submission Information Click here for Rules & Regulations Click here for Honey Category details ______________ We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. BetterBee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode!  We want to also thank 2 Million Blossoms as a sponsor of the podcast. 2 Million Blossoms is a quarterly magazine destined for your coffee table. Each page of the magazine is dedicated to the stories and photos of all pollinators and written by leading researchers, photographers and our very own, Kim Flottum. _______________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: questions@beekeepingtodaypodcast.com Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening!  Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"; Musicalman, "Epilogue". Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott Beekeeping Today Podcast is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, LLC

Entrevista com Arcelia Gallardo, proprietária da Mission Chocolate, uma pequena fábrica de chocolate, localizada no bairro do Brooklin em São Paulo, de onde vem o chocolate mais premiado do Brasil. Seu principal objetivo é apresentar sabores típicos brasileiros ao mundo. Chocolatier, fazedora de chocolate, consultora, professora, filha de fazendeiros e trabalha com chocolate há 17 anos. Viaja pela América Latina para trabalhar com produtores de cacau, fazedores de chocolate e chocolatiers, e para ensinar mulheres indígenas a produzir chocolate. Já trabalhou com mulheres da etnia Zapotec no estado mexicano de Oaxaca, mulheres Maia na Guatemala e no Belize e mulheres Ngäbe no Panamá. Ama doces, sobremesas e desenvolve menus para restaurantes em São Paulo. Já visitou 23 países com o intuito de aprender sobre chocolate, cacau e sobremesas: desde ateliês de luxo em Paris até comunidade isoladas no meio da Floresta Amazônica. Passa a maior parte do seu tempo no Brasil, de onde vem todo o cacau e o açúcar que trabalha, mas com frequência faz umas escapadinhas ao México, onde ama trabalhar por conta da sua paixão por chocolate quente (e é fato que os mexicanos reinam nesse quesito). No entanto, o seu lar é a Califórnia. Além disso, realiza cursos de como produzir chocolate, ministra sessões de degustação e faz jantares para convidados, sempre com inspiração no chocolate. Foi presidente da Associação Bean to Bar Brasil, co-presidente da Good Food Awards (na categoria Chocolate), localizada em São Francisco – Califórnia, e jurada da NorthWest Chocolate Festival Awards em Seattle, Washington, EUA. @missionchocolate

What better way to start Pollinator Week than to get the latest info on everything Pollinator from Kelly Rourke, Executive Director of Pollinator Partnership, and Miles Dakin, the Coordinator of Pollinator Partnership's Bee Friendly Farming program. This week's program also marks the beginning or Beekeeping Today Podcast's FOURTH year! Our first program way back then was with members of the Pollinator Partnership organization and we're at it again with them. It's been a good relationship each year. Kelly shares a lot of what this group is doing during the 15th year of Pollinator Week. She discusses the new poster, this year's t-shirt, how to get your Governor to produce a Proclamation Supporting Pollinator Week in your state, and this year's virtual congressional briefings from the group on the state of protecting pollinators, plus the announcements sent to the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Administrator of EPA. They are also sponsoring a cookbook, an announcement page on their web page that viewers can post their local events on and several FB Live Events this week. Miles discusses his role with the Bee Friendly Farming program, including what it takes to get certified as a BFF, how many BFF farms there are, and being a BFF Supporter that beekeepers can take advantage of. All of this for supporting native and honey bees, but all are also very good marketing tools for growers and sellers. The Poster this year is focused on BFF, with native plants, bees, flies, beetles and the habitat they need, including continuous blooms, pesticide responsibility and clean water. Solar arrays are becoming pollinator friendly too, and supporting pollinator friendly planting under them is good for everybody, and a lot better to look at. Learn more and better ways to help support pollinators with the Pollinator Partnership Group Links and websites mentioned in this podcast: The Pollinator Partnership - https://www.pollinator.org Bee Better Farming - https://www.pollinator.org/bff P2 2021 Pollinator Poster - https://www.pollinator.org/shop/posters Honey Bee Obscura Podcast - https://www.honeybeeobscura.com ______________ Calling all craft food and drink makers! Entry period for the 12th annual Good Food Awards is open now thru June 30th, and we're accepting entries from 18 different categories of food and drink, including honey. Entries are $78 a piece to help cover logistics, and entrants can add on the option to receive judge feedback from the Blind Tasting in August for $15. Head over to goodfoodfdn.org for all the details and use code BEEKEEPING at checkout for $10 off. We look forward to seeing your entries soon! Click here for Submission Information Click here for Rules & Regulations Click here for Honey Category details ______________ We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. BetterBee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode!  We want to also thank 2 Million Blossoms as a sponsor of the podcast. 2 Million Blossoms is a quarterly magazine destined for your coffee table. Each page of the magazine is dedicated to the stories and photos of all pollinators and written by leading researchers, photographers and our very own, Kim Flottum. _______________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: questions@beekeepingtodaypodcast.com Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening!  Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"; Musicalman, "Epilogue". Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott Beekeeping Today Podcast is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, LLC

Charlotte Ekker Wiggins, author of two books about beekeeping and beekeepers, is our guest today. Her first book, Bee Club Basics, Or How To Start A Bee Club, dealt with managing teachers mentors, students, classes and the basics of organizing a start-up beekeeping organization. Her second book, just recently released is A Beekeeper's Diary. Self Guide To Keeping Bees.  [Late breaking news! "A Beekeeper's Diary" just won a Bronze Award in the Home & Garden Category from the Independent Publisher Book Awards!  Congratulations Charlotte!] This is a beginner's book, certainly. But it is different than any you have looked at in the past. When confronted with a task for the first time, she will offer several perspectives on how to accomplish it. Which is the right one, well, IT DEPENDS, doesn't it? So, the reader finds where she fits in on this and accomplishes the task the best way for her. There are almost always several correct answers. She also uses checklists a lot. These are always handy and with them she often uses blank pages so you can write your own list, or make notes on something, or make a question for later. Why do you want to keep bees, anyway? A good question right at the beginning. And start with Langstroth equipment because there is so much written about it, and so much information on it. You can graduate to other equipment when you get the basic biology stuff behind you. There are a host of “Good To Know” tips, which cover whatever topic the chapter is covering but from a somewhat different perspective. For instance, Buying used equipment – good or bad, and why? Check out both of Charlotte's books. They are different enough from what you have that it will be worth your time. Links and websites mentioned in this podcast: Charlotte's Website - http://www.charlotteekkerwiggins.com Honey Bee Obscura Podcast - https://www.honeybeeobscura.com ______________ Calling all craft food and drink makers! Entry period for the 12th annual Good Food Awards is open now thru June 30th, and we're accepting entries from 18 different categories of food and drink, including honey. Entries are $78 a piece to help cover logistics, and entrants can add on the option to receive judge feedback from the Blind Tasting in August for $15. Head over to goodfoodfdn.org for all the details and use code BEEKEEPING at checkout for $10 off. We look forward to seeing your entries soon! Click here for Submission Information Click here for Rules & Regulations Click here for Honey Category details ______________ We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. BetterBee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode!  We want to also thank 2 Million Blossoms as a sponsor of the podcast. 2 Million Blossoms is a quarterly magazine destined for your coffee table. Each page of the magazine is dedicated to the stories and photos of all pollinators and written by leading researchers, photographers and our very own, Kim Flottum. _______________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: questions@beekeepingtodaypodcast.com Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening!  Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"; Musicalman, "Epilogue". Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott Beekeeping Today Podcast is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, LLC

You've won a prestigious food industry award, or gotten a fantastic press mention for your food or beverage brand, but now what?  Time and time again, I see producers fail to use that recognition to fully support their retail accounts, boost sales, land new placements, or procure additional press. This episode will change that!  In today's show, I'm sharing my best advice on what to do with industry praise - be it an award, a press mention, or some other celebratory event - and how to use it to drive sales. Tune in! Find the full show notes, the links to the past episodes that I mention on today's show, and that discount for entering the Good Food Awards by clicking here.  Thank you to the Good Food Foundation for sponsoring this episode. The GFF is an organization that I have known, worked with, and respected for a decade, and I can't wait for my listeners to get to know them as well! Don't forget to use promo code FOODBIZWIZ for 10% off your first entry this year. Good luck!

You've won a prestigious food industry award, or gotten a fantastic press mention for your food or beverage brand, but now what?  Time and time again, I see producers fail to use that recognition to fully support their retail accounts, boost sales, land new placements, or procure additional press. This episode will change that!  In today's show, I'm sharing my best advice on what to do with industry praise - be it an award, a press mention, or some other celebratory event - and how to use it to drive sales. Tune in! Find the full show notes, the links to the past episodes that I mention on today's show, and that discount for entering the Good Food Awards by clicking here.  Thank you to the Good Food Foundation for sponsoring this episode. The GFF is an organization that I have known, worked with, and respected for a decade, and I can't wait for my listeners to get to know them as well! Don't forget to use promo code FOODBIZWIZ for 10% off your first entry this year. Good luck!

Join me in conversation with Sarah Weiner, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Good Food Foundation, as we talk about the history of The Good Food Awards, the changes that they've made in the past year, and the impact that this non-profit has on the food industry. We also discuss who is eligible to enter, what winning an award has done for past recipients, and how to know if you're right for one of their 18 categories. The entry period for the Good Food Awards is now open, from June 1 - June 30, 2021, so get to it! Click here for the link to enter the Good Food Awards and for our full show notes. Don't forget to use promo code FOODBIZWIZ for 10% off your first entry this year. Good luck! Finally: we hope to see you in Brand Camp, our free 5-day online workshop for emerging food & beverage brands, running June 6 - June 11th. Come save your spot and you'll be on your way to increasing your sales next week! Join us at www.takebrandcamp.com Thank you to the Good Food Foundation for sponsoring this episode. The GFF is an organization that I have known, worked with, and respected for a decade, and I can't wait for my listeners to get to know them as well! 

Join me in conversation with Sarah Weiner, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Good Food Foundation, as we talk about the history of The Good Food Awards, the changes that they’ve made in the past year, and the impact that this non-profit has on the food industry. We also discuss who is eligible to enter, what winning an award has done for past recipients, and how to know if you’re right for one of their 18 categories. The entry period for the Good Food Awards is now open, from June 1 - June 30, 2021, so get to it! Click here for the link to enter the Good Food Awards and for our full show notes. Don’t forget to use promo code FOODBIZWIZ for 10% off your first entry this year. Good luck! Finally: we hope to see you in Brand Camp, our free 5-day online workshop for emerging food & beverage brands, running June 6 - June 11th. Come save your spot and you’ll be on your way to increasing your sales next week! Join us at www.takebrandcamp.com Thank you to the Good Food Foundation for sponsoring this episode. The GFF is an organization that I have known, worked with, and respected for a decade, and I can’t wait for my listeners to get to know them as well! 

Jeff Cerise and his partners at Hobby Farmer Canning Company are passionate makers of delicious, hand-crafted foods and beverages. Their products are based on family recipes and adapted to today's tastes. What started with pickles, beets, and other vegetables has kept going with Switchels and now their new Hard Switchel.  Switchel has been considered an amazingly refreshing health elixir for centuries. Like their popular N/A Switchel Fizz,  Hobby Farmer Hard Switchel is gluten-free, made with all organic ginger, ACV and honey, but this new one comes in at a very drinkable 5% ABV. and has one the very prestigious Good Food Award.Support the showFollow the Makers of Minnesota on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @MakersofMN. Send story ideas to Stephanie@stephaniesdish.com If you appreciate the work we do here, please subscribe on Patreon Please subscribe to My newsletter at https://stephaniehansen.substack.com/ so you don't miss an epiosde of the Makers of Minnesota This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

Jeff Cerise and his partners at Hobby Farmer Canning Company are passionate makers of delicious, hand-crafted foods and beverages. Their products are based on family recipes and adapted to today’s tastes. What started with pickles, beets, and other vegetables has kept going with Switchels and now their new Hard Switchel.  Switchel has been considered an amazingly refreshing health elixir for centuries. Like their popular N/A Switchel Fizz,  Hobby Farmer Hard Switchel is gluten-free, made with all organic ginger, ACV and honey, but this new one comes in at a very drinkable 5% ABV. and has one the very prestigious Good Food Award.Support the show (https://paypal.me/StephanieKHansen?locale.x=en_US)

It was great catching up with Sarah Weiner, Executive Director of the Good Food Foundation. She is a perfect example of someone that followed their passion for food and seems to have created her dream career sharing sustainable food and promoting artisan producers. "Sarah has worked side by side with the sustainable food movement's founders and visionaries across the globe. As the Director of Communication for the Slow Food International Office in Italy, she was immersed in the roots of the food movement before heading to California to become Alice Waters' “Girl Friday” (in Alice's words) for two years. Next she spearheaded the development of Slow Food Nation as its Content Director, produced the 20,000 person Organic Food Festival in Bristol, England for the Soil Association, developed the Art.Food.Hope fund-raising campaign on the eve of Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration, and co-founded Seedling Projects.She is the founder of the Good Food Foundation and for over a decade she has grown the Foundation." We talked about some of the ways the Foundation needed to reformulate the judging of the Good Food Awards during the pandemic, what this year's festivities will look like and how quality, small batch food products continue to grow. Since the Good Food Awards began they have had over 6000 entries from across the country. The five key programs under the Good Food Foundation are spreading the word, one producer at a time, all with sustainability, connection, and concentration on reforming the American food culture. https://goodfoodfdn.org/ https://www.instagram.com/goodfoodfdn/

So fun to catch up with Christian during Shelter in Place. Along Christian's journey, he has worked for the girl & the fig, owned a pickle company and was very involved with the Good Food Awards and invited Sondra to be a pickle judge one year. Christian is also a professional olive oil taster, like Arden Coturri (episode 69), which shows us how small our Bay Area food world is. Christian talks about his time cooking and progression at Zuni and all about his new column in the San Francisco Chronicle called Bounty. He is also a Cookbook recipe tester and a photographer. His food photographs are stunning. Tune in to learn more. [EP85] http://www.christianreynoso.com/ https://www.instagram.com/christianreynoso/.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-22{width:100% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;}.fusion-builder-column-22 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 0px;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 0px;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-22{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-column-22 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 0px;margin-left : 0px;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-22{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-column-22 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 0px;margin-left : 0px;}}.fusion-fullwidth.fusion-builder-row-23 { overflow:visible; }.fusion-body .fusion-flex-container.fusion-builder-row-23{ padding-top : 0px;margin-top : 0px;padding-right : 0px;padding-bottom : 0px;margin-bottom : 0px;padding-left : 0px;}

In this episode, Richard Sandlin sits with our Tasting Room Director, Sandra Elisa-Loofbourow. Sandra shares her story outlining what it means to launch a project, the Q program, Good Food Awards & her infectious passion for The Tango. Follow Sandra on Instagram or email her sandra@royalcoffee.com. Shout out to Michael Senderovich for the music & logistical support. Thank you to Chris Kornman for the engineering support. Feedback? podcast@royalcoffee.com   

In 2005, Shawn Askinosie left a successful career as a criminal defense lawyer to start a bean to bar chocolate factory and never looked back.Askinosie Chocolate is a small batch, award winning chocolate factory located in Springfield, Missouri, sourcing 100% of their beans directly from farmers. The only chocolate maker working directly with cocoa farmers on four continents, Shawn travels to regions of Ecuador, the Philippines and Tanzania to source cocoa beans for his chocolate. This allows the chocolate to be traced to the source and labeled authentic single origin. It also enables Askinosie Chocolate to profit share with the farmers, giving them a “Stake In the Outcome,” a principle he learned from author/entrepreneur Jack Stack.Recently named by Forbes "One of the 25 Best Small Companies in America", Askinosie Chocolate has also been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, on Bloomberg, MSNBCand numerous other national and international media outlets.The Askinosie Chocolate mission is to serve their farmers, their neighborhood, their customers and each other, sharing the Askinosie Chocolate experience by leaving the world a better place than they found it. The company is currently sustainably feeding over 1,600 students per day in Tanzania and the Philippines, without any donations. Founded at the forefront of the American craft chocolate revolution and regarded by many as a vanguard in the industry, Askinosie Chocolate sets the standard: they are one of the few chocolate makers in the world who press their own cocoa butter (to make their chocolate truly single origin) and the only American craft chocolate maker to produce a natural cocoa powder; they were the first American craft chocolate makers to create white chocolate, as well as a chocolate hazelnut spread (says The New York Times: “one spoonful of Askinosie's Chocolate Hazelnut Spread and all memory of Nutella is gone”).Shawn was named by O, The Oprah Magazine "One of 15 Guys Who Are Saving the World." They said, "Why we're fans: The philanthropically-minded chocolate entrepreneur aims to get students thinking about business ethics in a way that could have ripple effects for generations." For his efforts in "Advancing food standards... by creating social, economic, and environmental impact", Shawn was awarded Top Business Leader of the Year in 2013 by the Specialty Food Association. Shawn has been awarded honorary doctorates from University of Missouri-Columbia and Missouri State University. In 2015, Askinosie Chocolate was awarded a complimentary membership to the Clinton Global Initiative for the company's social efforts around the world. Seth Godin, entrepreneur and author, recently praised the company's model: "[Shawn] has built a practice of creating a worthwhile luxury good that directly benefits people. Not sort of. Not a little. But directly.”Askinosie Chocolate has received 3 Good Food Awards, considered to be the Oscars of food; 6 silver awards from the Specialty Food Association; and 7 International Chocolate Awards, including the Gold World Award for the Dark Chocolate + Licorice bar. The small team at Askinosie works directly with all of their retailers and sells their chocolate into specialty food stores, luxury boutiques, and high-end grocery chains throughout the US in nearly all fifty states and across the globe.Shawn's book, recently released, co-written with his daughter Lawren, published by Penguin titled "Meaningful Work: The Quest To Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul" is an Amazon #1 New Release. Read Seth Godin's review of the book here. He is a Family Brother at Assumption Abbey, a Trappist monastery near Ava, Missouri and the co-founder of Lost & Found, a grief center serving children and families in Southwest Missouri.- askinosie.com- https://www.amazon.com/Meaningful-Work-Quest-Great-Business/dp/0143130315Please do NOT hesitate to reach out to me on LinkedIn, Instagram, or via email mark@vudream.comLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-metry/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/markmetry/Twitter - https://twitter.com/markymetryMedium - https://medium.com/@markymetryFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/Humans.2.0.PodcastMark Metry - https://www.markmetry.com/Humans 2.0 Twitter - https://twitter.com/Humans2Podcast

Our Moderator Libby gives hard-hitting stories of food in the news to our panelists and they discuss their attitudes and opinions in our Weekly Baste Segment. This week we discuss the curtsy, fast-fine, and gender neutral pops among other things. The Maillard Reaction Segment opens the floor for each panelist to give an opinion about a question that is relevant to the current week. The show is rounded out by our special guests: the Newman Family, Berkshire farmers from Missouri and Sarah Weiner, founder of the Good Food Awards. The Main Course O.G. is powered by Simplecast

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and "Behind the Mitten" talks to Higher Grounds coffee owner Chris Treter, who operates his Fair Trade Company in Traverse City.They work with specialty growers in Mexico and the Chiapan Highlands of Mexico.Chris talks about his original vision for the company, which is about "1,000 times the original vision," he said. They are now available in a variety of stores, including Meijer.He has several coffee gift packages just in time for the holidays. You can check them out online. A portion of the sales goes to the non-profit On the Ground, which empowers coffee farming communities through gender and social equity, environmental sustainability, and economic security.High Grounds also is a finalist for the Good Food Awards, a national award in the coffee category. Only 5 companies in Michigan were named finalists in all the categories.More info at https://www.highergroundstrading.com/More info on Behind the Mitten at https://www.facebook.com/behindthemitten/

Amour is the French word for love, and that's the perfect way to describe how the local jam company Amour Spreads began. It was in 2011 that John and Casee Francis were looking to start a new chapter in life. They felt they were in a rut with their careers and needed a change, or as they say in the episode, they wanted a sign: something that would signal to them what their next life chapter had in store for them.It was when Casee and John were hiking in rural Idaho in the summer of 2011 that the sign they wished for appeared. Just not in the way they expected. A few miles from their cabin, they stumbled across a field with thousands of berries. Unable to stop themselves from picking them, they spent the morning filling bails with fresh-picked berries. But what do you do with thousands of berries when there's no way to bring them back to Utah? After some reading online, Casee and John decided to experiment with making jam. And that's where their new journey began.Their first batches of jam were a hit. Friends and family loved their local, low sugar, high-quality recipes, and John and Casee's interest and excitement grew. Every new batch was an experiment, and what started as a hobby grew into a passion.With further encouragement from their friends at Pago and Liberty Heights Fresh, John and Casee decided to take the plunge and grow Amour Spreads into a business. With a booth at the Farmer's Market, jam's at Liberty Heights Fresh and Caputos, and partnerships with Pago and Solstice Chocolate, Amour Spreads has quickly established themselves as an essential part of the Utah food scene.Join us on The Utah Foodie as we sit down with John and Casee and learn how their humble jam interest grew into an award-winning, state-wide hit. From the humble beginnings at an Idaho cabin to being a finalist in the Good Food Awards, the only way to go for Amour Spreads is up.—This episode of The Utah Foodie was hosted by Chase Murdock and produced by Ryan Samanka. Visit our episode archive on Ventricle Presents, and stay connected with us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Copyright © Ventricle Media, LLC • ventriclemedia.com