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GOURMET NEWS OCTOBER 2018 www.gourmetnews.com RETAILER NEWS 1 3 Il Porcellino Continued from PAGE 1 from a passion for cured meats that I've had ever since being a young chef," he said. "I definitely shared recipes with family and a number of friends who encouraged me to start the business." He continued working on his recipes for another two or three years before opening the doors to Il Por- cellino, and he's now putting those recipes to use making products for the wholesale market. "There are two different aspects to the business," Miner said. "We wanted to develop a brand name at the retail store be- fore we developed our wholesale business.... We worked hard on making sure that we had a number of good base recipes before we opened the door, but we're still trying to push the limits, make new things, develop new recipes and not rest on our laurels. We want to be a leader in the industry." As part of the brand development, Miner competed this year in the 2018 Charcuterie Masters competition in New York City, winning the grand cham- pion's crown among charcutiers from across the U.S. and Canada with his Spiced Juniper Salami, Speck and a new Hot Link recipe. The Spiced Juniper Salami won the Dry Cured Salami category, chosen from more than 100 entries from across the country. Between the two businesses, Miner em- ploys about 15 people who work as a close- knit family along with Miner's wife Elizabeth and their two sons, Alexander and Preston, who are 7 and 4 years old. "They're just as important as everybody else," he said. "They love coming to the shop and see- ing the piggies and eating salami. Sometimes they'll help grind meat or wash dishes – not for 10 hours at a time – they come in for a little bit." With the opening of the Basalt facility in June of this year, Miner started making fermented and dried salumi for the wholesale market, selling to wineries and cheese shops – any specialty re- tailer offering a charcuterie plat- ter or selling charcuterie at retail – as well as high-end restaurants. "We're already having a hard time keeping up with the demand, be- cause we did develop that brand name be- fore we opened our doors," he said. "We want to be a small, artisanal salumi maker. We don't want to be a big company. We make everything by hand." His current flavors of salami available at wholesale include Black Truffle, a Genoa- style salami seasoned with Malbec wine and fresh Burgundy black truffles; Caccia- tore, a hunter-style salami that includes caraway seed, coriander, garlic and red chile flakes and Diablo, which is a spicy Italian salami seasoned with toasted fennel seeds and both whole and ground Cal- abrian chiles. The current salami includes a Finnocchiona, the traditional Italian salami that's redolent with toasted fennel seeds and fennel pollen as well as garlic and black pepper. Orange Pistachio is a salami seasoned with garlic and fresh orange zest and garnished with Sicilian pistachios. Saucisson Sec is the traditional French- style salami with garlic, black pepper and wine. Miner also jazzes up with Saucisson Sec further in a recipe he calls Queso, which includes Haystack Mountain Queso de Mano, a handmade Manchego-style cheese made from raw goat milk by Cheesemaker Jackie Chang. Miner's Span- ish Chorizo is seasoned with Pimenton smoked paprika, garlic and oregano, and his Spiced Juniper, a 2018 Charcuterie Mas- ters Grand Champion, innovates on tradi- tion with juniper berries, coriander and fennel seed with Calabrian chiles for heat. This fall, the Cacciatore, Di- ablo, Finnochiona and Spiced Juniper salamis will also be of- fered for wholesale in large-for- mat sliceable versions. In addition, Miner will be offering Guanciale, which is dry-cured pork jowl seasoned with garlic, bay leaf and thyme, Pepperoni and Soppressetta, the classic spicy Italian salami with unctu- ous amounts of fat for a luxuri- ous mouthfeel and garlic, black pepper, red pepper flakes and Malbec to give it depth of flavor. Once the new facility is approved for the production of whole muscle cuts, expected in early 2019, he'll add his Lonza, Wagyu Beef Bresaola and his Good Food Award- winning Coppa as well as Culatello and Prosciutto to his wholesale menu. Like the retail shop, all of the meat used in the fa- cility is sourced from Colorado and neigh- boring Nebraska. Miner also has plans to expand the busi- ness further in late 2019 to include cooked products such as Mortadella, Summer Sausage, Artisanal Hot Dogs and Wagyu Beef Pastrami. "We're working directly with farmers and ranchers that are raising the animals properly," Miner said. "Working with the best-quality animals helps us to create an awesome finished product." GN Meijer Rebrands Simply Give Program to Increase Awareness of Hunger Meijer's fall Simply Give campaign featured a new look this year that incorporates in- dividuals involved with its food pantry partners. The Grand Rapids, Michigan- based retailer rebranded its signature hunger relief program to align more closely with individuals impacted by Simply Give, including volunteers, community members and food pantry clients. "Thanks to the continued support and generosity of our customers, team members and food pantry partners, we've been feed- ing our hungry neighbors for nearly 10 years," said Cathy Cooper, Senior Director of Community Partnerships and Giving for Meijer. "We believe that making these changes and featuring people in the commu- nity who are making a difference through Simply Give, will bring more awareness to the program and our food pantry partners." For example, Krystal Stuart is a Commu- nity Police Officer with the Kent County Sheriff's Department. She volunteers regu- larly at Streams of Hope Food Pantry where she helps individuals find the food they need to feed their families. "It's not complicated," she said. "Neigh- bors always help neighbors." As part of the campaign, Stuart's photo, and those of the other featured individuals, were displayed on Simply Give donation cards and signage in Meijer stores in the drive that ran through September 15. Meijer began its Simply Give program in November 2008 to help stock the shelves of local food pantries throughout the Mid- west. Since then, nearly $41 million has been generated for those food pantries. And, more importantly, those meals stay local, Cooper said. The program runs three times a year when food pantries need it the most: spring, fall and holiday. During each campaign, cus- tomers are encouraged to purchase a $10 Simply Give donation card that is then con- verted into Meijer Food-Only Gift Card and donated directly to the local food pantry se- lected by the store for that campaign. GN Peapod Expands Meal Kit Selection And Distribution Peapod is now offering meal kits as well as all the weekly essentials delivered right to shoppers' doors. With a large selection of meal kits already avail- able, the company is releasing new recipes regularly and has an aggressive pipeline of more than 40 new kits planned for release through spring 2019. "The Peapod cus- tomer is busy, and they come to us because they're looking for a convenient and sim- plified option for grocery shopping," said Spencer Baird, Senior Vice President of Merchandising for Peapod. "We want to take that a step further by having options to make their lives even easier, and through offering items that simplify the cooking process and provide shortcuts, we're help- ing them make the most of mealtimes. Customers who shop with Peapod can combine their weekly grocery shopping es- sentials with conven- ience cuts and meal kits, equipping them with everything they need to conquer a busy week." Since spring of 2018, Peapod has intro- duced more than 15 new kits, all contain- ing pre-measured, pre-cut and pre-washed fresh ingredients. Reaction from shoppers has been overwhelmingly positive with kits consistently getting four- and five-star rat- ings. The Peapod meal kit consumer is a heavy user at Peapod, and basket size fea- turing a meal kit is 11 percent larger than the average basket size. This fall Peapod is expanding distribu- tion of meal kits to shoppers in Connecti- cut and New England and adding new recipes to its current lineup. Popular recent additions and innovative partnerships have included limited edition Chicken Tinga Tacos by Chef Jon Zaragoza and Diet Coke, Vegan General Tso's Tofu by Chef Chloe Coscarelli and Glazed Beef Tenderloin Skewers, Cauliflower & Tabbouleh by Wildfire. Peapod has a long history of part- nering with some of America's most popu- lar consumer packaged goods brands from Campbell's and Uncle Ben's to Conagra Brands and Pepsi. "Working with Peapod to create meal kits featuring Seeds of Change and Uncle Ben's has been an amazing way for us to in- troduce our products to new consumers," said Dan Jackson, Vice President of Market- ing for Mars Food North America. "To- gether we're able to provide recipe inspiration that is convenient, healthy and delivers big on flavor." GN

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