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GOURMET NEWS OCTOBER 2018 www.gourmetnews.com Supplier News SUPPLIER NEWS 1 4 BRIEFS Sausages and Deli Meats with a True Story Behind Them BY LORRIE BAUMANN True story: Phil Gatto just loves making hams and sausages so much that a 40-year career with a major meat processor just wasn't enough for him – he had to help start another meat processing company, where he and his four co-Founders are making antibiotic-free deli meats and or- ganic sausages and hot dogs. "I didn't think I'd done my best work yet, so I wasn't ready to retire," he says. "I'm probably more en- thusiastic about good food and further pro- cessing than I ever was in my career." Gatto is one of the co-Founders of True Story Foods, a company they're building around the idea that cured and processed meats can be produced with responsible husbandry and without antibiotics and that they can make their supply chain transparent from farm to consumer. "We work with farmers and ranchers who care for their animals and land the old-fash- ioned way – with genuine respect, appre- ciation, and sense of responsibility," Gatto says. "We believe it's our job to support them every way possible. That's why we pay better than market rate. By doing so, we not only build meaningful relation- ships with people who share our values, but also a model that is sustainable and attractive to farmers. This is critical to building a new generation of farmers for the future." One of the company's newest products is True Story Berkshire Non-GMO fresh pork, a 2018 Nexty Finalist, which is from hogs that are from heirloom lines of the Berk- shire breed which is prized for its extraor- dinary marbling and deep cherry color. The meat has a unique flavor, with a sweeter taste than mainstream pork. The hogs are raised with Non-GMO Project-verified feed on family farms with enhanced outdoor ac- cess (certified by the Global Animal Part- nership). The company released its Chicken - Apple & Wildflower Honey Sausage this year, too. True Story's Black Forest Ham is Gatto's personal favorite among the meats the company is producing because he likes knowing that he can go back to the farm where the pork that goes into it was raised, he says. That farm belongs to Russ Kremer, another of the co-Founders in the venture, a fifth-generation Missouri farmer who has been raising pigs since he was five years old. When he returned from college in the early 1980s, he adopted industry trends and started rais- ing hogs in a conventional manner until his eyes were opened to the dangers of al- lowing antibiotics to infiltrate the human food chain after he contracted an antibiotic- resistant infection that was passed onto him from one of his pigs. That incident changed his mind about the best way to raise animals for human consumption, and in 2001, he founded a coopera- tive of farmers who shared his new beliefs about raising live- stock without antibiotics, growth enhancers or hor- mones in an environment in which they're able to express their natural be- haviors. "Russ is growing heritage-breed hogs, Berkshire, Tamworth and Duroc. He has oversight of the pork supply for True Story," Gatto says. "He knows what he's raising. If you go back and pick the very best breeds and you raise them in the best environment, and you're conscious about the feed, you'll end up with a very good quality pork.... Pork is going to make a resurgence as a very delicious meat that has red color and marbling." While pork is the protein that's dearest to Gatto's heart, True Story's line includes a range of deli meats that are Non- GMO Project Verified, or- ganic deli meats made from chicken and turkey as well as pork, o r g a n i c chicken and pork sausages and organic and pasture- raised beef hot dogs. The company was founded in 2011 and made its national launch last March at Natural Products Expo West. The quality of the products is a direct re- sult of the care with which the animals are raised, according to Gatto. "We have a community of people involved all the way from the farmer. People start to get excited about their food and what it should taste like. A ham should taste like a good holiday dinner," he says. "When you get everybody in the supply chain around the same table, it's interesting how excited everyone gets. When you see people enjoying the food... There are consumers who ask where their food came from, and we're proud to tell them." Once the meat leaves the farm, it's har- vested humanely and then processed in the San Francisco Bay Area with traditional methods that protect the flavors of the meat, according to Gatto. "A lot of the meats we eat today have been more indus- trialized, and we felt that if we went back to traditional practices, we could get meat that was more like we ate a couple of gen- erations ago," he says. "We go back to the old recipes, and we find consumers who are not concerned so much about cost as where they can buy it because of how good it tastes. A lot of times, that's in the texture of the meat and the bite of the meat and how you can appreciate that in a sand- wich." Gatto hopes that after the True Story products leave the processing facility, they'll reach consumers who care enough about their food to take the time to enjoy them. "Food should be fun, shouldn't it? At the end of the day, we're in the food business. We want to sit around the table with a ham sandwich and a salad and share some good stories. Is that too idealistic?" he says. "Con- sumers are looking for this kind of food. We're asking consumers if you believe, and want to have transparency, then go to your local supermarket and tell them, 'We'd like to have True Story.'... When you put food on the table, differences disappear, and it's the food that brings you together." For more information, visit www.true storyfoods.com. GN Confectionery Industry Drives American Economy The confectionery industry helps to create more than 600,000 American jobs, according to a report released in September by the National Confectioners Association. Manufacturers of chocolate, candy, gum and mints directly employ nearly 54,000 people across the United States, with more than 550,000 jobs supported in related industries, including agriculture, retail, transportation and more. For every job created in confectionery manufacturing, another 10 are supported in related industries, creating a 1:10 multiplier effect. Country Archer Jerky Co. Secures $10 Million Investment Country Archer Jerky Co. the fastest growing jerky brand in the natural channel, has raised $10 million from Monogram Capital Partners, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm focused on consumer and retail investments. The new capital infusion marks the third investment Monogram has made in the brand and will enable Country Archer to expand production capacity at its southern California-based facility to support exploding consumer demand for its line of clean, gourmet meat snacks. Tony's Chocolonely Launches Limited Edition Bars in U.S. For the first time ever, Tony's Chocolonely, a B-Corp certified company making 100 percent slave free chocolate, is bringing its Limited Edition bars to the USA in three delicious flavors. Available while supplies last online and in select retaile, the Limited Edition bars celebrate all things caramel, unique and playful design and of course, chocolate made with the mission to ban modern slavery and exploitation in the cocoa industry. Released only once per year, the Limited Edition bars come in three delicious flavors that share a common theme, each in a specially designed wrapper. The first set of Limited Edition bars in the US is all about caramel: 28% Blonde Chocolate Caramelized Pecan, 32% Milk Chocolate Shortbread Caramel and 51% Dark Chocolate Cocoa Cookies Caramel. The colorful wrappers are based on three patterns inspired by African design, each and every bar completely unique thanks to an algorithm that created more than 50,000 one- of-a-kind designs. Alove Yogurt Now Available on East Coast Morinaga Nutritional Foods, the makers of Alove yogurt, was among those exhibiting at Natural Products Expo East. Alove features succulent cubes of aloe vera gel mixed with a uniquely smooth and silky, Japanese-style yogurt. The yogurt is made in California, with local Grade A milk, while the aloe vera is sourced in Thailand, where farmers take great care in nurturing their plants, selecting only one leaf from each plant per month for use in Alove yogurt. After successfully launching on the West Coast last year, Alove yogurt is now available to East Coast retailers and distributors.

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