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GOURMET NEWS DECEMBER 2018 www.gourmetnews.com YEAR IN REVIEW 2 0 BY LORRIE BAUMANN MM Local rebranded itself this year as Farmhand Organics to clarify for con- sumers that the brand of jarred vegetable products stands for, as it always has, the highest quality certified-organic products made with ingredients sourced from family farmers that the consumer can identify. Each jar of Farmhand Organics pickled vegetables, apple and pear sauces and its sauerkrauts, kimchis and hot sauces is la- beled with a traceability sticker that shows the consumer exactly which farm grew the produce for that specific product. "[The new name] better reflects the mis- sion, which is about building a healthier and more delicious and transparent food system and making the highest quality farm-to-jar products through the direct re- lationships that we have with the farms," said CEO Jim Mills. The Colorado-based company was started in 2009. "We got started with the basic idea that there are a lot of folks out there who really want to connect with where their food is coming from and to have the type of experience you have when you go to a farmers market," Mills said. "There was a lot of talk about that in the food industry, but, by and large, our indus- try wasn't really set up to deliver on that in a meaningful way." Recipes for the products are based on what the company's family farmers can pro- vide from their land – "crunchy cabbage picked at the right time, beets that are nat- urally sweet and really deliver on the flavor of the product," Mills said. The company's first products were pick- les and fruit products, and with more than 20 products now in the range, the most re- cent are the probiotic line of sauerkrauts and kimchis that have been Farmhand Or- ganics' best sellers for some time. Green Chile Sauerkraut is one of the newest re- leases in that line. "We ferment those chiles and it creates a really smoky, deep, robust chile flavor, almost like they've been roasted," Mills said. Farmhand Organics Zucchini Bread and Butter Pickles are made from a recipe de- veloped after farmers started telling the company that they shared the experience of every home gardener who plants a few zucchini seeds in the spring – come sum- mer, they always had a surplus of the fresh zucchini that needed to be preserved. "It's a unique and popular product for us," Mills commented. Single-varietal applesauces are another recent introduction. "We're making apple- sauce that is varietal-specific and have found that it really does taste like that apple!" Mills said. In addition to the recognition by con- sumers that they're real people who care about their work, what the farmers get out of this is a pre-season commitment to buy their produce, so they can plant with greater confidence. "What we offer the farms is a commitment to them to buy their produce. We make that commitment well before the produce is ready, so it helps them grow," Mills said. "It can have a stabilizing effect on their farm. That commitment can mean a lot." What consumers get out of it isn't just the transparency they desire – it's also great flavor, he added. ("When there's a surplus, it often means that it's something that grew really well, which means that it tastes really good, and we can preserve that bounty," he said "We partner with farms that take a lot of pride and care in growing the most amazing organic fruits and vegetables. It's these relationships with farms that allows us to make the highest quality products for people." Farmhand Organics products are cur- rently distributed in Rocky Mountain re- gion, in Oregon and Washington and in the Midwest as well as Texas, and the company is ready to grow beyond those regions. "We are excited to grow. Part of our mission – 10 years from now, we would love to be a nationally recognized brand that's helping drive quality and transparency in our food system," Mills said. "At the same time, we want to become a catalyst for growing or- ganic farms across the country." GN Farmhand Organics Cultivates Relationships with Growers BY LORRIE BAUMANN When Brennan's Market announced in July of 2017 that its five Wisconsin locations would close in September, leaving 150 full- and part-time employees out of work, Tim Mulcahy — one of those employees — knew that the specialty market's absence would leave a hole in his Madison neighborhood. "I've worked at Brennan's most of my life and wasn't ready to give it up," he said. "After speaking with thousands of customers over the summer, it seemed that Madisonians weren't ready to let it go either." He reopened one of those locations, on the far west side of Madison at 8210 Watts Road, as Brennan's Cellars. The new Bren- nan's Cellars kept its identity as a specialty store rather than trying to be a one-stop shop for all of its neighbor's grocery needs. The original Brennan's Market had its origins in 1942 as a road-side fruit stand operated by Frank Brennan. Over time, it grew into five locations, with two in Madi- son and others in Brookfield, Monroe and Oconomowoc as well as a warehouse and packaging facility in which the firm pack- aged its own brand of cheese, according to reporting by Melanie Lawder for the Mil- waukee Business Journal. The Watts Road incarnation as Brennan's Cellars shrank from 21,000 square feet to just over half of that, giving the cheese department new prominence, since it's staying the same size. "This is Wisconsin, so the cheese depart- ment is important," said Thea Miller, who was on the team that helped reopen the store, which has about 150 different cheeses in the cheese case at any given time and has made a specialty of buying young cheeses and aging them in house. "We also do very well with squeaky fresh cheese curds," Miller said. "And besides that, we have all the things you think of when you think of Wisconsin cheese." The produce department, which once oc- cupied almost half the store's floor space, in keeping with its origins as a produce stand, was trimmed back to a carefully cu- rated selection of best-selling items, accord- ing to Miller. "The other big change was that we had leased the space for the meat market," she added. "Now we will own the meat market and deli." The store's beer assortment and wine de- partment are working with smaller foot- prints, but the Brennan's Cellars store now includes tables in a seating area, so cus- tomers can eat their made-to-order sand- wiches or prepared meals on the premises, and the new store also opened a catering operation. Brennan's Cellars continued the holiday gift program that was popular with Bren- nan's Market customers, with Wisconsin cheese boxes available both in-store and on- line. Local favorites like Sweet N' Hot Pep- per Relish, Fresh Farmer Basil Cheese and Chin Drippin' Idaho Peaches continue to be offered in season, and the market continues an extensive sampling program that encour- ages shoppers to try before they buy. "It's been an intense couple of months bringing Brennan's back to life," Mulcahy said as the store was completing the preparations for a December grand re-opening. "We can't wait to open and welcome Madison back." GN Brennan's Cellars Opens in Madison, Wisconsin 2018 a last look back at BY LORRIE BAUMANN As Gourmet News looks back at a tumultuous 2018, we hear both warn- ing sirens and the bells of celebration, and it's the celebration that we want to focus on now as we bring back to mind some of the stories from this year that we're proud to have brought you in the pages of our mag- azine. Throughout the past year, we've found food producers working hard to create a food system that's worthy of the trust that consumers place in them as well as serving the world with compassion for a wide array of other human needs. Many are also reaching out their hands to help others find their way into the food industry or to stay in it despite the challenges of a difficult market. We offer you a few of those stories about the hard work that those in the specialty food industry do every day to make sure that there's food to put on our holiday tables. We're humbled by the work that our readers put every day into pro- viding us with food that nourishes us, respects the Earth and the other animals who share it with us and honors the traditions handed down to us by ancestors from around the world. We're so proud of you all, and we're delighted to share these stories with you once again. GN

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