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NATURALLY HEALTHY www.gourmetnews.com n SEPTEMBER 2019 n GOURMET NEWS NH 4 4 North Country Smokehouse Offers Certified Humane Pork Products By Lorrie Baumann North Country Smokehouse is focusing its creative energies this year on its transition to Certified Humane and organic status. "We want to be true to our roots," said Chief Op- erating Officer Aaron Corbett, who joined the company in 2015 following its acquisi- tion by Canadian firm Les Specialites Prodal Ltee. Previous to the acquisition, the Clare- mont, New Hampshire-based company had been family-owned, but when third-genera- tion owner Mike Satzow wanted to retire, he picked the buyer he wanted for the company, and that was another family-owned company that shared his values. "It was a third-gener- ation family-owned smokehouse that evolved from an old-style butcher shop to a smokehouse in the '70s," Corbett said. "It went from a third-generation family-owned company to a fourth-generation family- owned company. It's a different family, but it's all about family-owned." Les Specialties Prodal sister company Les Viandes du Breton produces Certified Hu- mane and organic pork and supplies much of the pork that goes into North Country Smokehouse bacon, sausages and hams. That existing commitment to organic meat as well as Satzow's desire to transition his products to Certified Humane meat that predated his sale of the company were already driving changes at the company – Satzow was an early adopter of Certified Humane labels for his products, but this year, Corbett and his team are putting extra effort into redefining North Country's role in the sustainable food movement. "All of our organic products are Certified Humane Raised & Handled ® ," Cor- bett said. "We believe that ensuring an ani- mals right to fair and adequate treatment is in line with the true spirit of organic. These val- ues significantly impact our future direction." Just in the last three years, North Country Smokehouse's supply chain and its product line have both evolved toward specialty prod- ucts made from premium organic and Certi- fied Humane pork, primarily from Duroc swine. "We're committed to hand-crafting small-batch recipes with premium ingredi- ents, exceptional flavor, respect for livestock and the land," Corbett said. "We feel that we offer the entire package, and that our values align with those of our customers." The evolution faces some economic hur- dles, both for duBreton and for the small farmers who supply that portion of the meat that's not produced by duBreton itself. A transition from conventional agriculture to organic is a three-year process that requires an up-front conversion to organic methods and then a three-year period while those organic methods are practiced before the oper- ation can achieve organic certification. During that time, the farming opera- tion usually has to absorb the extra costs of organic production without getting the price premium that comes along with the certification that it hasn't yet achieved. The farmers who sell their swine to duBre- ton don't face that particular hurdle, accord- ing to Corbett. "One thing that's unique about duBreton – rather than putting the fi- nancial strain on the farm, they fund that for them over the three-year certification pe- riod," he said. DuBreton doesn't base the price it pays those farmers on market rates – instead, it buys its meat for a price that en- sures that its farmers can afford to stay in business regardless of what the overall mar- ket is doing. "No matter what, that guaran- tees that they're getting a fair price for every hog they raise," he said. "They wanted to make sure that the network they've created is sustainable for everyone involved." North Country Smokehouse now has an extensive range of organic and Certified Hu- mane deli meats, sausages, ham and turkey as well as the bacon on which the company built its reputation. "We're really proud of the bacon," Corbett said. "We now have a Sugar-free Bacon in both or- ganic and humane. We also have a lot of really unique products: Smoked Duck Breast, Smoked Skin-On Chicken Breast – we take pride in the products we make, and we believe pace, patience and our relentless focus on flavor set us apart." The company's two newest products, launched this year for Memorial Day, are Jalapeno Cheddar Sausage and Harpoon IPA Beer Bratwurst, which are both all natural and Certified Humane. For the Jalapeno Cheddar Sausage, North Country partnered with Ver- mont Farmstead Cheese Company to produce a special cheddar. The pork is antibiotic free, vegetarian-fed and all natural, and the sausage is applewood-smoked. The Harpoon IPA Beer Brat comes as a result of a partnership with Boston, Massachusetts, brewery Harpoon, and it will be a year-round offering. Both sausages are offered in a 12-ounce package with four 3- ounce links that retails for around $5.99. Corbett's personal favorite of the North Country Products is its Pit Ham. "It's cover- cured in a maple syrup-based brine and then smoked for 12 hours. It's phenomenal. You can't beat it in terms of flavor, texture, every- thing," he said. "For sausage, it's the Jalapeno Cheddar. I think that's going to be a big hit." For more information about North Country Smokehouse, go to www.ncsmokehouse.com. IT'SUGAR Sells Laughter. Also, Candy By Lorrie Baumann With over 100 stores scattered across 27 states, IT'SUGAR has become the largest specialty candy retailer in the world. Founded by Chief Executive Officer Jeff Rubin in June 2006 with a store in front of Caesar's Palace Hotel, right on the Board- walk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the chain has just opened a new flagship store on the Las Vegas Strip, right across the street from the Bellagio Hotel's famous fountains. Like Las Vegas itself, IT'SUGAR shops are fantasies in which adults can recapture the fun of childhood while enjoying guilty pleasures spiced with a smidgeon of tempta- tion. And like Las Vegas itself, they're a world in which children are welcome, but they're not the primary market for the thrills that are offered. "It's a much more modern version of a traditional candy shop," Rubin said. "We're creating a theater to immerse you in the humor, in the fun experience of our store, so that you have a very entertain- ing time while you're in our store." Like the new Las Vegas store, the other IT'- SUGAR stores, which range from 2,000 to 7,000 square feet in size, are in places where people congregate when they're looking for fun – mostly in resort areas or the kind of lifestyle centers that also include restaurants, bars and theaters. Their lively music and col- orful art and fixtures draw in passers-by who wander in looking for fun and stay to buy candy that's as much about humor as it is about sweetness. "We can obviously satisfy a sweet tooth, but more importantly, we were put on Earth to provide an irreverent escape from the mundane world," Rubin said. "We have cre- ated a store that makes you laugh, smile and enjoy yourself...When you've finished dinner at one of the entertainment vendors, you get hit with music and these funny products. You find yourself walking out with something you didn't even know you needed." Customers are met just inside the front door with stacked tiers holding bowl after bowl of pick-and-mix candy on island fixtures around the floor, and they're lured farther inside by shelves stacked with giant boxes of Nerds; "Saturday Night Live" confections; limited edition flavors of Starburst chews; nearly two dozen flavors of gummy bears; marshmallow unicorn poop, giant gummy foods ranging from watermelon to eggs and bacon; Charleston Chews; Pop Rocks and Razzles they loved when they were kids; PEZ dis- pensers cuter than the ones that swallowed their allowance when they were kids; stuffed toys shaped like candies; t-shirts celebrating the joys of sugar; exclusive "Stranger Things" products from IT'SUGAR's continuing part- nership with Netflix; and funny greeting cards that might be tucked in with a 5-pound gummy bear for a birthday gift. "When anyone gets a gift that someone purchased from IT'SUGAR, it was given to them to make them laugh," Rubin said. "IT'SUGAR is meant to elicit laughter." One of the best-selling items is Marshmal- low Madness, a big cereal box filled with noth- ing but little square marshmallows. "We try to create products that are very funny and enter- taining, versus a traditional confectionery re- tail store," Rubin said. "Over half our sales come from exclusive, curated products." Another recent hit has been IT'SUGAR's line of nine cocktail-flavored gummy bears called Beary Buzzed. The new line is non- alcoholic, but the fun cocktail flavors include Cosmopolitan, Gin & Tonic, Limoncello, Maple Bourbon and Margarita. They're sold in custom fillable shakers, with a full shaker retailing for $9.99. "We just had to place an emergency re-order because they're selling faster than we ever imagined," Rubin said. "We have our own box of gummy bear ce- real. It's part of an unbalanced diet," he added. "It's an unapologetic message that sugar delivers. IT'SUGAR sells sugar. It doesn't hide from it. We're providing an es- cape from all the rules of society that every- body must live by. IT'SUGAR kind of does that through its humor. Popular as gummy worms may be, they're still outsold by the bears," Rubin said. "Maybe it just has to do with tradition," he speculated. "Although I will tell you we've come up with some inter- esting different shapes, but at the end of the day, bears are still what people gravitate to. When you say the word 'gummy,' you al- most expect the word 'bear' to follow." Chloe's Dairy Free Dark Chocolate Dipped Pops, Nickelodeon Pops By Lorrie Baumann Chloe's™ has expanded its line of Fruit Pops made from only fruit, water and cane sugar with new Dairy Free Dark Chocolate Dipped and Nickelodeon-branded Pops. "We created Chloe's with kids in mind. At the outset, we were simply looking to offer a clean, deli- cious frozen treat that kids would love and parents would feel great about serving to their family," said Founder Chloe Epstein. She started the company in 2010 with a New York City store that competed with frozen yogurt shops with its line of Soft Serve Fruit made from just fruit, water and cane sugar. A downtown flagship store remains open, but the company has since shifted its focus to packaged retail products like the Fruit Pops. Starting in 2014, Chloe's now of- fers nine core varieties that had been popular in the New York shop: Mango, Strawberry, Dark Chocolate, Blueberry, Cold Pressed Coffee fueled by La Colombe, Raspberry, Pomegranate, Tangerine and Pineapple. With the new introductions, that line has expanded to include Banana, Strawberry and Dark Chocolate Pops dipped in Dairy Free Dark Chocolate. The Dark Chocolate Dipped Pops are also rolled in a quinoa puff, so they're crunchy, while still being gluten free like the rest of the line. The Nickelodeon-branded kids Pops are smaller in size and offered in two new vari- eties. Blueberry-Banana pays homage to characters from "Thomas and Friends," while "Sunny Day" is honored with a Straw- berry-Mango Pop. "We are able to excite the kids with the packaging of the new fruit combinations, and with flavors they love – and at the same time, please the parents with the clean, simple ingredient label," Epstein said. The original line of Chloe's Fruit Pops are sold in packages of four 2.5-ounce Pops that retail for about $3.99. The Dairy Free Dark Chocolate Dipped Pops are also sold in boxes of four, and they retail for about $4.99. The Nickelodeon-branded products are sold in boxes of 10 1.5-ounce pops that retail for about $3.98 to $6.99.

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