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Produce Show Daily Friday, October 18, 2019 3 2 Moving & Expanding Pumpkin Joy By Michele Youngquist, Owner, Bay Baby Produce Bay Baby Produce Inc., a North American grower and leader in painted pumpkins, long stem ornamentals and winter organic squash, is moving into its new state-of-the-art facility. Bay Baby Produce began with just 30 acres of soil, and a vision of creating a family-owned farm around the whimsi- cal notion of giving pumpkins a person- ality. Like other local farmers, our goal was to provide a good living for our fam- ilies and employees, while honoring and contributing to the traditions and values of our agricultural communities. In the process of growing our busi- ness, we have accomplished much more than we initially envisioned. We've developed a proprietary painting and production process that provides con- sistent, top quality painted pumpkins. We've expanded our farming operations from 30 acres to a lit- tle under 500 and have added organic winter squash. From a business that was originally 100 per- cent decorative pumpkins, fresh packed produce now accounts for 65 percent of our produc- tion. As we've continued to grow, we realized we were outgrowing our facility. In 2017, we broke ground on our new, state-of-the-art facility mid-June and are moving into it now. Our new 55,000 square foot facility will offer expansive production, storage and shipping capabili- ties and be home to our corporate office. Our expanded space will allow for increased production capacity and will make it possible to meet the increased demand for Bay Baby Produce's products in current and expanded markets. For more information, email sales@ baybabyproduce.com. DelFrescoPure Partners with CubicFarm Systems With a high demand for living produce, DelFrescoPure ® announces its partner- ship with CubicFarm Systems ® to create a new growing system – the LivingCube™. The LivingCube is a sys- tem of automated vertical farming grow- ing machines that continuously produces living lettuce, living basil and micro- greens all year long. "Our partnership with CubicFarm Systems provides us with exclusivity and support," said Fiona McLean, Marketing Manager of Del Fresco Produce Ltd. "CubicFarm Systems continuously con- ducts research of new varieties and processes to grow more varieties and yield more produce." In its entirety, the LivingCube sys- tem is made up of 12 growing, germina- tion and irrigation machines, each built inside proprietary insulated 40-foot stain- less steel growing chambers. Each grow- ing machine is individually climate con- trolled and optimized for each crop and then connected to a fully enclosed climatized common work area that comes together to create a complete stand-alone growing system and independent grow- ing facility. A trustworthy buying choice, the LivingCube living lettuce, living basil and microgreens are always fresh, nutri- tious and flavor-filled. The packaging is a pure and dependable safe house for leafy greens – guaranteeing freshness from seed to shelf! DelFrescoPure brands its living let- tuce, living basil and microgreens under LivingCube with local and national retail partners. About DelFrescoPure DelFrescoPure is com- mitted to nothing less than freshness, taste and quality. It is a firm believer that you must love what you do in order to succeed. It is family- owned and has been operating for over 50 years in Kingsville, Ontario, Canada. DelFrescoPure prides itself on getting ahead of trends to ensure its customers have the latest and greatest. For more information, visit www.delfresco pure.com, contact sales@delfrescopure .com or go to www.livingcube.ca. Crunchy Granola Goodness in a Portable Snack By Lorrie Baumann Crazy Monkey Baking's Granola Cookie Crunch comes from a mom who had a degree in dietetics and an urgent desire to give her own kids a snack that she could feel conscientious about giv- ing them and that they'd enjoy too. She started with an oatmeal cookie that her kids enjoyed and went to work on the recipe to come up with a product that was a bit more oat and a little less cook- ie but still delicious. Her kids loved it. Their friends loved it. "My kids really liked it, and that's the beauty of children – that they'll be honest," said Teresa Humrichouser, that Ashland, Ohio, mom. "We are a chocolate family, so I knew that if I put chocolate in it, there was a pretty good chance they would eat it." It was a bonus that she could take it along in her mom-van, and the kids could nibble on it during their rides without leaving behind a mess of crumbs in the car. "Our lives are so busy, so, as a mom, I can have this in my minivan as I pick the kids up from practice," she said. Humrichouser 's friends encour- aged her to take her Granola Cookie Crunch to the local farmers market, where, every weekend for two years straight, she sold out. Local grocery retailers saw what was happening, and a few of them approached her and asked her if they could carry her prod- uct in their stores after the farmers market season had ended. Humrichouser started looking for a commercial kitchen. She found a 350 square-foot facili- ty that had been vacated by a pizza kitchen. "It was a few minutes from our house, and it was a small kitchen that we could move into and get it licensed because it had been used for food serv- ice in the past," she said. Three years later, she moved out of the former pizza shop and into a 1,000 square-foot facility. Then in January, 2017, she moved into a 7,500 square- foot bakery, where eight employees make small batch after small batch of her Granola Cookie Crunch in four year-round flavors as well as occasional seasonal flavors. "With this move, it has allowed us to be in a location that suited us for bring- ing on larger cus- tomers," she said. The move has also facilitated supplier audits and food safety planning and documentation to qualify for national distribution to gro- cers who sell the products in either the granola, healthy snack or cookie sec- tions of their shelves. Crazy Monkey Baking is also certi- fied as a woman-owned business, and Humrichouser offers contract manufac- turing services to other companies that have a granola formula but not a facili- ty. "Even after all this time, baking is still my greatest passion," she said. "I don't get to do it that often any more, that that's what I love working with most in the business." Crazy Monkey Baking is now offered in Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip and Dark Chocolate Chip, Mint Chocolate Chip and Cranberry Almond flavors in 1.25-ounce bags that are smart-snack approved for schools. They retail for 99 cents to $1.49. Those four flavors plus White Chocolate Cranberry are also offered in 7.5-ounce bags along with a rota- tion of seasonal fla- vors that includes Cinnamon Pecan in the winter, Lemon Coconut in summer and Pumpkin Seed & Spice in the fall. Additional special- edition flavors also appear occasionally. "We have a variety of flavors, so there's some variety to appeal to the kids and adults alike," Humrichouser said. All of the products are wheat free and made with 100 percent whole grains. Oats are naturally gluten free, and the products are sweetened with honey, molasses and evaporated cane sugar. A serving of the Dark Chocolate Chip flavor Granola Cookie Crunch contains 8 grams of added sugars and 6 grams of fat along with 3 grams of pro- tein and 150 calories. "There is fat in oats and in whole grain cornmeal and in flax seeds, but it's all healthy fat," Humrichouser said. "When you have the real ingredients without the fats stripped from them, you're going to get those good, healthy calories in the fat." For more information, visit www .crazymonkeybaking.com. Giuseppe Giusti Balsamic Vinegar di Modena For more than 400 years, the Giusti fam- ily has been a premier producer of hand- crafted Balsamic Vinegar di Modena. Among their outstanding collection, dis- cover Banda Rossa, winner of five gold medals at each of the World's Fairs from 1885 to 1891. It is their ultimate pride, and truly the fruit of the art that this fam- ily has been perpetuating for 17 genera- tions. The aroma of this vinegar is com- plex and rich with flavors. Distinguishing itself with notes of plum, black cherries and sweet spices, this precious vinegar has been aging in antique small casks from the 1700s, providing a subtle fragrance of ancient wood. Banda Rossa is a unique and rare gem as, to create this collection, only a lim- ited quantity is extracted once a year. Packed six units in a case, The French Farm offers the cube bottle of this unique vinegar with its gift box. Imported directly from Italy, Giuseppe Giusti Banda Rossa is one of a large selection of balsamic vinegars offered by The French Farm. For more information, call 713.660.0577 or go to wholesale.frenchfarm.com.