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GOURMET NEWS JULY 2014 www.gourmetnews.com Retailer News RETAILER NEWS 1 2 BRIEFS Explore Amish Cuisine at Central Ohio's Walnut Creek Cheese BY LUCAS WITMAN You may feel like you have stepped back in time when you park your car next to a horse and buggy and step into a store that offers many of the same foods that your great-grandparents might have purchased, but that is the experience visitors have when they step into Walnut Creek Cheese, a unique fresh food market tucked away in the idyllic landscape of Central Ohio's Amish country. Catering to the area's abun- dant Amish and Mennon- ite communi- ties, Walnut Creek Cheese has become a d e s t i n a t i o n retail store for those looking to taste a little bit of the sim- ple life. W a l n u t Creek Cheese was founded in 1977 by 2 1 - y e a r- o l d entrepreneur (and current c o m p a n y P r e s i d e n t ) Mark Coblentz. The company had decid- edly humble beginnings as little more than a pickup truck from which Coblentz dis- pensed deli meats and cheeses to no more than 60 clients on his delivery route. Over time, however, Coblentz managed to grow the business, eventually building a ware- house, as well as the Walnut Creek Cheese retail store itself in 1984. Today, Walnut Creek Cheese operates two stores, the orig- inal location in Walnut Creek and a newer store in nearby Berlin, as well as a 60,000- square-foot wholesale distribution center. The company currently employs 220 asso- ciates. Today, the original Walnut Creek Cheese is an Ohio institution, a store that operates both as a destination retail experience and an everyday grocery store to those in the local community. The 55,000-square-foot store offers bakery items, whole foods, meats, cheeses, canned goods, bulk foods, kitchenwares, home décor items and more. In terms of population, Ohio's Holmes County (where Walnut Creek is located) is home to the single largest Amish popula- tion in the world, and as such, Walnut Creek Cheese has made it its business to cater to this particular clientele. However, in serving the Amish and Mennonite com- munities, the store has developed a unique identity with broad appeal among food- conscious shoppers more generally. "Our philosophy is that we take care of our local customers first. Everything we do is centered on our local customers, and we do have a large customer base here that are Amish or Mennonite," said Jeff Conn, Mar- keting Director for Walnut Creek Cheese. "Our philosophy is if we take care of our local customer, others are going to benefit from that as well." Walnut Creek Cheese has developed its loyal consumer following in part because of its extensive selection of Amish-made delicacies. For those looking for a taste of Amish cuisine, there is perhaps no better place to shop than Walnut Creek. "Pretty much everything we manu- facture is considered a home- made Amish-manufactured product – all of our jams and jellies, homestyle old fash- ioned fudge, pickles, all of our baked goods [including] cinnamon rolls, doughnuts, bread, cupcakes, and ice cream," said Conn. "The ma- jority of the meats and cheeses are manufactured lo- cally [as well]." According to Conn, tourists travel hours from Cleveland, Pittsburgh and even further afield to visit Walnut Creek Cheese and partake in its singular product selection. For those who do not have the ability to make the trip to Amish Country, the com- pany distributes its meats, cheeses and other branded products throughout the eastern United States, from Illinois to the Carolinas. In addition, online shoppers can have Walnut Creek products shipped nationwide. The team at Walnut Creek Cheese organ- izes promotions and in-store events throughout the year to bring new cus- tomers in and delight existing ones. From in-store events with door prizes and give- aways to weekend product sampling, there is always something going on at Walnut Creek. The store's test kitchen is open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, cooking up Walnut Creek products and sharing the recipes with shoppers. And the in-store Mudd Valley Café & Creamery serves house-made frozen custards, sandwiches, wraps, salads and more. One particularly special way that Walnut Creek Cheese chooses to reach out to its customers is with its weekly ad. Unlike most retailers' ads, which include little more than store specials for the week, Wal- nut Creek emails its ad subscribers a selec- tion of seasonal, often Amish-inspired recipes that can be made from the store's products. A recent ad featured recipes for easy summertime treats, including home- made frozen pops, fresh fruit milkshakes and "Like Wendy's Frosties." "We want to provide something to cus- tomers that is of value," said Conn. "[With the recipes,] we want to match the promo- tions that we're running in store." Although perhaps best known for its private label cheeses and deli meats, Wal- nut Creek Cheese prides itself on being a go-to store, fulfilling all the shopping needs of its customers. Planning to enter- tain friends and family at a summer bar- becue? Stop into Walnut Creek to pick up everything you will need – all without leaving the store. According to Conn, the team at Walnut Creek proudly proclaims, "We have everything from the dinner to the dinner bell!" The original Walnut Creek Cheese is lo- cated at 2641 State Route 39 in Walnut Creek, Ohio. For more information, call 877.852.2888, or email customerser- vice@walnutcreekcheese.com. Visit the company's website www.walnut- creekcheese.com to subscribe to the com- pany's weekly ad. GN Brothers Marketplace Opens in Weston, Mass. Roche Bros. recently opened a new Brothers Marketplace in Weston, Mass on May 18. A next generation neighborhood market, Brothers Marketplace focuses heavily on fresh foods and regional artisan products while also offering all the favorites needed for a full grocery shopping experience. Brothers Marketplace offers the community a fresh new shopping experience to eat, drink and shop local. The new store is located in Weston Center at 41 Center St. The innovative new market emphasizes unique offerings in prepared foods, baked goods, seasonal and exotic produce, meats, cheeses and packaged foods from local producers. Shoppers who visit the marketplace can expect to indulge in a culinary experience, tasting an array of seasonal foods. The delicious foods are truly the highlight, with passionate artisans on hand for discussion and input from local community members. For more information, visit www.rochebros.com. Natural Grocers Pulls All Confinement Dairy Products Colorado-based Natural Grocers recently announced it will phase out any dairy products that use what are known as confinement dairies from its nearly 90 stores in 13 states. The store is doing this in a move designed to "align what [it] sell[s] with the images in consumers' minds." The company hopes the move will cut through consumer confusion and start more conversations about how our food is raised. Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage was founded in Colorado by Margaret and Philip Isely in 1955, built on the premise that consumers should have access to affordable, high-quality foods and dietary supplements, along with nutrition education to help them support their own health. The family-run store has since grown into a successful national chain with locations across Colorado, Texas, Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Missouri, New Mexico, Montana, Kansas, Idaho, Nebraska, Arizona and Oregon. Loblaw Purchases Arz Fine Foods Loblaw Companies Limited recently announced that it has purchased Arz Fine Foods, an established Middle Eastern grocery retailer located in Toronto, Ontario. Arz will operate as a unique operating division of Loblaw. Loblaw is Canada's largest food and pharmacy retailer. The chain provides Canadians with grocery, pharmacy, health and beauty, apparel, general merchandise, banking and wireless mobile products and services. The company has more than 2,300 corporate, franchised and associate-owned locations. Arz Fine Foods is comprised of a retail grocery store, commercial bakery and food commissary. The company specializes in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. Arz Fine Foods has kept pace with the rapid growth of Toronto as an increasingly international city by providing authentic fresh, frozen and prepared Middle Eastern and Mediterranean produce, groceries, deli, fresh and frozen prepared foods and baked goods.

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