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ment in the business frees them from hav- ing to meet investor goals as well, Anker says. When GrandyOats outgrew its previous facility and Anker and Peirce went looking for new premises that would allow them to fulfill a dream of powering their operations with solar energy, they were fortunate to find a disused elementary school made available by consolidation of the local school district. The 8.5-acre site included more than an acre of space where the stu- dents used to play soccer and kickball and that's now used as the site for 288 solar panels that are expected to produce an average of 95.622 kilowatt hours of electricity annually. That's enough to offset 145,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions each year. "We looked at all the different options for space, including some that would have required cutting down trees, but that wasn't the granola thing to do," Anker says. "Revitalizing an old build- ing was." Everything in the new building is pow- ered with solar electricity, including the ovens, the forklifts, the heating and cool- ing. "We won't have any petroleum on premises at all," Anker says. "We're really excited about it, and we're the first food production facility in New England to do that." With its new plant, the company is ready to expand its distribution into additional retailers in California, Arizona and Nevada under the leadership of a new Western U.S. Account Manager, Becky LaFord. GrandyOats is already being sold in the South Pacific region of Whole Foods, and the product line is doing well in independent natural food stores and co-ops as well as Han- naford, Wegmans and MOM's Organic Mar- kets. All of those retail- ers are good partners for the brand, which does best when it's in the hands of retailers who care about the integrity of the products they sell, value transparency about how the products are made and are willing to educate customers to help them make good decisions, Anker says. GrandyOats is also offered in 75 college and university dining halls. "It's been really a fun segment for us," Anker says. "It helps universities communicate their commit- ment to healthy, quality offerings they can feel good about. It's been positive for the schools, the students, and has helped grow our business and brand." The company's product line comprises more than 40 SKUs of trail mixes, granolas, roasted nuts, and hot cereals. The Classic Granola has 11 ingredients. The trail mixes generally have seven or eight. Those ingre- dients don't include either refined sugars, canola oil or corn. "With our granolas, you're never going to find any refined sugar. We only sweeten with honey, maple syrup, fruit juice and agave. We use fruits and nuts and wholesome grains," Anker says. "For instance, our Instant Oatmeal Cup: Why make something simple like oat- meal complicated? Organic oats, cranber- ries, raisins and apples – delicious oatmeal with 35 percent fruit. You can add whatever milk you want, whatever sweetener you want. That's our philosophy – pure, clean food, 100 percent organic.... We make good, clean food. We don't think it needs to be overly complicated." GN GOURMET NEWS MARCH 2016 www.gourmetnews.com Supplier Business SUPPLIER BUSINESS 1 4 BRIEFS Introducing Jarlsberg Cheese Crisps Jarlsberg® Cheese Crisps™ are savory, crunchy baked crackers handcrafted in small batches and made with freshly shredded Jarlsberg Cheese sprinkled on top of the crunchy crackers just prior to being baked. New Jarlsberg Cheese Crisps takes the mild, mellow and nutty flavor of Jarlsberg Cheese and bakes it into a delicious crunchy snack. Each Crisp is topped with Jarlsberg Cheese, using the original Norwegian recipe, perfectly balanced with invigorating seasoning and spices for a savory, scrumptious and delectable bite. Perfect for dipping, snacking, as part of a cheese board or as a crispy companion to a bowl of hot soup, Jarlsberg Cheese Crisps offer a variety of perfectly balanced flavors. Jarlsberg Cheese Crisp flavors include: Rosemary & Olive Oil – perfectly balanced with invigorating rosemary and the subtle fruitiness of olive oil; Chipotle — thoughtfully paired with the natural smokiness of authentic chipotle and just the right amount of spiciness; Garlic & Herb — blended with the robust flavor of garlic and aromatic herbs, with Mediterranean Sea salt adding a burst of flavor. With only 120 calories or less per serving, only 3.5 or less grams of fat and 5 grams of protein and low cholesterol, these Jarlsberg Cheese Crisps are sure to fly off shelves in the deli section. Jarlsberg Cheese Crisps have a suggested retail price of $3.99 – $4. 99 and are packed 12 bags per display ready case. La Quercia's Speck Americano Wins a 2016 Good Food Award La Quercia founders Herb & Kathy Eckhouse added a fourth Good Food Award to their shelf this month, this time for Speck Americano, prosciutto that is lightly cold smoked over apple wood. On January 15, more than 800 people gathered to pay tribute to 176 Good Food Award Winners of 2016. By the majestic Golden Gate Bridge on the San Francisco Bay numerous farmers, chefs, journalists, and activists united to celebrate exceptional food crafters including luminaries Alice Waters, Nell Newman and Slow Food Founder, Carlo Petrini. La Quercia calls its award winning Speck Americano "a charcuterie board crowd pleaser." La Quercia prosciutto is aged for nine to 12 months then cold-smoked over apple wood, adding the evocative aroma of the open fire to the deep sweetness of the meat. The producer recommends pairing La Quercia Speck with hard cider, a wide range of beer and wine, and almost any cheese, as well as wrapping it around fruit, grilled vegetables, or grissini for an easy happy hour bite. Made with pork that is raised humanely on family farms in Iowa and central Missouri without the use of antibiotics. Ingredients are pork and sea salt — no nitrates or nitrites added. Sold at specialty markets across the nation and available via mail order at http://lacquercia. us/order_cured_la_quercia_meats. The Real Granolas at GrandyOats BY LORRIE BAUMANN If you happen to see Aaron Anker tooling around at the wheel of a Volkswagen bus, don't let good manners keep you from call- ing him a granola to his face. He won't mind. "We are who we are," he says. "We make granola, but we also drive our VW buses, and when you meet our staff, you'll know why we have all been called granolas at some time in our life. We are authentic. We are who we say we are." Anker is a co-owner and Chief Granola Officer at GrandyOats, a Maine maker of organic cereals and snacks that's just fin- ished its third straight year with more than 25 percent annual growth. Over the past year, the company achieved 28 percent growth and made 1.2 million pounds of or- ganic granola, trail mix and roasted nuts and generated $5.3 million in sales. GrandyOats is also just settling into a state-of-the-art 100 percent solar powered facility that will make the company the first net zero food production facility in New England. The new facility is located in Hiram, Maine, where it's adding 21 to the only 39 jobs currently existing in the town of Hiram. "We are literally in the moun- tains, in the hills of Maine, way off the beaten path.... One of the things that's hap- pening in rural New England is that there isn't much economic growth and people are migrating to the cities. A lot of these towns don't have much going on," Anker says. "We really enjoy being able to employ people. We get people who are excited to join us, who are excited to be part of the company.... We're helping the community grow. It's a really nice feeling." Anker joined the company in 2000 after co-owner and Head Honcho, Nat Peirce, a college friend from the University of New Hampshire bought the company and in- vited him to join the partnership. The two have pursued their goals of creating a healthy, good place for people to work and keeping the organic integrity of their prod- ucts. Their ownership of the company and a strategy of gradual growth and reinvest-

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