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O C G S h o w D a i l y 1 5 Tu e s d a y, Ju n e 7 , 2 0 1 6 GOURMET BUTTERS, FROSTINGS FROM CHEF SHAMY Chef Shamy develops and produces gourmet butters and frostings from its 20,000-square-foot facility in Salt Lake City. Its products include Parmesan Basil Garlic Butter, Honey Butters in Vanilla, Cinnamon and Passion Fruit flavors, Sauté Butter in Lemon Dill, Garlic Herb and Southwestern. It also offers French Onion Butter with Asiago Cheese. The latest offering is buttercream frosting in vanilla and chocolate. All flavors are all- natural, made with real butter and have no additives or fillers. "There really isn't any competition," Shamy says. "We produce a great product and people instantly taste the difference from the oil based knock-offs. Other offerings in this category all contain Soybean, Canola or Palm oil." Stores and bakeries that are ahead of the curve will offer real garlic butter on their Take and Bake French bread and real buttercream frosting on their cakes. Consumers will pay more for high quali- ty or healthier alternatives. Shamy but- ters offer both. Flavored butters are still a new cate- gory in the U.S. It makes sense for retail- ers to have multiple offerings in the dairy. Consumers won't buy two different but- ters or two different margarines out of the dairy. They might buy one and then a gar- lic butter or a honey butter, so Chef Shamy butters and frostings are an added profit center for the dairy set. Chef Shamy gourmet butters can be found in Costco Northwest, LA., and Costco Korea as well as some Walmart's, Sam's Road Shows and many other grocery retailers across the U.S. Several U.S. groceries which have caught the vision of real butter feature Chef Shamy Garlic Butter, Sauté Butter and Frosting in their backend operations and their Take and Bake programs. Shamy says, "Our best seller is gar- lic butter with parmesan and basil. An email from a woman outside Tucson said she had bought 12 tubs of it at a road- show and she had run out and had written in a panic to find more. Once people have tasted it or cooked with it, they can't live without it. One teary eyed mother called our office to thank us. Her children had become anemic from an unwillingness to eat anything. She said, 'my kids will eat anything I put your butters on and their health has improved.' The com- ments on our Facebook page keep us motivated to get it in every store." "We want to expand our reach to more retailers," Shamy says. "There are so many customers nationwide and some international customers waiting to get our butter at a retailer near them." The most common question to the Chef Shamy receptionist is, "Why don't you guys go on Shark Tank?" Shamy's answer: "We have been invited, maybe someday we will." Visit Chef Shamy at booth #1217. DAIRY FARMERS TAKE MILK FROM COMMODITY TO DELICACY By Jorge Gonzalez-Garcia Two California dairy farmers are finding a new way to turn the fluid milk they pro- duce from a product they can sell at com- modity prices into a gourmet product that commands a premium price from con- sumers eager to enhance their experience of food. Noel Rosa and his brother, Rolland, own and operate Rosa Brothers Milk Co., based in Tulare, in the heart of the nation's richest agricultural area. Rosa Brothers is very much a family operation, with seven members actively involved. The farm employs 35 workers, covers 600 acres, and manages a herd of about 1,000 Holstein dairy cows. The Rosa family connection to this rich farmland goes back seven decades. "The farm was started by my grandfather in 1953, continued by my father, and now by my brother and I," says the 47-year- old Rosa. "That's a span of more than three generations that our family has been here working the farm and produc- ing dairy products." In the fall of 2012, Noel and his brother took a big chance and built a creamery to produce and distribute spe- cialty products like whole milk and fla- vored milk in glass, and premium ice cream. The idea was to distribute the products to local retailers. A small store was added next to the creamery for local visibility and direct sales. The brothers made the move for a couple of reasons. One was in response to severe swings in commodity prices in 2009. "They can be very tough financial- ly for a medium-sized dairy farm like ours," Noel explains. "We needed to cre- ate more stability in terms of product, pricing and sales revenue." The other reason was the growth of the local food movement in his area. Rosa saw that it was picking up steam. "Our research showed that consumers preferred milk in glass bottles," Rosa says. "They love the taste, they like that it comes from a local farm, and they support bottle recy- cling. What we're doing is a natural extension of the growth of the farm to table movement right in our own area." A hundred miles to the northwest, in a small valley next to the river Merced near the town of Winton, lies PH Ranch, home of Top Line Milk Company. It used to be a working cattle ranch. Now it's the dairy farm owned and operated by Paul van Warmerdam and his wife Sonya. They farm 860 acres, have 55 employees, and manage a herd of about 2,500 Holstein cows. Top Line Milk is brand new to the specialty milk products business, having launched at the recent Natural Products West Expo 2016 show in Anaheim this past March. "I can't really point to our specialty milk sales because we're just starting out," says the 51-year-old van Warmerdam. "But people at the show loved our milk, and our low and slow pasteurization method. They told us it reminded them of the taste of milk when they were kids, and milk came right off a local farm." Van Warmerdam and his wife had talked about expanding into premium dairy products in years past. Then came 2009, with wild swings in commodity prices. "2009 was a bad year," he says. "We had record low milk prices and high feed prices, and a lot of people left the business." That experience reinforced their goal of building a successful dairy business that could withstand fluctua- tions in the commodity market, and that they could leave to their children. Moving into specialty milk seemed like a creative way to do that. They also considered glass bottles for their milk, but opted instead for white plastic bottles to reduce ultraviolet light exposure and extend shelf life. "We made that decision for a number of reasons," says van Warmerdam. "We didn't want to be the third or fourth glass milk bottle company. Also, we wanted to be able to sell into smaller convenience stores. The extra space needed to handle glass returns can be an issue. So those were all factors." Top Line Milk emphasizes its low and slow pasteurization process. "Low and slow is our slogan," says van Warmerdam. "The milk comes out of our cow, we add the minimum of heat to meet pasteurization standards, and it goes into the bottle. It cannot be any fresher or tastier than that. And that was our goal from the beginning." Van Warmerdam is now looking to build out his distribution network. "We would like to grow regionally to the Bay Area, and then Sacramento and Fresno," he says. "We're in a niche market, so our rollout will be slow and strategic." Closer to home, he plans to take advantage of traffic passing by his place by setting up a drive-through window for a couple of hours a day so customers can buy directly. For Noel Rosa, wholesale growth has been solid. "In our first full year of creamery operations, we grew from zero to 70 retail outlets," he says. "And we won new product of the year in 2013 at the Fresno Food Expo. That gave our sales a boost." This year Rosa Brothers is selling product in 225 stores in its area. Industry insiders do not see explo- sive growth for the specialty milk mar- ket, and they caution against unrealistic expectations. "We project slow, steady growth for this segment of the market," says Murray Bain, Vice-President for Marketing at Stanpac, the large Canadian container manufacturer which supplies bottles to premium milk producers. A California Dairy Advisory Board report for 2015 shows that milk in glass bottles amounted to less than two percent of total sales for the entire state. Noel Rosa understands the challenge of operating profitably in a niche market. And he takes the long view that as long as there are customers who prefer milk in glass, support the farm to table move- ment, and are willing to pay a little more for premium quality, he will have buyers for his products. SIMPLE INGREDIENTS, PURELY BODACIOUS Twice Baked Potato Sticks are quickly becoming the gold standard for sweet and savory snacking in the U.S.A. The Geraldine's ® brand, which was born in Atlanta, Georgia more than two decades ago, is gearing up for exponential growth through a partnership with a large and very successful food marketing/manufac- turing group, also based in the Southeast. These new and exciting changes will further elevate America's No. 1 Cheese Straws from a regional favorite to a nationally recognized snacking sensa- tion. Always Bodacious! Always Fun! The company's products have become known as the key ingredient for gather- ings and special occasions, as its tag-line indicates – "It's How We Entertain!" The company is built on a foundation of exceptional product quality, outstand- ing fulfillment capabilities and a strong promotional platform. In conjunction with its new partnership, the Bodacious Foods retailer partners can expect even stronger advertising and PR support, which will drive new consumers to the brand. As part of the new business rela- tionship, retailers who feature the Geraldine's products will benefit from cutting edge product innovations which will catapult the brand forward to create a "must have" assortment of products that will reach every consumer who enjoys simply natural and flavorful snacking. In addition to offering savory cheese straws, the company's cookie line-up includes Key Lime, Italian Wedding Cookies and the now famous Pecan Cini- Mini's. Each of these flavorful morsels is lightly dusted with just the right amount of confectioners' sugar and are the per- fect pairing to a fresh cup of tea or coffee. Bodacious Foods also produces a gluten-free line of Geraldine's & Jaxn's ® Twice Baked Potato Sticks in a variety of delicious flavors, including Sweet Potato and Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper. These innovative products are providing snack lovers with a healthful gluten-free choice that is fun to eat and is naturally low in calories. They have become exceptionally popular with natural and specialty shop- pers alike. These unique additions to the assortment have grown out of the con- sumer demand for a tasteful and indulgent treat that is competitively priced and can be enjoyed as an everyday snack. For more information, go to www .bodaciousfoods.com, call 800.391.1979 or email Mark Paradiso – Director of Sales at mark@geraldines.com.