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OCG Show Daily Sunday, June 4, 2017 1 0 ALPINE VALLEY BREAD NOW ALPINE VALLEY BAKERY Alpine Valley Bakery's secret to quality is to keep it simple: only use the best organic ingredients to make healthy and delicious products. Alpine Valley stands by the promise to never use artificial fla- vors, sweeteners, colors or preservatives. The company's products are full of whole grains, are USDA organic and Non-GMO Project Verified. Made using only clean and simple ingredients, Alpine Valley products will deliver not only nutrition, but the delicious taste and soft texture your whole family will love. Alpine Valley Bakery makes a full line of organic sliced breads ranging from smooth and simply delicious Country White, sweet soft Raisin Cinna- Wheat, to grainy and crunchy Multi Grain with Omega-3 (a No. 1 seller), and even organic Hawaiian rolls. Even better – Alpine Valley sliced breads are full of whole grains, omega-3s, and have less than 100 calories per slice. In 1995, Alpine Valley opened its first bakery in Mesa, Arizona, and soon cap- tured a growing local market and loyal customers. Popularity grew and one year later, Alpine Valley products were being sold in grocery stores. Since that time, Alpine Valley has grown into a nationally distributed brand, sold in Costco, Sam's Club, Kroger, Sprouts and many other stores throughout the coun- try, and is a leading brand of high quality organic bakery products. Alpine Valley Bakery. Taste you can trust. For more information, stop by booth #1203 or contact one of the following: Dave Hanke, Vice President Organics Sales Western U.S. at 480.435.5312 and dhanke@alpinevalley bread.com; or Jeff Bagley, Vice President Organics Sales Eastern U.S. at 859.801.8829 and jeff.bagley@alpine valleybread.com. GOATS MILK FUDGE FROM BLACK MESA RANCH By Lorrie Baumann When David Heininger and his wife Kathryn bought their 280-acre ranch near Snowflake, Arizona, they were thinking of it as a retirement home. Now they've turned it into the Grade A goat dairy that's producing the milk that David turns into award-winning fudge. The fudge, in its turn, has launched him into a new career that's taking him in a full circle back to his culinary roots. "It all started off as that we went up there to retire. We had some invest- ments. In the mean- time, we had gotten a few goats, a few sheep and some cows," he said. "The idea was to have a retired life and do some hobbies. When the investments started fading out, we decided that we needed the goats to start paying for them- selves." Heininger's culinary career began right after graduation from Rhode Island's branch of Johnson & Wales University until a decade later, when Heininger and his wife decided to move to Tucson, Arizona for opportu- nities to renovate some of the city's historic homes. "Even then we were doing a seasonal candy business. I always stuck with it. It was always something we were doing," he said. "When it was time to goof off a little bit, we found a neat place up there at Snowflake [a small rural town in north central Arizona]." With the decision that the five pet goats on the 280-acre off-the-grid ranch property needed to start paying rent, the Heiningers certi- fied their opera- tion as a goat dairy in 2003. While he was building the dairy facilities, he also built a commer- cial kitchen on the property, with a propane stove and $20,000 in solar generating equip- ment to power electric refrigeration. "It wasn't a big philosophical decision to move off grid. We just found this perfect property, and there wasn't grid power within six miles of it," he said. "It's a balancing act. We don't run a lot of personal power. Almost everything goes into the dairy.... People think of it as a simple life, but when you make the decision to be your own power company, there's a lot of responsibility that comes with it. If your power goes out, it's your fault." Today, Kathryn Heininger is the cou- ple's herd manager, supervising 50 Nubian goats and milking 30 of them in an operation that's certified Humanely Raised and Handled. David Heininger is the operation's cheesemaker and choco- latier. Heininger makes his three flavors of Black Mesa Ranch Goats Milk Fudge with a short list of high-quality ingredi- ents: Belgian choco- late, cane sugar, but- ter, salt and the milk from 30 Nubian dairy goats. His Belgian Chocolate Fudge includes just those ingredients; Original is the Belgian Chocolate Fudge studded with walnuts, and Fudge on Fire is made with concho chiles, Arizona-grown pecans and a little spice. "It's a nice little glow- in-your-mouth kind of fudge," Heininger said. In addition to his fudge, Heininger is making some cheeses, primarily fresh goat cheeses in four flavors: plain, herb, jalapeno and chipotle, in addition to three flavors of feta: plain, hot pepper and garlic. "We sold our first log of cheese locally to a little independent health food store in Snowflake," Heininger said. He then started submit- ting cheeses to competitions, where they placed well enough to encourage him to persevere, and then Phoenix chefs started calling. "We got some more goats and started making more cheese," he said. He makes a little aged cheese, too, notably Dutchess, a Gouda-style cheese; Blue Goat, a blue cheese; and a Havarti- style cheese called Tivoli. The aged cheeses, though, are a minor addition to his range because Heininger's off-the- grid lifestyle doesn't allow for much affi- nage infrastructure. "When you're on solar, you've got to think about refrigera- tion and climate con- trol, and we try to keep that part of the business really small. It's not a huge part of what we're doing," he said. "The confection side is a little less dependent on that. We can do more with less. I can make more fudge out of the same amount of milk than with cheese, and it's ready to go the next day." His food products, which also include a range of spiced pecans made from Arizona-grown nuts, provide Heininger with personal satisfaction as well as the income to maintain a life he loves. "It's just the two of us, and we're making a real go of it. We're never going to get rich doing it, but it's a great lifestyle and we're having a lot of fun," he said. "The Goats Milk Fudge is a really unique product that I think it's going to find a niche and take off. And it takes me back to my training and my roots." For more information, call 928.536.7759 or email david@blackmesaranch.com. Visit online at www.blackmesaranch.com or www.goatsmilkfudge.com. TREND-RIGHT RECEPTION CAKES CUSTOMIZABLE FOR YOUR BUSINESS It's not often that classic and trendy intersect, but the Entertaining Age is back: a return to partying like your par- ents did, with classic cocktails and retro refreshments. In its Top 10 Dessert Trends for 2014, The Food Channel ® listed "Layers" and "Small Batch Desserts." They may as well have said "Reception Cakes." These bite-sized layered cakes are the next big thing in weddings and other gatherings: a lot less labor-intensive and potentially more profitable than traditional fancy cakes. They're available in a variety of flavors and packaging and decorating options to meet the needs of your business, howev- er large or small. The Reception Cakes concept begins with the classic French pastry, the Petit Four. With a history of making Petits Fours that dates back to the Rat Pack era, The Swiss Colony is right on trend with these icing-enrobed layer cakes available in six flavors: Vanilla, Double Chocolate, Lemon, Red Velvet, Pumpkin Spice and Carrot Cake. Made with luscious layers of moist cake and high-impact creme filling richly enrobed in sweet confection and adorned with hand-decorated lattice- work, Reception Cakes deliver towering flavor while remaining portably posh – and there's no high-fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated oils. With Reception Cakes, the pastry chefs at The Swiss Colony have enlarged their traditional Petits Fours to a size that's better suited to a single- serving dessert while main- taining the simple elegance and grab-and-go conven- ience party guests will love. The Swiss Colony has the largest hand-decorating bakery in the United States, with a state-of-the-art facility in Monroe, Wisconsin, combin- ing robotic efficiency and an artistic, human touch. It is GFSI certified, with the capacity to supply large retailers and the attention to detail that will satisfy small specialty stores. As adaptable as The Swiss Colony bakery is to the needs of its customers, so is the Reception Cakes program. Large grocers and specialty stores can continue to buy these sweet, layered treasures hand-decorated in display-ready clamshells. (Custom labels are available, as well.) Bakeries with dec- orating capabilities can get them undecorated in bulk or add their own decorations to customize the experience for their customers. Reception Cakes can be sold individually with a cup of coffee, or in platters or arrangements for wed- dings, showers, baby reveals, gradua- tions, tailgating parties, office parties, birthday parties … the list is endless. For more information, call 888.411.4051, email contact@scretail brands.com or stop by booth #1176.