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NATURALLY HEALTHY www.gourmetnews.com n SEPTEMBER 2017 n GOURMET NEWS N H 1 0 6 Meat Snacks Made from Grass-fed Beef Born in Virginia By Lorrie Baumann Landcrafted Food is a brand that's about an idea as much as about its products. That idea is that there's a place in the American market for responsibly raised grass-fed beef and the family farmers and ranchers that produce it. The company was started a decade ago by Gary Mitchell, Charlotte Hanes and Brantley Ivey, neigh- bors in Grayson County, Virginia. The county sits in Virginia's Blue Ridge Highlands, firmly at the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, and it's mostly famous for the quality of its bluegrass and old time music. It's unpretentiously rural, and the people who raise cattle there call themselves farm- ers rather than ranchers. Both Mitchell and Ivey grew up on fam- ily farms and wanted to be able to pass that legacy on to their own families. Mitchell's family has farmed in Grayson County for four generations. Ivey moved to the area about 10 years ago to manage the Hanes farm, and it didn't take long after he and his wife showed up in the county for them to get together with Mitchell for a conversation about how they were going to wean their cattle operations from the market- place for commod- ity beef and generate the revenue that would allow them to give their cattle a qualify life. "The first goal was to raise cattle the way we wanted to and to earn a premium price," says Mitchell. "Selling into the commodity market, there's not much motivation for doing it better." They went to the nearest folks they could find who might be interested in paying premium prices for quality beef – the white tablecloth chefs in Washington, D.C. Once they'd explained to those chefs how they were raising their cattle – out on pasture year-round, with no hormones or antibiotics – chefs started buying even be- fore the company had its first meat ready for the market. "Restaurants began to tell us they wanted us to be grass-fed, and since we were in the mountains of Virginia, where there's plenty of grass and no corn, it was a natural fit," Mitchell says. "There is no market for grass-fed beef unless you develop it for your product," adds Ivey. "We developed the market." Among the three of them, they own and rent about 3,000 acres, and they began part- nering with other local farmers – their friends and neighbors – who saw what they were doing and wanted the premium price that Mitchell, Hanes and Ivey were paying for beef raised to their requirements. Now, they have enough beef available to branch out with a new value-added product that's shelf-stable so they can sell it on the national market, and the team have just built a processing facility in In- dependence, Virginia, to make smoked meat sticks. Their Land- crafted Food Smoked Meat Sticks are now available in two flavors, Sweet Smoked and Orig- inal Smoked. Each 0.9-ounce stick is packed in a countertop caddy of 20 that's ready to be merchandised either for individ- ual sale or in the whole box of 20. Each stick has 100 calories, with 3 grams of sat- urated fat. Because the meat sticks are made from grass-fed beef, they're lower in saturated fat and cholesterol than most other beef sticks on the market, and they're also made with less sugar than most processed meat snacks, so they're particu- larly Paleo-friendly as well. Marketing support for the product will include shopper marketing, and a social media campaign is in the planning. The brand will be available on Amazon, and ad- ditional retail distribution is in process. For further information, call 276.773.3712, SuckerPunch Gourmet Introduces New Green Tomato Salsa In step with its motto "All Good, No Garbage," SuckerPunch Gourmet has an- nounced the addition of two flavors of Green Tomato Salsa to its product line, which adds a third category of grocery offerings. With the popularity of its Spicy Garlic Original Pickles, Bread N Better Pickles and Bloody Mary Mixes, SuckerPunch has taken the next step in building national awareness by creating a unique salsa with a flavor that starts with a bit of sweet followed by the sig- nature SuckerPunch heat. The SuckerPunch Green Tomato Salsa is available in a medium, as well as a hot ver- sion that continues the SPG tradition of a complex flavor profile with a tail end "Punch." The use of fresh vegetables with the concen- tration of green tomatoes provides an alternative fla- vor to the crowded category of red tomato based salsas. Additionally, the SPG commitment to natural in- gredients creates a clean product that complements the current prod- uct line that SuckerPunch Gourmet offers. SuckerPunch Gourmet, Inc., based out of Countryside, Illinois, was founded in 2011. SuckerPunch Gourmet offers specialty food products with clean ingredients with no addi- tives, preservatives, allergens or GMOs. SuckerPunch products are available nationally through a variety of natural product dis- tributors and wholesalers, as well as national big box and grocery chains. For more information, go to www.sucker punchgourmet.com. White Coffee's Gift Packs Perfect the Art of Giving When the December shopping season has arrived and stressed holiday shoppers are stumped for last minute gift ideas, White Coffee is offering an array of gift packs and canisters that coffee lovers are sure to enjoy. Four new gift packs have been created to satisfy holiday shoppers and their loved ones: Joy – A collection of six 1.5 ounce medium roasted ground coffees including Salted Caramel, Toasted Almond, Vanilla Hazelnut, Coconut Cream, Toffee Nut and Egg Nog in a soft brick format with a silver and gold retro decorated gift box. Christmas – Six medium roasted ground coffees highlighting flavors of the season in- cluding Hazelnut, Vanilla, Peppermint Bark, Ginger Bread, Pumpkin Spice and Chocolate Fudge, also in a 1.5 ounce soft brick format with an old fashioned gold and black pres- entation. Jim Beam ® – A col- lection of the latest licensed coffee intro- duction featuring the taste of the No. 1 selling bourbon with flavors including Original, with its subtle caramel and oaky vanilla flavor, Bour- bon Vanilla, Spiced Honey, Signature Dark Roast and Cinnamon Stick in a mild, sweet flavorful coffee. Spirited Coffee Sampler – A collection of six flavored "spirited" coffees licensed by White Coffee, including two varieties each of Jim Beam, Tortuga ® and Kahlua ® , in a handy gift pack. Two additional winter gift-giving options in- clude White's French Roast Coffee in a dec- orative canister, as well as the Medallion canister – both gourmet coffees and both come in 6-ounce sizes. Other gift options in- clude Everyday, another 6-pack soft brick set of flavored coffees as well as a spring-deco- rated gift box. For more information, go to www.white coffee.com or call 800.221.0140 for more in- formation. Silano: Traditional, Tasty Italian Silano is a contemporary supplier of im- ported Italian foods. Headquartered in Penn- sylvania, the brand prides itself on a rigorous endeavor for superior quality and unmatched customer satisfaction. All products are sourced directly from Italy and best reflect the traditions and culture of their respective regions. Cured meat, cheeses, gnocchi, olives, extra-virgin olive oil, Calabrian hot cherry and chili peppers, hot vegetable spread and grilled artichokes are some of the current products in the Silano catalog. Visits are made to Italy yearly to ensure that the quality of the product continues to meet Silano's standards. Cheeses include several varieties of cow, sheep and goat milk. Most of those offered represent authentic northern Italian culinary excellence, although as the product range is expanded, more cheeses from other areas of Italy will enter the product line. Silano cured meats include Parma, San Daniele and Italian Prosciutto using Italian pork legs, which are cured exclusively with salt. Silano also includes an exciting line of seafood items produced in Italy. Many products are har- vested from the Adriatic Sea in the upper region of Abruzzo. The freshest an- chovies are fished from the Mediterranean Sea and marinated to perfection. Other seafood items include seafood salads, anchovy fillets, shrimp, cuttlefish, octopus pieces, baby oc- topus, baby squid, sardines, mussels, squid and mackerel. The Silano brand is pleased to offer its customers the finest selection of Italian products that satisfies the needs of chefs in any kitchen. The Silano brand is destined to become a household name for reputable Italian ingredi- ents that are distinguished for high quality and ease of preparation. For more information, go to www.savello usa.com, email info@savellousa.com or call 570.822.9743.

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