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NATURALLY HEALTHY www.gourmetnews.com n MARCH 2018 n GOURMET NEWS N H 1 2 4 Wild Garden Offers Mediterranean Grocery Products In 2016, Specialty Food Industry reported on the rise of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern segments of the food industry and referred to them as "Up and Coming Cuisines." Wild Garden ® is meeting demands and is ahead of the curve with its "Taste of the Mediter- ranean" line, offering five innovative Quick Marinades and five hearty Heat & Serve pi- lafs. After a successful launch of the Wild Gar- den product line last year, intrigued con- sumers and retailers alike show a clear desire for even more inspired ethnic flavors. Wild Garden obliged by crafting two all new mari- nades that satisfy dining trends of today and continue to look into new flavors of tomor- row. Moroccan Chermoula marinade combines the flavors of cilantro, parsley, garlic and herbs – a perfect complement for seafood and poultry. Tunisian Shakshouka simmering sauce of- fers a savory blend of ripe tomatoes, onions, chunky red peppers, garlic and spices. It is a perfect base for poaching eggs, fish or shrimp. Two all-new pilafs were introduced as part of the authentic line of "heat and serve" products. Dill & Fava pilaf encapsulates fragrant wisps of fresh dill weed and tender young fava beans which are folded into basmati rice for a delicate side dish that is sure to take mealtime to the next level. Rice & Potato pilaf is reminiscent of com- fort food of rural Lebanon, featuring tender bites of potato accompanied by robust herbs and spices which come together to make this a hearty, delicious and impressive addition to any meal. Attractive and appealing packaging will effortlessly catch the eyes of consumers on retail shelves, bringing as- sured trial and repeat pur- chase. Cross merchandising opportuni- ties abound as product car- ries into meat and seafood departments. Wild Garden products are packed con- veniently in a six pack, the box top easily removed to reveal a tray that makes for perfect shelf placement and fit. Attractive, atten- tion-grabbing shippers are available for both marinades and pilafs. Wild Garden strives to and is succeeding in developing clean label products while using only wholesome natural ingredients. Consumers are able to create culinary adventures by infusing proteins with the rich flavors of the East Mediterranean – ready to be baked, grilled or roasted in just minutes with marinade flavors like Shawarma, Persian Sumac, Turkish Taouk and pilafs such as Bulgur, Rice & Lentil and Couscous. Authentic Heat & Serve Pilafs are made with hearty grains and are bursting with flavors. They're great for creating mouth-water- ing sides that are appetiz- ing on their own, mixed into a healthy salad or paired with a deliciously marinated protein. In- dulging in mindful and au- thentic cuisines has never been quicker or easier. The Wild Garden team has created a fully supported social media campaign with the novice consumer in mind while offering quick, speedy cooking videos demonstrating the ease of use as well as convenience of Wild Garden products as a complement to the modern dinner table. Visit Wild Garden at booth #5510. For more information, contact Vice President of Sales, Mark D. Smith at 708.298.3819 or marksmith@wildgarden.com, or go to www.wildgarden.com. Sweet Grass on the Green Hill Makes Great Cheese By Lorrie Baumann Sweet Grass Dairy is making a name for it- self in Georgia with an award-winning line of six cheeses made from pasture-raised cow milk and traditional European methods. Sweet Grass Dairy's Thomasville Tomme won a gold sofi Award and a Good Food Award in 2018; Asher Blue won a bronze medal in the 2015 and 2009 World Cheese Awards; Green Hill, a double-cream cow milk cheese with a bloomy rind in the style of a Camembert and the dairy's best seller, is an eight-time winner at the American Cheese Society's annual Judging and Competition; and the dairy's Pimento Cheese won a first place award from the Ameri- can Cheese Society in 2015. "I really, really love our Green Hill. It has really put us on the map," says Sweet Grass Dairy co-Owner Jessica Little. "I think it's a great vehicle for telling the story of grass-based milk. It's a golden yel- low color, and it's mild enough to be approach- able for people who did- n't grow up eating fine cheese." Jessica and her husband, Jeremy Little, bought Sweet Grass Dairy from her parents, Al and Desiree Wehner, in 2005. The Wehn- ers started Sweet Grass Dairy in 2000 after they decided that the way they'd been dairy farming for more than a decade wasn't good for their cows, their land or themselves. Their herd of Holsteins was producing high milk volume, but the cows were able to pro- duce at that volume for only an average of two to three years before they had to be re- tired. "The land wasn't as healthy as it needed to be. They were working 100-hour weeks," Jessica says. They decided that there had to be a better way, so Desiree signed Al up for a confer- ence on New Zealand-style rotational graz- ing methods. In common with New Zealand, the climate in southwest Georgia, where Sweet Grass Dairy is located, has mild win- ters that allow for 365 days of grazing per year and Sweet Grass Dairy enjoys an unlim- ited water supply, so it seemed logical that the same grazing methods that work in New Zealand could also work in Thomasville. "He came back from the conference saying they were starting over," Jessica says. The couple sold their Holstein herd and, following the advice of other local dairy farmers, bought Jersey cows that hadn't had the ability to thrive on pasture bred out of them. "That was in 1993," Jessica says. "By 2000, the average lifespan of the cows had gone up to 12 to 14 years. They just live a much longer life because you're not pushing them for maxi- mum production." The couple started think- ing about the best use for the milk their Jersey herd was producing, and after years of evaluating the merits of var- ious dairy products and con- ducting cheesemaking experiments in the family kitchen, they settled on cheese. "Cheese was the most scientific and the most creative," Jessica says. "My mom would wake up in the middle of the night, and say, 'I want to make Gouda tomorrow.'" Jessica and Jeremy were both living in At- lanta at the time, working in restaurants and enjoying the excitement of interest in South- ern food that had blossomed when Atlanta hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics. That event had brought many into the city who'd tasted real Southern food for the first time, and inspired many chefs to stay in Atlanta to explore the tradition and to provide a market for locally made premium cheeses that hadn't been there before. "I could walk into kitchens and just taste cheeses with chefs," Jessica says. "We were the first cheesemakers in Georgia." Some of those chefs adopted the Sweet Grass Dairy cheeses, not because they were excellent cheeses in those early days of pro- duction, but because the cheeses were local and the chefs liked the story behind them, Jessica says. "The cheese had so much po- tential. She was doing it for all the right rea- sons." By 2005, the Wehners were ready to pass the torch to a new generation and asked Jes- sica if she'd like to come back to the farm. Although she'd grown up on the farm, she'd been happy in the city, earning a marketing degree from Georgia State University and working in restaurants while she studied to become a sommelier. Her husband had a de- gree in psychology from Florida State Uni- versity and was working in restaurants to earn money for more education. "When I met him, he was saving up money to go to culinary school," Jessica says. "He started realizing that in order to be a great chef, you have got to understand raw ingredients – and then he just fell in love with the production end." After talking it over, the two agreed to take on the challenge, and instead of going to culinary school, Jeremy headed for Sterling College in Vermont and then to France to learn to make cheese. Since then, he's also gotten a lot of cheesemaking education from his fellow cheesemakers, Jessica says. "Everyone is so genuinely kind and helpful. Jeremy Stephenson [Spring Brook Farm], you can call and say you need help, and they're so giving. Mateo Kehler [The Cellars at Jasper Hill], David Gremmels [Rogue Creamery]. We're not competing against each other. We're competing against factory- made, industrial cheeses," she says. "That's been such a beautiful thing, to see how giv- ing and open the other cheesemakers have been." The couple is in the final stages of working with an architect on the design of a new produc- tion facility that will re- place the facility built in 2000 with the expecta- tion that it would last for 10 years. In the years since then, it's been ex- panded here and there, but Jessica and her husband and co-Owner are excited about the potential of a new facility, not just for ex- panded capacity but also to upgrade both ef- ficiency and safety. "Jeremy is so fired up. He does all the cheesemaking," Jessica says. "We hope to add new cheeses to our line-up – we've had six for a while, and it will be ex- citing to see what he comes up with." While Jeremy is busy making cheese, Jessica manages the dairy's various business enterprises, which now include a retail cheese shop and full-service restaurant in Thomasville's historic downtown as well as the cheese plant and dairy operation. "The cheese shop was born of my desire to inter- act more with our community," she says. "I'm from Thomasville, and when I was in school, I couldn't wait to leave. ... I was so tired of having no place to go where I could have a great glass of wine and a cheese board. I finally got tired of complaining about it and decided to create a place where I wanted to go. That was in 2010, and ap- parently, I wasn't alone." For the first five years with the restaurant, which features a simple menu of items made from scratch with quality ingredients, Jessica spent most of her time there, but for the past two years, she's been concentrating on sales and mar- keting efforts to grow the cheese business. "It's been so fun to see our industry evolve. Atlanta's still our biggest market, but it's so fun to hit the road and tell the story of the exciting things that are going on in the South and in this part of the country," she says. "Now there's cheese made in all 50 states, and we all have something to say. It's been really exciting to see it develop over the last couple of years."

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