Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/985109
OCG Show Daily 1 7 Monday, June 11, 2018 "I made the first vat of cheese on December 12, 2012 – that was chèvre, actually, of all things. It was kind of funny, really, but it worked out great," she says. "I needed chèvre [to fill orders] that week. That's why that made sense." Since then, the operation has grown significantly. The 10,000 square-foot production facility now houses a 12,000- pound and a 20,000-pound vat in which Katie makes 11 different varieties of cheese on a five-day-a-week schedule, for a total of 18 to 20 different cheeses. Earlier this year, the company acquired a 200-square-foot cheese cave for affinage. Evalon, the company's original cheese, is still the flagship. Chandoka, which won a second-place award in the best of show category at the 2015 American Cheese Society Judging and Competition as Standard Market Cave Aged Chandoka, has a special place in her heart because she created that cheese. David Rogers was Standard Market's affineur at that time, but he joined LaClare Family Creamery this April when the operation opened the cheese cave and started aging Chandoka on site. LaClare Farms Specialties took home a third-place award from the ACS judging this year for LaClare Farms Cave Aged Chandoka. "David Rogers, the affineur, took it to a place that I don't know if I could. The program he has set up – it was such a vision, but I didn't know how to get there," Katie says. "The stars aligned, and it just worked out so perfect to be able to work with him to do that." It's too soon to know how the syner- gy between Rogers and the Hedrich fam- ily will influence the evolution of the LaClare cheeses, Katie says. "Something that is different is that we can market it. We can talk about it. It's like a whole dif- ferent level of pride because it's all under our roof," she says. "We started out as a farm. My parents always wanted to be able to add value back to the farm. They focused on the right things. Having that to work with is kind of neat.... When you focus on the milk, it makes everything else that much easier. Nothing in this industry is easy, but when you focus on the milk, it pays off dividends." Joey Widmer Living in the House His Great-Grandfather Built Joey Widmer grew up with a dad who made cheese, which meant that he grew up helping in the cheese plant, but that he also got to spend time with a dad who finished his work day earlier than many other dads did. "I always did small jobs, probably starting when I was 12, but I don't think I was on the payroll until I was 16," he says. "I think it was just nat- ural because I was part of the family. My dad started asking me to do small jobs, and it just grew from there." Joey's dad, Joe Widmer, is the Owner and third-generation Cheesemaker at Widmer's Cheese Cellars, in Theresa, Wisconsin. The creamery was started by Joe's grandfather, who came to the U.S. in Family Values (Cont'd. from p. 16) 1905, started working as an apprentice in a cheese factory, and bought his own cheese plant in 1918. In 1922, he bought the building in which Joey lives and both he and his father work today. "I always knew that I had to just give it a shot, to find out if I liked it or not, and as with any business, there's always room for extra help," Joey says. "I worked my way up like everybody else. I did a lot of cleaning – literally, cleaning toilets.... I learned the value of manual labor and working your way up." He left home to get a bachelor's degree in business and then moved back to live with his parents while he was pur- suing his master's degree in business administration from Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin. When he had earned that degree, he moved a few blocks away from his parents, into the three-bedroom apartment over the family cheese factory. "My family, we lived there until I was eight years old, and then they built a house a couple of blocks away. And now I've come last circle," he says. "I always remember people pulling into the retail store out front. I also remember people coming to the back door saying that they'd driven 250 miles for cheese, and my dad saying, okay, he'd open up the store." Today, Joey's doing a little bit of everything in his dad's business. "I'm helping every aspect of the business from production to packaging to food safety. I currently do marketing. Also, the finan- cial side of it. Also quality control," he says. "There's a lot of days when I think I'd rather be doing manual labor than doing desk jobs." Widmer's Cheese Cellars specializes in Cheddar, Brick and Colby, made from traditional recipes. Brick is an American Original, invented in Wisconsin, and Joe still uses the bricks his grandfather used to weight the cheese as it matures on his shelves, and he still sells his cheese in the same retail shop that's at the front of his building today. The company took home awards from this year's ACS judging for its Washed Rind Brick Cheese and Mild Brick Cheese. Joey is 28 years old and still single – "I have a dog," – and he's giving some thought to the future that lies ahead. He's not sure that he's going to devote the rest of his career to the business he grew up in, but he says that, however that decision turns out, he's learned some valuable les- sons from his dad, who spent Joey's childhood getting up early in the morning to make cheese and usually finished his work day around the time that Joey got home from school. "We probably had the same bedtime," he says. "If I have kids, I'll learn a lesson from him and spend time with them. It's important. More important than work." "I never thought that he was different from other fathers except that he was a great dad. It never affected him being with me," he adds. "The older I get, the more I realize that he has a unique job position that not everyone is able to experience. Not everyone has that opportunity." Lighting Solutions from Baselite Baselite Corporation was founded in 1997 and has 31 years of experience in producing a top quality product. Baselite is located in the beautiful southern California city of Chino. It is a complete lighting manufacturer that has the versa- tility to meet any of your lighting needs. From vintage industrial, classic ware- house, sign lights, commercial high bays and food warmers, it has the style of lighting you're looking for. Baselite is focused on providing the best lighting solution, no matter the size or scale of the job. It manufactures a wide range of contractor and architecturally friendly lighting products. Since it is a true American made lighting manufactur- er, everything is done in its own facility. From spinning shades to assembly to paint, Baselite completes its fixtures from start to finish. This process gives it the ability to customize any fixture and guar- antee a premium quality product. The company's wide range of lighting prod- ucts and food warmers use the highest grade materials, which include aluminum, brass and copper. Baselite's products are multi-functional, which include outdoor, commercial and restau- rant lighting. For exam- ple, its food warmers can serve as both deco- rative pendant lighting and a commercial grade heat lamp. Baselite food warmers are designed to complement and enhance the aesthetic appeal, design and décor of any eatery, while serving the purpose of maintaining food serving tem- peratures. Not only do they complement the restaurants décor, they are built to the highest commercial standards. Baselite offers 35 different powder coat and metal finishes, along with a wide range of shade styles, mounting options and accessories to meet your light- ing needs. Baselite takes pride in mak- ing sure that performance and ease of installation are inherent in its food warmers and lighting prod- ucts. Baselite is committed in pro- viding innovative and energy effi- cient lighting solutions for any space. Restaurants, bars, hotels, commercial and residential, Baselite does it all! For more information, call 877.999.1990, email sales@baselite.com or go to www.baselite.com. Jessica's Brick Oven Bakery: Everyday Artisan Bread By Nicholas Boghos, Director of Sales and Marketing, Jessica's Brick Oven Bakery. Jessica's Brick Oven Bakery, JBO, is a producer of artisan breads specializing in sliced Tuscan breads, Cinnamon Raisin Swirl and Focaccia breads for in-store bakeries. JBO also makes a huge variety of other artisan breads and batter based tea breads such as Banana Walnut. JBO distributes artisan breads for fresh and frozen programs across the U.S. with a heavy concentration in the Northeast. Producing artisan breads and dis- tributing across the nation is a huge challenge. Artisan, Old-World breads require a great amount of time and attention to ensure that the finished breads are of very high quality. Ambient temperatures, water temperatures, mix- ing processes, fermenting or proofing temperature and humidity, and the abil- ity to replicate the process day in and day out, all play key roles in creating better breads. Artisan breads are breads that are fermented slowly and allowed to rest for long periods the old-fashioned way in order to develop its cell structure and fla- vors. They use very simple but high qual- ity ingredients and follow a strict process that cannot be rushed, taking over 24 hours to make a single batch start to fin- ish. The bread is also made in small batches, relatively speaking. The result is an extremely flavorful bread with open cell structure and great texture. Something unique about JBO is that it is slicing the hearth baked or free form Tuscan breads on a large scale. These breads, whether delivered to in- store bakeries fresh or frozen, offer consumers a huge step up from the bread aisle. How does one keep a product artisan when it's frozen and shipped? You can freeze a commercial bread, and, when it defrosts, it is still a commercial bread that was made with high speed, containing ingredients that are not found in artisan breads (compare labels). The same goes for an artisan bread: it is all about how the bread is made and what it is made of, not if it is fresh or freshly frozen and thawed. JBO breads freeze and defrost very well, which is the rea- son the company is experiencing a huge amount of growth in fully baked, labeled and frozen artisan breads that are unpacked from a freezer at store level, allowed to rest for a short period of time and then put out in the in-store bakery. This saves a lot of labor for the stores, reduces shrink and gets the con- sumer great tasting bread that has a simple list of high-quality ingredients. No one wants to eat foods with bad-for-you ingredients on an everyday basis. Do you want to pack your child a sandwich for lunch every day on bread that is high in sugar, preser- vatives and artificial flavors? Would you make yourself avocado toast on white bread made with bleached flour and sug- ars such as corn syrup as main ingredi- ents? Never mind the preservatives that prevent the bread from spoiling for many days or even weeks. For more information, visit booth #2458 at the IDDBA 2018 Show or go to www.jessicasbrickoven.com.