Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://specialtyfoodmagazine.epubxp.com/i/328566
Over the past three decades that business, then called Rothschild Berry Farm, has become a specialty food leader with more than 200 products sold in more than 5,000 stores. Along the way the company underwent ownership changes that helped grow it from a successful regional company to a nationally recognized brand. The Early Years When the Rothschilds began their farm, customers could pick their own raspberries (or strawberries) or grab a basket of fresh-picked berries from the picnic table out front. It was a small-town opera- tion where employees worked wherever needed on any given day. Sometimes a farm worker manned the picnic table and other times payment was on the honor system. Its popularity grew quickly, often with long lines for the berries. The family-run business included the couple's four children and a handful of employees, such as pickers, planters, and farmers. In 1984, the Rothschilds found themselves with a bumper crop of berries, so Bob asked around to see if any employees knew how to make preserves. Turns out one had previously been a home- economics teacher and knew what to do. In the farm's small kitchen, she made preserves, with Bob serving as the taster, until they got the recipe just right. "They made about 4,800 jars out of the kitchen on the farm," says Kim Maalouf, marketing director. "They sold them on the farm and locally to places that sold Rothschild raspberries in Ohio cities like Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus." Local stores like Dorothy Lane Market carried the preserves then and continue to do so today. From the very first batch of 400 cases of red raspberry preserves, the Rothschilds were on to a win- ner. When asked how they knew it was a success, Maalouf says simply, "They sold." Moving Beyond Preserves Since that first batch of preserves, Rothschild's product line has expanded dramatically to include dips, sauces, condiments, spreads, mustards, pasta sauces, baking mixes, and dessert toppings. Over the years, the company developed many new products, with Bob contributing on ideas and taste-testing. "They'd experiment with different ingredients in, say, a salsa recipe, often using raspberries from the farm," Maalouf says. All products continued to be tested, manufactured, and bottled on the Rothschild farm. Though the process has changed over time (new products are no longer made from berries grown on the farm), they still endure a rigorous taste-testing, in which recipes are modified and adapted repeatedly. Though Robert Rothschild Farm has a product develop- ment team, the company still relies on employee culinary expertise to determine how the product will be used and received. "We are all foodies at heart here," says Maalouf of today's more than 55 employees. "When they're creating new products in the kitchen, we taste the recipe as it is, with simple pairings [chips or crudites], then we try making recipes with each product to see how BRAND TIMELINE 1976 Bob Rothschild buys a 170-acre farm in Urbana, Ohio 1984 First sale of raspberry preserves 1985 Joins the Specialty Food Association (formerly the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade) and attends first Fancy Food Show 2005 Company owner and namesake, Bob Rothschild, sells company to private equity firm Strength Capital Partners, LLC 2010 Company redesigns website and begins focusing on social media brand spotlight brandSpotlight_Summer14.indd 116 6/6/14 8:24 AM