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/116674
SPECIALTY FOOD NEWS THE NEWS UPDATE FOR SPECIALTY FOOD PROFESSIONALS ® BY ROBYN PFORR RYAN A look at industry happenings, store and restaurant openings, legislative and regulatory updates and more SPECIAL GRAPE VARIETIES BOOST MINNESOTA WINE INDUSTRY Minnesota is now home to 40 wineries, double 2007 numbers. The rapid growth of the state's winemaking industry is due in part to grape breeders at the University of Minnesota, who have been toiling in the vineyards to create cold-tolerant grapes that are both tasty and tough enough to withstand brutal winters. Beyond the 40 Minnesota wineries already open, another 20 are in the works. The university's hardy grapes have spread beyond the state, allowing for a winemaking industry in every state in the union, including Alaska. Themed Gourmet Food Samples by Mail Retailers are offering more monthly subscription boxes. Ann Arbor, Mich.–based Zingerman's Bacon Club ($99 for three months) features items like bacon ice cream, bacon-covered chocolate and bacon gum. The Hungry Globetrotter Food Club ($34.95/ month) delivers recipes, sauces and spices with various global themes, such as a South Indian Sampler box, which sent subscribers curry sauce, spices and tea mixes, along with recipes for madras curry, garam masala rice with veggies and yogurt raita. Craft Coffee ($19.99–$24.99/month) delivers three 4-ounce bags of coffee from roasters around the world; subscribers can even specify how they prefer their coffee ground, and order larger amounts of varieties they like. CAMPUS FOOD TRUCK COLLECTIVE In the past year, Alabama's Auburn University has acquired seven food trucks, all of which have become some of the most popular dining locations on campus. The mobile mania is now known as the Tiger Traxx Campaign. Tiger Traxx has a Facebook page that updates students on the daily locations of the food trucks and their hours. with the right freezer trucks, cakes from the Jersey City factory could be delivered as far north as Boston and as far south as Washington, D.C. Cake Boss to Expand Bakery Chain NEW JERSEY CHEESE CLASSES By the end of this year, "Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro aims to have opened five Carlo's Bakery locations, all within driving distance of his new 50,000-square-foot factory at Lackawanna Center in Jersey City, N.J. His newly opened shop in Ridgewood, N.J., features a cake bar where customers can select a "naked" cake as their canvas and have staff fill, ice and decorate it on demand. Meanwhile, Part of a growing new trend in New Jersey, various businesses are hosting cheesemaking classes. Princeton's Olsson's Fine Foods routinely offers mozzarella classes, while in Lawrenceville, at the Cherry Grove Farm, patrons create cheese using ingredients straight from the farm's very own cows. Even a Dayton winery, the Grape Escape, hosts its own course. New Stores and Expansions Retailer Develops, Distributes Own Sauce New Dover, N.H., specialty store Mill Eats features a popular sauce called Shake Things Up Sauce Number 6, created by Michael Nicholas, who co-owns the shop with his wife, Gretchen. Nicholas created the sauce by accident one night to top his meat and potatoes; eventually the couple began making it in a commercial kitchen. The sauce is now distributed to 10 stores throughout New Hampshire. When a retail space opened up, the couple opened a shop that also features handcrafted food, treats and sauces from Washington Street Mill artisans, bakers and chefs, including Aissa Sweets, Gingerloo, Sixpence Pie Company, Stages at One Washington, Starboard Cove Baking Company, Tahana Confections, The White Apron and Wild Orchid Baking Company. WI Gets Specialty Popcorn Shop Gourmet popcorn store Broadway Popcorn will open by May 1 in Port Washington, Wisc. The shop will offer 19 flavors of popcorn, ranging from traditional mixes such as caramel and kettle corn to chocolate cherry cheesecake and pickle flavors. The shop will also carry unpopped popcorn, including Fireworks Popcorn, which has its own shop in downtown Port Washington, as well as coconut oil and salt. Israeli-Inspired Bread Comes to NYC Just steps away from New York's Union Square, the newly opened and aptly named Breads Bakery offers freshly baked breads and pastries. Uri Scheft, owner of the popular Lehamim Bakery in Tel Aviv, Israel, opened Breads Bakery, his first American outpost, earlier this year. Breads offers several traditional Jewish treats, such as chocolate babka and rugelach, as well as artisanal breads made with Scandinavian rye. 10 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE ❘ specialtyfood.com