Gourmet goodies grace GT ventures

Source: Traverse City Record-Eagle
TRAVERSE CITY - Fancy foods, specialty foods, gourmet goodies, things that make you go m-m-m-m are also supporting a fair number of growing companies in northwest Lower Michigan.

One of the newer ventures is Tim Young's five-year-old Food For Thought Inc. venture in Honor where Young is trying to mix a blend of healthy, organic food products with a strong flavor of save-the-planet politics. Having worked in catering for several years and then producing gourmet goodies, Young recently ratcheted up his operation with a lot of new industrial-strength cooking and packing equipment.

Until now, Young has focused mostly on producing private-label goods for other vendors including Cherry Republic, Benjamin Twigg's and The Cherry Stop. He also has just started marketing his own Food For Thought line and began a Web site, www.wildjam.com. He hopes to greatly increase his annual sales beyond the $300,000 or so he has now.

His major sales pitch is twofold: Food For Thought uses wild-harvest fruits and berries and no preservatives to create a line of goodies with a hint of wine flavoring or other unusual seasonings based on sustainable agriculture. Products include wild blueberry preserves with merlot wine, tart cherry with cabernet, organic blueberry with lavender and strawberry with basil. Contract pickers have to pledge not to over-harvest natural berry-producing areas and Young actually goes out and checks that.

While most products are certified as organic, the cherry products aren't because the tart cherry industry has yet to shift away from pesticides, Young said.

Beyond the wholesomeness of the products and pro-environment harvesting policies, Food For Thought donates 1 percent of gross sales - not just profits - to environmental projects and organizations. That stems from Young's long-time involvement in such things as the Northwest Michigan Environmental Action Council, Friends of the Crystal River and the Michigan Land Use Institute.

Food For Thought is available at Oryana, Wine Country Market, the Cedar City Market, the Bread Works Bakers and will soon be sold at the Grain Train's new store in Petoskey.

The idea that people would pay good money for extra-tasty, wholesome things like jams, jellies, preserves, sauces and condiments made from local fruits, herbs, seasonings and great things that grow in the wild has been around for a long time in the region. One of the earliest producers and one of the largest today is Brownwood Acres in Eastport, which got its start in specialty foods by creating an apiary and producing honey. Later the Morse family and their daughter Mary Lou de Tar greatly expanded the line to include a wide range of cherry products, which proved a big hit with both locals and tourists. Brownwood's cherry butter alone, which the family invented 56 years ago, sells at the rate of 100,000 jars a year.

Mary Lou's kids are running the show these days and teaching the business to their kids as they handle more than 400 wholesale accounts in addition to mail order and their own retail operation on Torch Lake.

Over the years, others found nifty ways to take local foods and make them into appealing specialty foods. Justin Rashid and business partner Larry Forgione took the concept to a whole new level when they launched American Spoon Foods in Petoskey in 1982. Today that company is a multi-million-dollar enterprise selling a staggering line of food products through 400 specialty food retailers across the nation, including the 210-store Williams and Sonoma chain. That's in addition to the four company-owned stores and two franchised stores in the northwest region. The company employs the equivalent of 45 full-time people year around and boosts its payroll to 115 during the big November-December mail-order season.

Rashid and Forgione, a chef and restaurant owner in New York City, started out with the theory that wild-picked fruits and berries from northern Michigan could be the base for exceptional preserves, condiments and fruit sauces. They in turn could flavor all kinds of meals, which was Forgione's particular interest. The theory, along with some well-executed marketing and a constant eye towards quality and consistency, proved to be a winner.

Dave Amon, owner of Amon's Orchards and Grandma Amon's Country Kitchen, has been selling premium preserves, jams, jellies, sauces and other goods since 1984 and was a pioneer in creating a cherry mustard, still his best seller.

"When we were fist thinking up products, we just laughed at that idea but it's been great," he said.

Like most other area fancy food producers, Amon pushes the message that there are no preservatives, food colorings or additives and buyers appreciate those qualities. Another hot line he's developed has been no-sugar products. His store sees about 50,000 to 75,000 paying customers a year, plus he has a healthy mail-order business and has his lines in about 40 stores around Michigan.

Not all specialty foods produced in the region are fruit based. David Petty and his wife Sandra are building up Stuff's Wonderful Stuff, a sweet and spicy sauce that started out as his idea for a barbecue sauce.

Stuff's motto: Baste it! Dip it! Grill it! Lick it! Suck it! Love it!

Sandra Petty said the couple built a commercial kitchen at their place in Charlevoix two years ago and already has built up a list of 65 active accounts. Locally they include Deering's and Maxbauer's and Folgarelli's, all in Traverse City, plus stores elsewhere in Michigan, Texas, Martha's Vineyard, Florida and many restaurants.

"We have chefs who buy it by the gallon," she said.
Source: Traverse City Record-Eagle