News
Posted on February 13, 2012 in News
Firefly Kitchens last month won its second consecutive Good Food Awards gold medal, distinguishing itself in a category that seems deceptively simple to master.
As satirized on this season of Portlandia, an increasing number of wannabe artisans are fermenting and pickling, drawn to the technique by extraordinarily low overhead costs. Sauerkraut producers don’t need a herd of goats or an expensive German-made copper still: A start-up requires only a bin, cabbage, salt and a sharp knife.
Although there are very few variables with which sauerkraut makers can tinker, Firefly’s co-owner Richard Climenhage attributes his company’s win to cabbage quality; salt selection and patience. Firefly’s Cortido sauerkraut – a blend of cabbage, onions, carrots, jalapenos, salt, oregano and red chili peppers — was one of eight artisan products honored in a contest which drew more than 900 entries.
Read Full Article by Hannah Raskin of the Seattle Weekly
Posted on in News
If chocolate is the way to a woman’s heart, Alan Patric McClure thinks that path to love should be a little more refined.
McClure is the brains behind Patric Chocolate, a mid-Missouri business experiment that brought the gospel of better sweets to mouths across the U.S. and small business success to the community.
“Don’t think of what we do as chocolate in the way you are familiar with chocolate, but rather think about it as something like coffee, something like craft beer, something entirely different,” McClure said. “It’s something where a lot of care is put into it, where quality is of foremost importance to us.”
That commitment to a better artisanal chocolate bar transformed his business from a one-man operation into one that sold a quarter of a million dollars worth of chocolate in 2011, doubling his sales from 2010.
Read full article by Kansas City Infozine
Posted on January 24, 2012 in News
ITHACA — Gimme Coffee, Ithaca’s own locally grown coffee company, now with four locations in Tompkins County and another three in New York City, has won a 2012 Good Food Award for the second year in a row for a batch of Colombian coffee it roasted called Finca San Luis.
According to the company, this makes it one of the top ten coffees in the country, as measured against more than 100 other coffee roaster’s entries in the second annual ceremony that recognizes exceptional artisanal foods.
Read full article by Aaron Munzer of the Ithaca Journal
Posted on January 20, 2012 in News, News
Good Food Awards: Should you care to support your local (or not so local) food businesses, the Good Food awards provide a guide to some of the tastiest. — Julia Moskin
More from Diner’s Journal here.
Posted on January 9, 2012 in News, News
The Good Food Awards is kind of like the Oscars, only a touch less glamorous and a lot more focused on cured meat and pickles. This weekend, awards will be given out in categories such as charcuterie, cheese, coffee, and chocolate. If you ask us, those are a lot more exciting than Best Costume Design.
To read more from Jason Henry check it out here!
Posted on January 5, 2012 in News
The Good Food Awards roll back into San Francisco for its second year, highlighting the best artisan producers of everything from beer and charcuterie to preserves and spirits.
“The companies behind this year’s 144 Good Food Awards finalists are incredibly diverse, from an eight-person goat cheese dairy in Harrisburg, Missouri to a 400-person brewery in Colorado,” said Sarah Weiner, director of the Good Food Awards. “It’s fascinating to see such different companies united in the values of sustainability and social responsibility, and producing incredibly delicious food.
“Food manufacturing is one of the largest growth industries in the country, and ‘good food’ producers are creating both food and jobs that nourish our communities.
Check out the rest of Virginie Boone’s article here
Posted on December 1, 2011 in News
So-called “cottage foods” laws are popping up around the country in response to the growing demand for local foods on the part of buyers and sellers. Generally, these laws help the entrepreneurs behind small startup ventures operated out of the home opt out of the crushing regulations faced by restaurants and other food sellers. But in spite of the good intentions behind the laws, they sometimes merely create a parallel system of numbingly stupid regulations.
Check out the rest of Baylen Linnekin’s article here
Posted on November 30, 2011 in News
The categories in the 2012 Good Food Awards would create a meal fit for a king — artisanal beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, coffee, pickles, preserves and spirits. And three local food producers are up for blue ribbons.
The Good Food Awards — a national competition — recognizes people who make food that is delicious, respectful of the environment, and rooted in communities and cultural traditions.
Organizers announced the finalists Nov. 15. Making the cut were Garden Variety Cheese of North Monterey County, and Farmhouse Culture and Chez Pim, both of Santa Cruz.
Read the rest of Gretchen Wegrich’s article here
Posted on in News
SANTA CRUZ — The categories in the 2012 Good Food Awards would create a meal fit for a king — artisanal beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, coffee, pickles, preserves and spirits. And three local food producers are up for blue ribbons.
The Good Food Awards — a national competition — recognizes people who make food that is delicious, respectful of the environment, and rooted in communities and cultural traditions.
Read the full article from the Santa Cruz Sentinel here
Posted on November 29, 2011 in News
The Good Food Awards has announced the finalists in its second annual national celebration of products that are “tasty, authentic, responsible.” And the list includes not just several local brewers and spirit makers, but Dagstani & Sons, “A Very Fine Fruit Company” that makes small-batch fine fruit preserves, marmalades and jams by hand in a small kitchen in Washington Park.
“Frankly, we’re really excited about being included in this,” founder says Raj Dagstani, who bills himself as chief jam-maker. “The preserves judges included Ruth Reichl, Alice Waters and the revelatory jam-maker June Taylor.”
Read the full Denver Westword Article here
