Number of locally manufactured food products grows
Shop local, we’re told. But are the food products we’re buying at local stores actually made here? Aside from coffee roasters, bakeries and farmers, the answer is mostly no.
However, the number of locally made food items is slowly growing. Mom and Pop – or just one-person operations – have been starting up all over the South Sound in recent years. Many of these entrepreneurs are often driven by more than just profit motive. There’s a high value put on health and social responsibility.
The Olympian tracked down 10 local companies that are making everything from sauerkraut to cereal. In order to be included, each product had to be made in the South Sound and sold in multiple locations, not including farmers markets. Check company websites for all of their retail outlets – Our list is abbreviated.
Backcountry Creamery
Located: Tacoma
Product: cheese
After taking a cheese making class last year Deanna Dargan, a former marketing director, found more than just a new way to make grilled cheese sandwiches. “As a stay-at-home mom with itchy fingers I was hearing exactly what I had been looking for in terms of a new start.” Along with husband Tom the pair built their creamery in May, got licensed on June 3 and started making cheese that night. They use Twin Brook Creamery’s milk (of Lynden.) “Their Jersey cow milk is vat pasteurized and non-homogenized, which is pretty crucial to making good cheese,” Deanna said. Backcountry now sells five varieties of aged cow’s milk cheeses including “Trailblazer,” a rich double-cream; “Camp Chego,” a Manchego-style rubbed with paprika, cayenne and cinnamon and “Camper’s Colby.” In December they’ll be opening their first batch of cheddar.
Sold at: Tacoma Food Co-op. Samples and sales at Proctor Farmers Market.
Retail price: $15 -20 per pound
Info: Facebook: Backcountry Creamery
Magic Kombucha
Located: Olympia
Product: Kombucha
In 2006 Rachel Carns had never heard of kombucha, a fermented sweet/sour drink made from tea, sugar, water and live cultures. Today, her Magic Kombucha brand can be found in stores from Portland to Seattle. Carns took on business partner Ted Kwo in 2009 and now they work out of a downtown Olympia warehouse. Using the local artesian well water, organic green tea, organic evaporated cane juice and a yeast/bacteria culture it takes six weeks to brew effervescent beverage. Though the drink is centuries old, it’s only recently exploded (sometimes literally if you open the bottle too quickly) in American stores. Carns calls it, “a raw living health drink.” With probiotics, live enzymes, vitamins, organic acids and a slight alcohol content there are many health claims made by its proponents. Carns and Kwo call their brand, “the champagne of kombucha.”
Sold at: Tacoma Food Co-op, Olympia Food Co-op
Average retail price: $3.75 for 20 ounces and $10 for 2 liter
Info: Facebook: Magic Kombucha, www.magickombucha.com
Sevierly Good Gluten Free
Located: Tacoma
Product: gluten-free baking mixes
When Maria and Marc Sevier couldn’t figure out why their 4-year-old daughter was constantly ill they had her tested for food sensitivities. They discovered that she was severely gluten intolerant. After eliminating all products with gluten from their home her health improved dramatically. But the gluten-free products the family started using just weren’t cutting it for taste and texture. “My wife (a commercial baker) went on a mission to come up with a bunch of recipes,” Marc said. Friends urged them to go commercial and now their two year old company, Sevierly Good Gluten Free, offers nine baking mixes including cinnamon rolls, chocolate brownies, pizza dough, muffins and bread. Most use gluten-free flours from Bob’s Red Mill in Portland. They don’t contain soy, dairy or beans and only the pizza dough mix contains corn.
Where sold: Marlene’s, Harbor Greens, Olympia Food Co-op, Tacoma Food Co-op.
Retail price: $5-9 for 12-34 ounce packages
Info: sevierlygoodgf.com/
Frisia Dairy and Creamery
Located: Tenino
Product: gouda cheese
In the idyllic pasture lands of south Thurston County a transplanted Dutch family is making authentic raw milk Gouda cheese. Peter and Anita De Boer had always wanted to run a dairy in their native Holland but realized they could only achieve their dream in the United States. The family resettled here, eventually renting a dairy in Rochester that is now run by Peter and son Peter, Jr. Anita told the pair, “If you guys are bringing the milk then I’m going to make the Gouda. The real Gouda.” The family now has a creamery in Tenino that Anita and daughter Femke run. The family has 16 years of cheese making experience but has only been selling their gouda for the past two years. Flavors include plain, cumin, red pepper, nettle and fresh garlic.
Sold at: Olympia Food Co-op, Yelm Food Co-op. Samples and sales at Olympia Farmers Market.
Retail price: $15 per pound
Info: Facebook: Frisia Dairy and Creamery
OlyKraut
Located: Olympia
Product: sauerkraut and pickles
Several years ago Sash Sunday and Summer Bock were both making raw and fermented sauerkraut in Olympia. “People kept telling us we needed to meet each other,” Sunday said. They are now co-owners of OlyKraut, a company that produces a line of seasonal kraut and pickles. “Raw fermented vegetables have been a staple in the human diet for thousands of years,” Sunday said. Using organic and almost all local produce, salt and a natural fermentation process the result is rich with healthy microbes, Sunday said. No heat is used in the process and the product is kept refrigerated in jars with a label that uses a design by Olympia artist Nikki McClure. Four to five products (out of nine total) are usually in production including spring nettle kraut, a sea vegetable kraut and a spicy chi (like kim chi).
Sold at: Olympia Food Co-op, Yelm Food Co-op, Tacoma Food Co-op, Marlene’s. Samples and sales at the Olympia Farmers Market.
Retail price: $8-10
Info: olykraut.com/
Mountain Muesli
Located: Tacoma
Product: cereal
It’s been a busy year for Chris Young. The stay-at-home dad launched his Mountain Muesli business a year ago and it’s become his full time occupation. Selling five different flavors (one gluten free) of the cereal and three flavors of bars Young has updated the traditional Swiss formula with ground flaxseed and natural sweeteners. Flavors range from blueberry/walnut to pineapple/mango/macadamia. Young plans to launch a new gluten-free product this month: Muesli Minis – 12 ounce bags of bite sized muesli morsels in almond and cherry-chocolate chip flavors. They are a result of his popular muesli bars, a product he never intended on selling. “I just made them for Christmas presents and then everyone wanted to know where to buy them.”
Sold at: Harbor Greens, Tacoma Boys, Tacoma Food Co-op, Olympia Food Co-op.
Retail price: Cereal (16 ounce) $7.59-7.99, bars (1.7 ounces): $1.69-2.09
Info: mountainmuesli.com/
Chakralat
Located: Olympia
Product: sugar-free chocolate
New Orleans native Lydia Love had a difficult time adjusting to the rainy winters of the Pacific Northwest – until she discovered dark chocolate a couple of years ago. “This has been like medicine for me to adapt to this climate,” Love said of chocolate. For the past year the massage therapist and yoga instructor has been making sugar-free hand poured dark chocolates using organic ingredients. Love can’t eat sugar due to health reasons. She uses the naturally sweet herb stevia and 85% cacao chocolate to make her confections in flavors including Hawaiian sea salt, smoky chipotle, vanilla orchid, peanut butter cups and “Superfood” varieties with bee pollen, goji berry and green tea (matcha). The chocolates, sold in compostable bags in the refrigerator section, are also dairy and soy free.
Where sold: Olympia Food Co-op (Westside), Yelm Food Co-op.
Retail price: $4-5 per one ounce package.
Info: Facebook “Chakralates”; lovefamilyproducts@gmail.com
Jones’ Mock Salt
Located: University Place
Product: salt substitute
Five years ago hairdresser June Jones made up a salt-free seasoning blend for a client on a low-sodium diet. The product was a hit and now she sells her Mock Salt in a number of local stores and just came out with a spicy southwest blend. But she’s still a hairdresser and her business is a one-woman operation. The seasonings come in shaker bottles and are made from a blend of ingredients including garlic, onion, celery seed, pepper, orange peel and jasmine rice. It can be used during cooking and afterward as a table salt substitute. “Whatever you put it on it doesn’t cover up the flavor, it just enhances it,” Jones said.
Sold at: Harbor Greens, Tacoma Boys, Tacoma Food Co-op, Marlene’s, Bayview and Ralph’s Thriftways
Retail price: $5.79-6.99 for 1.6 ounce bottle
Info: www.jonesmocksalt.com/, 888-882-8202
Tacoma Tofu
Located: Tacoma
Product: tofu
Jim Van Wie had just retired from a career in law enforcement in 1986 when his wife’s Japanese relatives suggested a new career for him. “They said, ‘Jimmy-san, you should make tofu.’ I just laughed it off. But they were serious,” Van Wie recalled. Soon, the relatives had shipped him all the equipment needed. It was fine with Van Wie, now 82. “I don’t believe in sitting around. I never intend to retire,” he said. Now, his Tacoma Tofu Inc.’s daily operations are run by son-in-law Ron Johnson and ship 4,000 pounds of tofu every day from their Hilltop plant to stores and restaurants up and down the west coast. Van Wie makes local deliveries himself. He has an explanation for his company’s success. “The secret to the quality is the water in this area. It’s excellent.” The company makes tofu in four varieties: soft, medium, firm and deep fried.
Where sold: Marlene’s, Tacoma Food Co-op
Average retail price: $1.25 per 14 ounce package
Info: 253-627-5085
Jalisco Tortillas
Located: Shelton
Product: tortillas, chips and salsa
When Mark Velasco’s family moved to Shelton in 1978 they were one of only a few Hispanic families in town. “One of the things my mother noticed was there wasn’t a lot of fresh tortillas in the stores,” Velasco said. It took the family 20 years but in 1998 they started the Jalisco Tortilla Company, selling freshly made tortillas to local Latinos at first. Today, the company has grown and makes all-natural corn and flour tortillas, corn chips and salsas (under the Maggie’s Salsa Jalisco brand.) More salsas and chips are coming in 2012, Velasco said.
Sold at: Bayview and Ralph’s Thriftways, Olympia Food Co-op.
Retail price: Salsa (16 ounce): $4.19, chips (14.5 ounce): $3.49, Corn Tortillas (12): $1.99
Info: www.madeinshelton.com
SOURCES
Bayview Thriftway
516 West 4th Ave. Olympia
360-352-4897
Ralph’s Thriftway
1908 4th Avenue East, Olympia
360-352-4426
Olympia Food Co-ops
921 Rogers Street Northwest, Olympia
360-754-7666
3111 Pacific Avenue Southeast, Olympia
360-956-3870
Tacoma Food Co-op
3002 6th Avenue, Tacoma
253-627-3344
Tacoma Boys
5602 6th Ave., Tacoma
253-756-0902
901 39th Ave SW, Puyallup
253-864-8568
Marlene’s Market and Deli
2951 S. 38th St., Tacoma
253-472-4080
Harbor Greens
5225 Olympic Drive Northwest Gig Harbor
253-851-7911
Yelm Food Co-op
404 First Street S.W. Yelm
360-400-2210
This story was originally published November 23, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Number of locally manufactured food products grows."