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New: Phoenix Farms Eggs
Food Front is very happy to announce that we have a new local egg supplier: Phoenix’s Egg Farm. Phoenix is a family run farm just 12 miles from our Northwest store. They are Portland’s only egg licensed farm that produces, packages, and distributes from their farm within city limits. Recently our Dairy buyer Jamie Olson and I visited Phoenix’s to check out their chickens and see how they manage their farm. We were met with warm smiles; happy, free-ranging chickens and came away with a better idea of what raising chicken is all about. Owners Souriya and Sophin Khamvongsa and their little one Phoenix, run the farm entirely by themselves. Every egg is hand collected, inspected and packaged; they have no machines to do their work. They provide their chickens with vegetables, sunflowers, and fruits from their farm and their neighbors’ farms. Their chickens get a healthy dose of bugs everyday.
Both stores carry their conventional eggs and our NW store has their certified organic eggs (certified by Oregon Tilth.) They are offering 12 large grade AA eggs in a variety of colors (dark brown, light brown, green, blue, etc). Phoenix Farm has over 15 various breed types of hens. Their eggs are only washed and sanitized if dirty and necessary. They keep their birds in clean nest boxes so they rarely need to be washed and sanitized before packaging.
According to the Khamvongsa’s: "We believe that our hens should not be in cages and should have access to fresh air, bugs, and greens. With this lifestyle the hens are healthy and living a more humane and much happier life. We strive for customer service, egg quality, and freshness. With farming it’s all about Passion. We enjoy providing eggs to local communities, so people can eat more nutritiously and know where their food comes from, only a few minutes away. We hope to grow this type of responsible farming with your support." Food Front is very happy to support this local egg producer and we hope you enjoy their eggs as much as we have!
~Assistant Grocery Manager, Cassandra Black
Local Spotlight: Unbound Pickling--This Pickles' for you!
by Cristin Kearns Couzens
Replace ‘pickle’ with a popular mass-produced American lager, and you’ll have the exact opposite of Unbound Pickling’s branding strategy. “We think of ourselves as the microbrew of pickles,” said Jesse Hancock, who co-founded the artisan small-batch pickling company with his wife Katie. Cooking was a shared passion from the start. “He cooked me dinner on our first date,” Katie said.It’s been their dream to start a business in which they could work together and build on their love of food.
Jesse and Katie hatched their plans for Unbound Pickling while living in Sandpoint, Idaho. Knowing that Sandpoint may not be the best market for their hand-crafted products, they searched for the perfect city to incubate their business. “I did all my shopping at Wal-Mart in Sandpoint. There just weren’t as many choices as there are in Portland like the farmers’ markets and food co-ops,” Katie said. Jesse agreed. “Last week when it was pouring rain, the farmers’ market was just as crowded as normal. People really support local food here!”
The idea for pickling came from the Dilly Beans and other vegetables Jesse’s Mom canned while he was growing up. But these aren’t his Mom’s pickles. “We didn’t want to recreate the typical Betty Crocker pickle, bound by traditional recipes,” Jesse described, with his pickling passion radiating from his eyes.
“We use half the sugar, half the salt, and add local ingredients to impart unique flavors to our pickled products.” For example, Unbound Pickling’s bread and butter pickles are sweetened with pear juice and blueberries. But don’t confuse the blueberries with the mix of spices. “One customer could not get over how unusual the blueberries tasted in our pickles. We couldn’t convince her she’d actually eaten the allspice.”
From a food processor’s license to becoming experts in jars, lids, and labels, Jesse and Katie researched for two years before introducing their products at Portland farmers’ markets. They pickled soy-wasabi asparagus last May when it was in season. Not wanting to go to market with only asparagus, they waited for locally grown cucumbers, sweet onions, green beans and beets, then launched five products on August 1st, 2009.
All their planning paid off. “Within two weeks, Tom Mattox from Food Front stopped by our booth. We were so excited.” Katie said. “He connected us with Gary Koppen, Food Front’s Grocery Manager.” By the end of the month, Unbound Pickling was on Food Front’s shelves. “Food Front has been an incredible resource for us. From teaching us about pricing and what to expect selling in stores, to being the right size for us to meet demand while continuing to develop our business.”
Being the right size means local artisan food producers like Unbound Pickling can work out the kinks selling at Food Front, without being overwhelmed by demand they’re not quite ready to handle. Kinks like how long it really takes to can 1000 jars of pickles. Their first day of pickling turned into a twenty-four hour marathon. “We thought we’d planned the timing well.” Jesse said. “But we started at 6am and didn’t finish until 6am the next day!
Unbound Pickling is based in Portland, Oregon and offers five innovative pickled products: Beatnik Beets: Pomegranate Pickled Beets, Ring Leader: Balsamic Pickled Onions, French Quarter: Cajun Pickled Green Beans, East Meets Northwest: Soy-Wasabi Pickled Asparagus, and (B B)2: Bread and Butter Pickles. You can read more about them at www.unboundpickling.com
Cristin Couzens is the author of the Weekly Veggie
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Every Day Grocery Favorites, Naturally
With such a wide variety of items you’ll find everything from daily essentials, healthy snacks and beverages, cereals, and soups, to frozen entrees and delicious dietary alternatives.
- Local, local, local
From Earthly Delights to Oregon Dukka and Blossom Vinegars, our mission is to provide you with the most delicious food made by local producers. Look for the green Local tags to identify such products as chocolates, cookies, sauces, baking mixes, and dressings.
- Brands you Love
Find your favorite foods and beverages and discover new ones too!
- A Bounty of Bulk
Dried fruits, nuts, snacks and more are yours for the grabbing! Scoop or bag as much or as little as you want.
- Fr-fr-fr-frozen Fa-fa-fa-favorites
Choose from a wide selection of frozen foods.
- Dairy cases full of fresh, organic choices
We offer milk that is free of rBGH artificial growth hormones. We also have a fine selection of artisan cheeses.
- Environmentally sound cleaning products
Our products will leave your home clean and safe for your family without harmful synthetic chemicals and residues.
- Gluten-free products
Find a wide selection of gluten-free products, from baking mixes and flours to snacks and seasonings.
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