Meet the Producers
Gentlemen, give us your 30 second elevator pitch for your product/company. Harry: Blackberry Patch make great fruit syrups and toppings. These ‘3 ingredient’ products are made with fruit, cane sugar, and Lemon juice and are used as toppings for breakfast and ice cream as well as an ingredient in
simple ‘chef quality’ recipes. Jeff: We make the best all natural peanut butter available. Just great Virginia peanuts and a pinch of salt.
What’s the history of your businesses? How did they get started? Harry: The business started on a farm in north Florida in 1988 as a means of preserving the various fruits grown in the family orchards. In 1999 Randy Harvey and I left our respective businesses in to acquire Blackberry Patch from its 84-year- old owner, and the following year we built a modern new facility closer to our hometown to accommodate the
rapid pace of growth. Jeff: The Koeze Company is a fourth generation family business dating back to 1910, after my Great Grandfather Sibbele Koeze moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan from Friesland in the Netherlands around 1890. He’d always dreamed of owning his own food business in America, and after starting with butter, eggs, and general produce, he eventually turned to peanut butter around 1925.
You deal with hundreds of small independent stores and delis across the US, but why do you think a UK deli should also be interested in American food? Harry: The ‘minimal, simple, familiar’ ingredient product trend has been taken up in a big way by consumers in the US, and we see �irst-hand that UK customers are thinking, and buying, with the same philosophy. They seek out products with these attributes, and look for a story to which they can connect. America has a thriving speciality food industry, and a UK
This month I sat down with two producers of American speciality foods to gain an insight into what it’s like to run a small food business in the US, and the changes they’ve seen over the years. Harry Jones is from Blackberry Patch in Georgia, and Jeff Koeze is from the Koeze Company in Michigan.
mind that our products are also in larger stores. They see the product for what it is - a really good peanut butter, and instead choose to focus on the other points of difference such as great customer service, rather than spending time trying to consciously stock different lines.
deli owner should de�initely consider
taking a look at what we have to offer. Jeff: I agree. A good product is a good product, no matter where it’s made. Whenever we exhibit at trade shows, I am always amazed by how many new small producers there are, and how many innovative products are launched each year. So if it’s something new and exciting you’re looking for, then America is a good place to start.
Do you also supply large supermarket chains, and if so, how do your independent retailers react to that? How do they cope with the competition? Harry: Some higher end supermarket chains have requested our products and we’re happy to offer them a ‘custom label’, but our focus is on speciality products to
speciality markets. Jeff: We supply both supermarkets and independents, but it’s interesting to note that the independents don’t
What changes have you noticed in the specialty food business over the last 10 years, and what do you think the next 10 years will bring? Harry: In addition to the powerful trend of minimal ingredients and ‘knowing your producer’, Food safety and Quality Assurance regulations and expectations have accelerated. Whether it’s food or any other industry, it’s all about
consumer confidence. Jeff: As a business dealing with peanuts, we are well aware of changes to regulations, especially allergens. This can only be a good thing as far as consumers are concerned. It’s the public that are driving, and demanding, these changes, and we feel that this will continue to grow as demand for all manner of ‘free from’ products increases each year.
For more information on both
companies visit
www.blackberrypatch.com and
www.koeze.com ●
Adrian Beale, Co-owner, Buckley & Beale. W:
www.buckleyandbeale.com T: 01454 219445.
10 The Delicatessen Magazine NEXT MONTH... WE FIND OUT WHAT IT’S LIKE TO RUN A CHEESE SHOP
AND DELI ON THE MEAN STREETS OF NEW YORK…
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