Tag: food

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Business Development News

Sustain Brand brings locally grown and locally owned to the Queen City

Kudos to Matthew Kennedy and friends, owners of Sustain Brands, for implementing a sustainable marketing model that brings locally owned, locally grown goodies to our grocers’ shelves, satiates our bellies with delicious, nutritious treats, and delivers profits back to our community’s lesser-known farmer’s markets and growers.

Matthew’s company, Kennedy Creative, has worked for over 25 years developing branding and marketing strategies for large national companies based in Cincinnati including United Dairy Farmers and Kroger. In 2009, inspired by a belief that strong regional brands lead to strong regional economies, the company began an initiative to help local growers expand their consumer base. Sustain Brand was born– a single label uniting different products from various growers and producers bearing one important similarity: everything is sourced and grown within a 300 mile radius.

So. Maranara and salsa from Kentucky? Check. Jams and jellies from Amish country? Check. If it’s grown and made within 300 miles of the distribution area, smaller mom and pop producers are eligible to join the Sustain family.

According to John Blatchford, an MBA student at University of Cincinnati working in marketing for Sustain, the brand’s ultimate objective is to expand products from local farmers into a larger Cincinnati-area market.

“The idea of shipping food across the country for the sake of achieving economies of scale doesn’t make sense for many reasons,” he said. “It’s something that [Sustain is] trying to combat while pushing the local movement forward.”

Indeed, the average food item travels 1,500 miles to reach your grocer’s shelf. Higher transportation expenses increase costs, and additional miles traveled compound the negative impact of harmful CO2 emissions.

One of Sustain Brand’s most important objectives is to provide marketing power to local brands. Monica and Mill Long from KHI Foods in Burlington, Kentucky manufacture salsas, including a delicious “hot” peach raspberry with a delightful kick, soups like chicken gumbo, minestrone, sweet creamy tomato, and vegetable beef, and “12 Veggie Marinara” sauces in five flavors that make a quick, healthy dinner a snap. These products are all marketed under the Sustain brand.

Both Sustain and KHI are relentlessly devoted to premium, healthy products. The first 12 items in KHI’s marinara sauces are all vegetables; you will not find “tomato paste” anywhere on their product label. The sodium level is a mere fraction of most commercial tomato sauces.

Like Sustain, KHI Foods is a socially conscious company; it manufactures fortified products with farm-fresh fruits and vegetables specifically intended to combat malnutrition in patients with cancer and other illnesses.

As a result of the marketing efforts of Sustain, KHI Foods products are available at some of our favorite urban groceries including Madison’s at Findlay Market, Clifton Natural Foods, and Park+Vine, where owner Dan Korman reports that the products, especially the salsas and marinara sauces, are very popular.

But Sustain has looked to a greater audience, ultimately marketing products from KHI Foods and other local growers to fifty total urban and suburban grocery stores including Kroger locations and, most recently, fourteen local Remke Biggs stores.

When Sustain partners with local growers, the products bear the Sustain label on the front. The label promises the product was “Locally Owned, Locally Grown.” In furtherance of the brand’s truly collaborative intent, the back of the label bears the manufacturer’s name and a brief description of the company.

In addition to products from local growers KHI Foods, Sustain markets Amish jams and noodles from Mrs. Miller’s in Fredricksburg, Ohio as well as more familiar local brands including Cactus Pear’s salsas, gelato and sorbet from Madisono’s and four flavors of artisan coffee from La Terza Roasterie.

But Matthew Kennedy and his marketing team dream big. In Sustain’s grander vision, you will be able to purchase Sustain brand products from a grocery store in Topeka, Houston, Charleston, and everywhere in between, with the confidence that you are supporting a local business and benefiting the environment all while purchasing a quality product. As the label says, “Dig in and eat your way to sustainability!”

images: Park+Vine carries Sustain Brand ; Sustain Brand marinara is a fraction of the sodium of name brand sauces. Provided.

Categories
Development News

Date to offer intimate dining experience on Main Street

[This story was originally published in the Cincinnati Business Courier print edition on July 8, 2011. Visit the original story for more comments, thoughts and opinions on Over-the-Rhine’s newest homegrown restaurant – Jenny.]

Shayla Miles and Steven Shockley are inviting Main Street on a date. Their new restaurant, slated to open in September, is seeking to create a welcoming atmosphere for diners to more fully understand and appreciate good food at a good price in the quickly developing neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine.

The two envision a “transparent chef’s-table experience” with 25 seats at eye level with the open kitchen and a rotating, playful menu that capitalizes on pocketbook friendly, healthful food.

“I’m never again going to cook in a restaurant that my friends can’t afford to try,” says head chef Shockley, who has worked in kitchens in upscale restaurants in Chicago, locally was the sous chef at Chalk Food and Wine, and most recently head chef at Maribelle’s Tavern. This is his first restaurant ownership experience.

With 750 square feet, 25 seats and four employees, Date promises to connect customers to their food, their servers, and to each other.

“We’re striving for a pan-cultural, pan-economic experience, where you can get a great meal for under twenty dollars,” says Shayla. “It will be like the dinner version of Tucker’s [diner], where the owners are cooking your food and serving it to you themselves, and everything is open. Anybody can feel comfortable and have a positive, guilt-free dining experience.”

Shockley and Miles brought a “First Date” sample menu for patrons at Neon’s Unplugged to try over July 4th weekend, which was well received. The day’s food included a cannelloni bean dip with sumac and Bourbon Barrel maple syrup, dirty rice with Kroeger and Sons duck sausage, and a curried couscous, crab and cucumber pilaf. The Date Nights will continue until the restaurant is ready to open its doors.

The restaurant itself will feature a nine item, weekly rotating menu with a limited selection of high quality craft beers, wines and upscale non-alcoholic drinks that will pair well with the food offerings. Hours will be Tuesday through Saturday, from 11am to 2:30pm for lunch, 5pm to 11pm for dinner. The owners say that there will also be late night offerings Thursday through Saturday until 2:30am, and a Sunday brunch menu.

“With a small business, you have to be passionate enough to put in the long hours and make it work. I’ve been around Steven a long time – this guy gets passionate about Brussels sprouts. If he can get that way about Brussels sprouts, think of what he can do with the all the other ingredients out there in his own restaurant,” explains Michael Maxwell, owner of Market Wines at Findlay Market. Both Miles and Shockley work at Market Wines, and Maxwell has been a friend and mentor as they have embarked on this endeavor.

While the two have chosen a location in the 1300-1500 block of Main Street, the exact address is still undisclosed, due to the challenges they are facing with negotiating a building lease that will fit to their needs.

“There are historic preservation guidelines that are a challenge when restoring an old space,” says head chef Shockley. “We want to be around for a while, and we want to make sure we do the space right. These [historic spaces] can be cost prohibitive for small business owners – between the countless inspections, preservation guidelines, and even tension between building owners, we have to pick and choose our battles in order to not blow our budget.”

The duo is excited to create a place that they and others have been longing for in Over-the-Rhine. “Main Street is this haven for all sorts of new energy and entrepreneurial spirit” says Miles. “It’s a community anchored and supported by its small businesses. Businesses are thriving, having fun, creating community – it thrives off itself. Something is going on in Over-the-Rhine that is very different, and we’re trying to do that with food.”

Photograph of Shayla Miles and Steven Shockley by Brent Schwass for UrbanCincy

Categories
Business News

Farmers markets growing in popularity throughout Cincinnati region

Over the past decade, America has seen the gradual blossoming of a broad natural food movement. This movement is due, in part, to books from writers like Michael Pollen and documentary films such as Super Size Me. These works have shown the unhealthiness of processed foods, which (driven by booming urban populations and the decline of traditional rural life) had grown in popularity since the end of World War II.

Americans today, particularly in cities, have demonstrated an interest in getting back to their roots – literally. The surge of attention to what we eat has led to an unprecedented interest in cooking and eating locally-produced food. Many people have left corporate jobs to become farmers or chefs. Beyond the ever-widening availability of organic foods, we have seen “farm-to-table” dining and a rise in gardening, even in urban areas like Over-the-Rhine.

Luckily, all the demand for natural food means an increase in the availability of healthy, freshly-prepared meals, even when we may be too stressed or time constrained to cook them ourselves. Another benefit, from a larger societal standpoint, is a recent flattening of the adult obesity rate in the United States.

Locally, one of the best aspects of this movement is a wider array of seasonal farmer’s markets. Now it’s easy to get fresh, local food throughout the Queen City with dozens of seasonal and year-round farmers markets.

Findlay Market is the crown jewel of Cincinnati’s historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Operating since 1855, it offers Cincinnatians everything they could want in a market and more, year-round. It houses restaurants, numerous delis and produce shops, fishmongers, spice sellers, florists, bakers, textile vendors, Asian grocers and even a biergarten.

New shops include a bakery-café, pet supply store and a Vietnamese restaurant. Recent efforts to “Green the Market” have included the installation of solar panels on the market roof, plus waste reduction and new energy-efficient lighting. And as efforts stir to expand Findlay Market and improve its surroundings, it appears that Ohio’s oldest market is poised for a bright future.

We have put together a comprehensive listing of Cincinnati-area farmers markets. We have certainly missed a few, so please feel free to provide some added content to us by commenting on this story. Share the map with your friends and family so that they may take advantage of a farmers market near them. And if there isn’t one, check to see how to get one started in your neighborhood.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

Roeblingfest expands to include focus on food & music

Photo provided by Paul Collett
Photo provided by Paul Collett

This weekend marks an annual celebration for one of Cincinnati’s most iconic landmarks, The John A Roebling Suspension Bridge. Roeblingfest, now in it’s seventh year, will take place this Saturday in the area just south of the bridge named Roebling Point. The festival which started as a midday celebration on a Sunday afternoon has now gown into a full day event on Saturday to be closed out by Rozzi Fireworks. As the festival has grown, so has the vision as it now features not only a focus on history, but also a focus on local food and local music among other things. It is a true mix brought forth by a collaborative effort of organizers from the Covington-Cincinnati Suspension Bridge Committee (the CCSBC) as well as the businesses in the Roebling Point Entertainment District.

This well known landmark is featured everywhere from the backdrop of local newscasts to the logo of your favorite site that talks about all things in the urban core. The bridge was just painted for the first time in almost thirty-five years and new lights have begun the process of restoring the bridge to its true glory. The CCSBC is dedicated to doing even more to modernize the lighting and maintaining the flags on the bridge, and while memberships are available via the web on an ongoing basis, this festival marks one way for the group to raise money annually.

As the roots of the festival focused on the history of the Roebling Bridge, a prototype for New York’s Brooklyn Bridge, there will be walking tours given of the bridge, the floodwall murals, and other historical Covington landmarks for $5 per tour. The tours are scheduled to go off on an hourly basis from 1p through 4p. It should be noted that there are no tours of the bridge that will allow folks to go to the top, but there will be a silent auction for such a trip which includes dinner for four at Keystone Bar & Grill.

In addition to a historical focus, this year’s event features quite a food selection. Of course all the local establishments that are part of the Roebling Point Entertainment District will be out including Keystone, Blinkers, Sidebar, The Down Under and Molly Malone’s. This year too features a few less traditional vendors including Covington’s Amerasia as well as both the Dojo Gelato cart and (making their inaugural outdoor appearance) Pho Lang Thang from Findlay Market. Add in a Roebling Porter from Rivertown Brewing and a special small batch Moerlein Roebling Fest Lager and there are plenty of special drinks to go around too.

Additionally, this year’s festival also features quite a line-up of music that is scheduled to run from 1pm to 1015pm. With the focus being on local & original music, this is one area that Roeblingfest 2011 has really differentiated itself from years gone by. With the stage located in the heart of the square at Court Street and Park Place, it will be a definite focal point throughout the day featuring bands from all across the region and it will have a true mix of genres too.

1pm to 1:45p – Perfect Sequel
2pm to 2:45pm – The Crick Gypsies
3:15pm to 4:15pm – Supermassive
4:45pm to 6pm – The Spookfloaters
6:30pm to 7:15pm – The Chocolate Horse
7:45pm to 8:45pm – The Dukes
9:15pm to 10:15pm – The Lions Rampant

Add in an art show as well as the finish line for the 2011 Covington Quest and the 2011 Roeblingfest has a little something for everyone. As parking could be challenging, the use of public transportation is most definitely recommended and the TANK Southbank Shuttle will be more than sufficient. Taking the shuttle will allow festival goers to park in downtown Cincinnati, Newport, or other parts of Covington and get to and from the festival for only $1 each way.

Categories
Business News Opinion

Cincinnati’s urban Kroger stores face a unique design opportunity

It is no secret to Cincinnati residents that less than four blocks away from the Kroger world headquarters sits one of the most neglected stores in the city, if not the region. The Kroger store at the 1400 block of Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine has long sat forgotten while the rest of the urban core continues to gain steam, revitalize and grow.

Less than a 10 minute drive away sits Vine Street’s newest sister store, the 128,000 square foot store built as a new development off highway 471 in Newport, Kentucky. The darling of big box grocery stores houses a Starbucks, a jewelry store, full clinic and pharmacy, furniture selection, and expansive grocery section including natural foods and a sushi station.

There is something of stigma surrounding the Vine Street store that hangs over the place, encouraging unfamiliar potential customers to avoid it at all costs. I set out on a mission to break down the rumors and cut through to the core differences and to hypothesize how the Kroger Company can capitalize on their greatest and most under-utilized asset.

Prices:
Rumor has it that the company marks up its prices in the center city, forcing poor residents and dumb yuppies to pay more than their suburban counterparts. This is not true. From California Pizza Kitchen ($5.79) to Jif Creamy Peanut Butter ($2.40) to Roma tomatoes ($1.19 per lb), the price point at the two Krogers is identical.

Expiration Dates:
After only one visit, it is hard to say whether or not the company consistently ships food that will expire sooner to their urban location. Multiple visits will confirm the pattern. At this time, comparing eggs, milk, produce and meat, the expiration dates for the Newport store were consistently further out than Vine Street’s. The VSK had expiration dates on milk of 6/12-6/17, and eggs from 6/7 to 6/24. Newport, in comparison, dated expired milk at 6/20-6/22, and eggs at 6/24-6/30. Every bagged green at 1400 Vine (including spring mix, spinach, kale, and salad mix) was on manager’s special – preparing to go bad with 6/6 expiration dates. The expansive selection of bagged greens in Kentucky (only 3 bags of which were of collard/kale greens) expired from 6/7-6/14.

However, the rest of the produce section was filled with vibrant, ripe fruits and veggies that one could find just as easily at Findlay Market. Red strawberries, taut and plump cucumbers, pears, peaches, fresh smelling blueberries and leafy (unpackaged) greens. In fact, the tomatoes at Vine Street were in better shape than the ones at Newport (see the pictures above)


Compare and Contrast: Over-the-Rhine [LEFT] and Newport [RIGHT] stores.

Selection:
The stark difference in size and footprint of the two stores obviously allows for a great disparity in food selection. The question that remains: is the food that IS available in the smaller footprinted store as good a quality as the bigger store? The answer: yes and no.

The Vine Street Kroger has a range and variety of items for sale – one can purchase cat food and cream cheese; pomegranate juice and pancake mix; the necessities are all there- and at the same price as any other Kroger in the city. Is there a need for a jewelry store, cheesemonger, or 15 types of lint rollers in a smaller market? Of course not. Other successful urban stores carry only one or two styles of an item in order to maximize room for a wider variety of merchandise.

A big disappointment I encountered was in the meat aisle. Instead of a traditional deli there is a “hot counter” with fried chicken and other breaded delicacies shoved under a heat lamp, approximately 4.5 feet wide. The fresh meat section is very limited.

When deciding between chicken at Vine Street I was presented with two options: one style of Tyson all natural chicken thighs (no breast meat or tenderloin) at 3.99 per lb, and a 10 lb bag of cheap skin-on chicken drumsticks for 6 dollars with an expiration date of 6/14. I have been told that there is usually Kroger brand skinless chicken breast – they may have been out today. Obviously the selection at Newport Kroger is much wider.

Design:
The biggest hurdle that faces the Vine Street Kroger is its outdated and dingy design. The store is poorly lit, with outdated signage, low ceilings, and worn tile on the floor. The physical layout of the food selection is not well thought out. Entering the store puts the shopper smack in the middle of the processed bread and Hostess snack aisle. Conventional healthy shopping wisdom that dictates shopping around the perimeter of the store- it does not work in this case, as Aisle One is candy and sugary cereals.

The Newport Kroger, in sharp contrast, has stained concrete floors, tall ceilings, modern signage, and skylights that bring daylighting into the expansive space. Much attention and detail has been put into the displays, with vignettes on the wall indicating dairy, produce, bread, and meat sections.

What’s the solution?
The Kroger company is at a crossroads. They are the biggest grocery chain in the nation, yet are allowing a key future growth opportunity to slip out from under them: the urban market. Stores like Aldi, Target, Safeway and Whole Foods have already established urban stores with smaller footprints and a more limited selection that are clean, well designed, and offer an attractive selection for urban residents.

Kroger should seize this opportunity to place pride in their most central store. In this formally trained interior designer’s opinion, the best thing that Kroger could do would be to renovate the Vine Street store as a flagship model for urban Kroger markets across the country in other major downtown districts, and to open a second location in the Banks development or Tower Place Mall.

Reduce the barrier to the street by modifying the parking lot – behind the building or eliminating it all together. Bring the same successful elements from the Newport store into the smaller design – modern colors, skylights, ample lighting, polished concrete floors, easy to read and well designed signage, and improve the quality (and shelf life) of the selection that is available.

Questions arise about improving the neighborhood – will a nicer store price current residents out? It’s already been established that the price points of both the newest and most run-down Kroger in the region are identical. The only difference is the physical store itself. Improving the most central and urban store will only attract more shoppers to the store, resulting in gained revenue. No matter one’s skin color, annual income, or place of residence, affordable, quality food that is readily accessible in the neighborhood is something everyone deserves.

I encourage Over-the-Rhine residents to utilize the Vine Street Kroger for their grocery needs in addition to gems like Findlay Market. The staff there is incredibly friendly and welcoming, and if we want the status quo to change, we need to show the company that our pocketbooks are willing to support something new.