It's pizza time everyone!

Wow, it's getting chilly outside. Hmmmm....might be a good time to think PIZZA TIME!! Yeah, baby, it sure is. But now its a whole new world of pizza making possibilities. We are starting to sell our uniquely different pizza sauces and they are flying out the door. No matter how you slice it, (ouch) its going to be a big hit. Michael and I have been busy packing up samples and shipping them all over the country. From Carson, CA to NC to PA and even off to Canada...the word is spreading faster than our tomatillo Cilantro sauce on a whole wheat crust. Of course, our pizza sauces are available to order online in our 3-pak. What a tasty way to celebrate the coming holidays. Stay tuned pizza crazies.....they're heading your way, too!

A class act...that's what we are!

About a week or so ago, Michael and I made our way over to St. Joseph's University to speak about our company in front of one of their food marketing classes. St. Joe's has one of the finest food marketing schools in the USA and so it was a real thrill to be invited by Professor Acello to speak in one of her classes. "My God, they are so young", I thought as I saw them all saunter into the classroom. "oh, wait, I'm older", I quickly realized. They were a sharp group, throwing tough questions at us which showed they had a pretty good grasp of what the food biz is about. I was also cooking up a storm, too. We sampled our new pizza sauces. Figured they'd be a good, tough group to sample to. They really liked the sauces!! (whew) They obviously had good taste as well. After 60 minutes, they knew us and Lizbeth Lane pretty well. Some of the students have corresponded with us since that evening. We now have added a few of them as our "Saucier Ambassadors" which means they are helping us demo in stores around the region. Til later....

I'm Voting for Our Pizza Sauce!

Okay....this is it. Today we go out to our co-packer and produce our final gourmet pizza sauce. Our Thai Peanut Pizza Sauce. It's one awesome little gem that really takes pizza recipes in a whole new direction. We have produced the other three: our Roasted Veggie, Tomatillo Cilantro and our Tomato, Pepper and Basil pizza sauces. They all get a 5 YUM rating!! The next step will be to alert all of our retailers

and distributors so that orders can be filled. If you're reading this with a slice of pizza in your hand...put it down, raise your right hand and repeat after me..."From now on, I'm gonna rock the pizza world with Lizbeth Lane Pizza Sauces...no more boring plain red sauce for me!" We know once you try these incredible pizza sauces, you will vote for us.

Best Pizza Ever Made?

So... I got some of our roasted vegetable pizza sauce handy and decided to make a pizza with it. What I created might just be the best tasting pizza ever made. But I'm not going to hide the recipe...oh no, I'm putting it out there so when our new pizza sauces come to market, you'll have a first class ticket to pizza heaven as well! Took a photo, too!

If you have a killer recipe for a pizza that might even be better with our new sauces, let us know by all means. You'll get the credit you deserve as well! Later...

Summer drought has hit food prices hard....?

As the summer grinds on, you might be hearing people talk about the fact that food prices are going to go through the roof. Well, that aint necessarily so. And another fact emerging is that the lack of rain could have a big impact on energy prices. How? Read the story on Motley Fool's website about the summer drought. What you think about how this weather will affect us may not be for real....yet. (Note: We do not endorse Motley Fool or any other links we suggest on this blog). Link

The Weight Watchers factor.....

Howdy all.... now it's summertime and the livin' aint so easy. Michael and I are jumping around, making follow up calls since the Fancy Food Show in June. One of the things that we learned at the show was during a one-on-one meeting with a Broker. While we were pitching our sauces, he was reading our nutrition labels and noodling something or other on his iPhone. "what are you doing there?" I asked. he replied that he was calculating weight watchers points of our sauces. He said, " did you know that you have some pretty good points here--just 1 point and two points for these sauces." It was like a friggin lightning bolt went through my head. Weight Watchers!!! Duh.... we gotta do something with this. And we are. We're trying to contact them for permission to use their logo on our site. We've posted the points on each of the simmer sauces pages, too. Weight Watchers is a verrry major player in healthy eating and dieting and we are very healthy, too! WOW. GEE! Who knew?

Demos at the shore

So...what do you do when you're about to do a demo of our delicious gourmet simmer sauces at a NJ shore food store and it's 98 degrees and the store has no room for you? Why, you demo outside!! That's exactly what Michael a. did on Friday in Sea Isle NJ. There was just one slight problem though....he was set up right outside the entrance--you'd think that's great because you'll catch every customer entering the store. Well it didn't work out that way on this sweltering day. People were in such a hurry to get out of the heat, they would blow past Michael in search of an A/C'd store. Now we know.... when it's hot outside of a really small store with no room inside to set up your demo table--you're gonna lose weight. Hmmmm....maybe I should book demos only during heat waves!!

Later folks....!!

Rockin the Pizza World

Oh baby, what a show at the Fancy Food Show in Washington DC! Michael and I set up on Saturday June 17 for the big three day event. Our chef, crazy friggin Dave was there to join in on this event, too. He was working the crowd and lining them up for sampling like a pro. His style is...uhh...different. But who cares? It worked. A bazillion people showed up and many of them sampled not only the simmer sauces but our new and FABULOUS pizza sauces as well. Man....they loved 'em. They went nuts. A lot of "wows!" "Ummm!!" and "oh boy, thats good". Yup, they were a big hit. An editor from "O" Magazine stopped by and asked for samples to be sent to her. And.... we were also included in Specialty Food New's top 10 innovative food list. That's amazing. I mean, there are over 100,000 different food items at the show. So now Michael and I will be getting on the phone to follow up with about 85 leads. The saga continues. Back-breaking. Exhausting. But good progress always comes with a little pain.

Hey!

Does anyone out there have any new recipes for our superb simmer sauces? Looking to post some new recipes on our website. Speaking of great recipes, try the recipe on our site for the Chicken Pot Pie using the Marsala sauce. It is #!@!&$! awesome!!

Ahhh...Spring!

Greetings- It's been awhile since I last posted anything on this blog. Reason? Busy. Pure and simple. As we continue to grow, there's certainly a lot more that needs to be done. Michael and I are running around like a couple of nuts, trying to get it all done. More stores that want more displays or POS (point of sale material), reports, applications to food shows, trips to Distributor shows--just got back from Orlando. 4 days in a posh resort with no chance to enjoy the pool or other amenities. Our brains are full. But hey, this is the food business. It runs at a snails pace, and in a way Im glad it does. It allows us to have the time to get this n that done before we move onto the next friggin crisis. Just sent in a one minute video to Philadelphia's NBC 10 Show. They're running a contest for people who have changed careers during this "lovely" economy of ours. So, I created a 60 second vid that people will vote for on the NBC10 website facebook page. Not sure when this contest kicks in.... ALSO- the Fancy Food Show is in just 3 weeks! Michael and I are busy getting that together. 45,000 people, 2400 exhibitors, and....we will have our chef consultant with us! Oh lord, help us...... big, bad, crazy Dave. It WILL be a trip to remember fer sure. Lastly, (this may bore you but its a kick in the head for us). We are now getting reports from our distributors, which actually tell us where our sauces are being sold. They normally don't supply these unless you request it. Turns out we're in stores all over the place! Stores in Missouri, Connecticut, Vermont. Hey, who knew? So, like my waistline, we may be bigger than we realize..... Next blog will have photos from the Fancy Food Show.

We are cleared for takeoff!

After months and months of this n that and push and pull and not knowing what the heck is (or was) going on.... we are now cleared to sell our simmer sauces in Whole Foods! Yes. Finally. I've said many times that the food biz moves slowly. It does. Very slowly. But in this case, patience was a virtue, my friends. We'll start with a few stores in the Philly region and go from there. If you shop at one, let them know about us...that is, if you like our simmer sauces....and tell them to check us out. One reason I'm glad we're going into Whole Foods is because they have a high standard for the food they sell. There is so much crap out there that calls itself food. Chemicals. Sugar. Preservatives. Enough sodium to choke a horse. Food you wouldn't serve your cat or dog. The trend is starting to reverse itself however. Overly processed food is starting to take a hit. People are wising up to the fact that a good healthy diet is important. Reading labels is important. If you don't....you should. You'll be horrified by the fat and sodium levels in a lot of what you think is "natural" or "healthy". Low calorie frozen entrees contain upwards of 500-700mg of sodium in order to give them some sort of flavor. Yikes! Our ingredients flavor our simmer sauces....we don't rely on sodium to provide taste. SO... there you have it, my saucier friends......we are working hard to redefine how America (and the world) shops for food. We will NEVER create a food item that contains junk. Lizbeth Lane Cuisine respects your health and wellness.

Two days in casinoland!

Well, Michael and I have now recovered from another adventure of showcasing our sauces at a major food show. We headed north to The Foxwood Casinos in Connecticut last week where our new distributor, Bozzuto's Distribution, was having a buyers show. We were one of many companies displaying and sampling our SKUs to a variety of independent food store buyers from all over New England. We didn't sell as many as we had hoped but it was a good start. Those who sampled our simmer sauces loved them! They also were intrigued by the news of our upcoming pizza sauce launch.

As for the four new pizza sauces....we are now in the process of getting production costs. This is going to be a critical part of the launch. What will they cost to cost produce? This will determine retail pricing. We shall see. Either we're gonna be real happy or we're gonna be really bummed. The demand is high. The interest is there....they taste incredible! Now it's all about getting the price point right.

Stay tuned......

Rockin' Rockville!

Just a quick note to let all you folks around Rockville, MD know that our fabulous simmer sauces are now gracing the shelves of the newly opened FRESH MARKET, located on Rockville Pike. The fresh Market is a beautiful upscale food store chain with a great variety of quality food and specialty food items. They are based in Greensboro, NC. and are expanding northward. We hope they'll open more stores in the Philly area. Presently, there's only one located on Rt. 1 near the Brandywine region.

Wipe out!

Rid here....
Well, it's the height of demo season for us. We are setting up our tables and sampling our luxurious simmer sauces to store customers around the Delaware Valley. Man....the response is fantastic. So many people are loving them! They try them and then they buy them. Well, duh, that's the idea, right?

They love that we're local. they love the crew we've hired to do the demos. They are doing a terrific job. Michael and I are doing some demos as well. It's tough being on your feet for 4 hours at a time, but hey, that's the deal. No way around it. Today, Michael cleaned out the McCaffrey's store in Yardley, PA. Not a friggin jar left. One of our demo pros, Amanda, cleaned out the ACME store in Newtown Square as well. Today, we sold over 64 jars of sauce. That's a good day...no?!! These stores are happy to order more....and so are we!

We've learned that demos need to take place on a weekend. That's when folks are doing their big week's worth of shopping. Unlike me, who bounces into my food store almost every day to buy a few things. I love to see these dads and moms dragging their kids around the store on the weekend. We end up being a "culinary oasis" where they can stop for a moment and sample the good stuff during their mad dash up and down the aisles. Even the kids love our sauces. It's funny too, how the kids will sample the sauces and then tell their mom to buy some. Yes... we always get mom's permission to serve the little ones. And yes....mom will buy a jar or two.

Tuesday we do a big food show at ACME corporate offices. All their buyers and managers will be there. We'll be sampling up a storm there, too. All four sauces. What stores we're not presently in will now get a chance to taste the world's finest simmer sauces.

We have a serious problem in this country. It's the food you buy at the local food store.

There is so much sodium in the foods we buy that it's shocking. We are quite literally saturating our bodies with it. Most people don't know this. Or care. Well, you should. The long term effects of too much sodium aren't pretty. High blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

In a recent report form CDC in Atlanta, it was eye opening to read that 40% of our sodium intake is from the following popular foods; bread, cold cuts, pizza, poultry, soups, sandwiches, cheese, pasta dishes, meat dishes and all those snacks out there. These are foods that we eat all the time--every day! Even when you make a "healthy" homemade soup using chicken stock, the stock you use can have over 900mg of sodium in just 1 cup of stock! Those popular frozen entrees that many people eat to help them lose weight? They average around 400-600mg. of sodium. Even the chicken breast you buy at the store has probably been dipped or sprayed with a sodium solution to preserve it and give it extra flavor. It is obscene.

So why do they put all this sodium in food? Simple. For taste. They cut back on the good, flavorful ingredients to save money and make up for the lack of taste by adding sodium. It's what America is used to. And craves. Americans average over 3000 mg. of sodium per day. People over 51 years of age should limit their intake to around 1,500 mg per day. Yikes!

So why is Lizbeth Lane featuring this information? Because we care about the quality (or lack of) in the food we buy. Many of the processed foods produced in the US are SO loaded in sodium and SO bad for you---and your children--and your grandchildren! We want to educate you whats really out there in your local food markets. And....what you can do to counter this menace.

Habit one: Read those nutritional labels and learn. Read the sodium content for every item you pick up in a food store. You will be shocked. You will be disgusted. And, you may become a little dismayed at how hard it is to buy food that's not loaded with sodium.

We will keep you in informed. Check back in a couple of weeks to learn more about "Our War on Sodium".

Check out this link to get the basics on sodium use:
CDC Vital Signs- Where's the Sodium

New horizons to consider

Rid here... am now spending time getting to know our new customers throughout the ACME Market chain. Almost all say our sauces are doing well. Others are still waiting for their delivery.

We are also looking for good, friendly, honest, self-starting demo people . Michael A. and I cant be doing demos all the time. We need to run the show and keep it moving forward. So, if you live in the Philly area and are reading this and would like to make a little spare moola, let us know!

Now....for our next act.

We are beginning to proceed with our next great line of gourmet sauces. All new. Unique. Delicious!  Nothing like them out there at all. Wonder why.... Oh well, we think it's a great idea.

All natural gourmet PIZZA SAUCES.  You might say--so, whats the big deal?  Well, the big deal is that none of our four new pizza sauces will be a typical red sauce.  I can't say what the flavors are ...yet.  But they are mind blowingly good.  Now people will be able to expand their pizza making skills and impress the hell out of other pizza lovers.  We will also stress the need to make pizzas using large flour tortillas instead of thick, (fattening) pizza dough.  Try it. Take two large tortillas and put one on top of the other.
Put tortillas on your cookie sheet or whatever... Build your pizza and bake in a 450 degree oven til the tortilla pizza crust starts to brown around the edges. It's light, crispy and far less  doughy, heavy and "carby".

Let us know what you think of a marketing new and different flavored pizza sauces.

Oh, happy Monday!

Gettin' ready for just another Monday....with plenty to do.  Think it's a breeze--where you can hang out and just send emails and chat it up with clients and friends?  Uhhhhhh....no.
Take a look at our list of "to do's" for this coming week alone.

1. Visit new upcoming client stores
2. It's almost tax time! Ugh.
3. R&D for new sauce ideas
4. Call on all ACME store managers
5. Demos and more demos
6. Contact PR-discuss strategies/news items
7. Point of sale options- finalize
8. Discuss new food chains to pitch with broker
9. Get into local WFs
10. Contact Virginia distributor about 2012
11. Make sales calls around Baltimore
12. Get in future DM meeting in Malvern.
13. Find co-packer for small runs of new sauce ideas
14. finalize new sauces-costs/logistics 
15. Prep for Export show in Feb
16. Application for NASFT
17. Valentines promo--HTML EMAIL
18. Firm up customer email lists
19. Assemble sales kits for our distributors
20. Call existing retail customers
21. Reserve space for Fancy food show
22. Finalize powerpoint presentation for sales force
23. Send out Superbowl recipe idea--HTML email (tues.)
24. Rank form submitted to upcoming Export Show
25. Prepare first PR release to send out on PR Newswire. 

See? We are quickly growing and now running with the "big dogs".

Bigger is better!

Lizbeth Lane Cuisine is moving slowly towards that goal of being a big enough company to be able for us to actually pay ourselves. We haven't yet, but it's looming somewhere out there on the horizon.  I met with one of our distributors last week and she informed me that we will now be going into 50 ACME markets in PA, DE and NJ. AND.... Redner's Markets in central PA. This is fantastic! It also means we need to hunker down and get working to provide these stores with demos P.O.S. and get in touch with all these stores to introduce ourselves.

The demos are a long, tough day. They are also very amusing, frustrating, informative, tiring and anything else out there that can wear you down. It's great to see people loving our simmer sauces...and they do! Some people love them and simply walk away...."Hey! Where ya goin?"  I had one customer yesterday at a McCaffrey's Market in Princeton, NJ tell me that her child was gluten intolerant. She sampled the Red Pepper and the Marsala. She bought one of each of our flavors! Wow...

We also were presented to the regional office of Whole Foods last week by one of our distributors, Avenue Gourmet. We are waiting for that answer. We were hoping to be in the local Philly WFs this month but it hasn't happened.  Michael A. needs to fill out an updated vendor form and submit it to the regional office for approval first.   It's hard to believe but we started our push to get into Whole Foods almost one year ago and still nothing has happened.  Nothing moves quickly in this business....

We are also looking at other chains in the NYC area....a Fresh Direct . They deliver to New Yorkers throughout the five boroughs. An awesome company that's growing rapidly.  We sent out our samples and a sales kit.  Will let you know how it's going.

Finally....the CNN thing has finally calmed down. The upside to this is that we are getting more online orders that before the story ran. We are getting repeat customers. We are getting accolades from so many "sauciers" out there. We are loved.....awwwwww. (thanks!)

Another push for us has been to get our social media working harder. I set it up when we started out a couple of years ago... what a friggin mess I made! So we hired Kelly to tear it down and set it up as it should be. She's done a great job. We now even have our own YouTube Channel!  Check it out. We have some life-changing kitchen tips on there, too! The link is on our Lizbeth Lane Cuisine website.


Happy entrees to you!! Later.

Lizbeth Lane Cuisine YouTube Channel

Hello Sauciers! As we continue on in our food adventure we are growing our online community. We are gaining more fans on our  Facebook page  and more followers on our  Twitter account  (@lizbethlane). Our most recent addition has been our YouTube channel! 

On our  Lizbeth Lane YouTube Channel you can find fun and helpful videos. We have uploaded videos that show you how you can prepare you favorite simmer sauce and created playlists such as New & Updates and Tips & Tricks. 

If you want us to create any specific videos or have any ideas, we would love to hear them! 

Be sure to check out our channel and let us know what you think!

"Incoming!!!!!

Well.... the holidays have come and gone. I feel like my mind has done the same.  It was fun but also exhausting!  We aint getting any younger you know!!

Had a blast with my grandkids who came for a late Xmas from their home in Scarsdale, NY.  We shredded gifts open and messed up the house...oh, it was grand!  Then on New Years Eve...and right in the middle of an Elmo story, the phone rang.  "Just saw your story on CNN- how do I order?"  Holy Piccata! Here we go again.  I'm not complaining mind you, it's just that Michael A. and I thought the CNN deal was over and that things would now be a little calmer here at Lizbeth Lane Cuisine.   Oh no...not a chance.

Another call. Then another. Web hits rising through the top of my computer!  Orders setting off Michaels smartphone.  Yes indeed...CNN was running our story again...and again...and....

We were happy as could be!  Happy friggin new Year!!!  Time to dive into peanuts, tape and boxes again!

It's now the 5th of January and all is calm...all is bright.  It's time for us to focus on 2012. And it's looking good.  We will expand our markets north and south. I'm chomping at the bit to go west because so many inquiries have come from CA, OR and WA.  It's a huge opportunity. But, it's also a logistical monster.

We can't ship our sauces out there unless people are willing to pay $20/ bottle! Shipping a load across country would cost a fortune. That aint gonna happen. We are going to have to manufacture our fabulous babies out there and find distribution.  That will take some doing.

But fear not western state folks-- be patient. We will be there eventually, if not sooner... maybe later this year. Right after I finish reading that Elmo story to my granddaughter, Chloe.