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".