Dessert in the Desert
by Daryl F. Mallett
Arizona
has historically been known for its “C” products…the traditional five
being copper, cattle, cotton, citrus and climate. And, of course, the
Grand Canyon. That covers mining, metals, meat, farming, dairy, fiber,
textiles, fruit, weather and tourism. But what about all the other “C”
products made here, like candy, confections, chips, chili, chocolate,
cookies—never mind salsa, pickles, pecans, pasta, sauces, dips,
spreads—and any of a number of other culinary delights?
Most
people don’t think of Arizona as a booming center for food
manufacturing. But the sun-drenched state is a major player in the
independent food manufacturing industry. The unique combination of
geography, climate and soils found in Arizona produce foods with
outstanding varietal character, ranging from pecans and almonds to
oranges to chili peppers. Some of these manufacturers are finding new
ways to use native desert plants, such as the prickly pear, and there is
even a shrimp farm in Gila Bend.
There are over 200
small food manufacturing companies in Arizona that are trying their
hardest to get the state on the food industry map. Some analysts
estimate that Arizona ranks in the top five states for number of
independent food manufacturing companies.
A.J.’s Fine Foods carries over
150 local manufacturers’ products, and a group of these companies have
founded
Flavors of Arizona, an industry association dedicated to
encourage, support and promote the sale and consumption of
Arizona-processed food products.
It’s
a lucrative market, if you can overcome all the hurdles along the way.
There are rules and regulations to be followed from everyone from the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration; the U.S. Dairy Association; the
Occupational Safety and Health Act; the U.S. Postal Service; and state,
county and city municipalities. Then add the problem of trying to get
distribution, advertising and promotion…oh, and the long hours. There
isn’t a story among them that doesn’t include long hours on the job.
Almost
all of them have the same story: “I had a recipe from my grandmother
and people said I should sell it commercially” or “I got laid off and
had to do something.” And it’s not just the small ventures. Even large
companies like
China Mist and
Poore Brothers started in a garage or at a
kitchen table. Here are just a few of the tasty treats available
throughout Arizona that you can enjoy:
Almond Brothers Confections
While
not a famous blues band, two of the founders of Almond Brothers
Confections really are brothers. Steve and Larry Godber worked with
their father for over 20 years in the retail industry. Their father
opened his first store in 1961 and eventually boasted about a dozen
Godber’s Gift Shops in Arizona and Colorado, including one at
Sky Harbor International Airport, selling primarily souvenirs and Arizona and
Native American products.
“My dad and uncle used to
mine turquoise in southern Nevada and sold the turquoise to Native
Americans, who fashioned it into jewelry,” Steve said. “But the retail
industry was a tough one to be in. The last store closed in 2003. But we
had decided long before that to get out of the business and do
something new.”
In 1997, the trio hit upon the idea to make a food/gift basket company, with roasted almonds as the main product.
Fans of
The Allman Brothers band, Steve said, “We just couldn’t resist the play on words.”
The
fledgling company started with one roasting machine and a two-pound bag
of almonds purchased at a local grocery store. They began selling their
cinnamon-roasted almonds, eventually getting into A.J.’s Fine Foods.
They
gradually added products, like pretzels and homemade fudge. Now, with
nearly a dozen employees, the company purchases raw almonds in 50-pound
boxes and have them shipped in directly from growers in California.
Pecans for their praline coatings are bought from Shalako Farms in Casa
Grande, Ariz., and chocolate and white chocolate coatings are applied at
Cerreta’s Candy Co. in Glendale, Ariz. Their product line now includes
treats such as candied almonds and nuts, assorted homemade fudge,
pralines and many different gift baskets and nut products, and are
available in a tiny retail space at the front of their manufacturing
facility, on the company’s Website, through mail-order catalogs and at
Costco road shows.
“We are extremely grateful to a lot
of people who helped us get started,” said Alicia Crabb. “Especially
Eileen Spitalny and her partner, David Kravetz, at
Fairytale Brownies.
They’ve been very supportive and share their knowledge with us about the
industry.”
2546 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix, AZ 85016, 602/955-0909, www.almondbrothers.com
Barb’s Bakery
Almost
30 years ago, Barb Schurman opened Barb’s Bakery in Phoenix. All of the
delicious creations were made from scratch and she built a following.
Nine years ago, Bob and LaVonne Shelker purchased the bakery, keeping
the name of its founder. Everything is still made from scratch at the
family-owned and operated full-service bakery.
There
are “a million kinds” of cakes. “If you can imagine it, or bring in a
photo or drawing of it, we can make it,” said LaVonne, who runs the cake
division of the company. She and her team create fabulous artistic
masterpieces, including a Chinese temple and the Jefferson Memorial.
Barb’s has the founder’s signature carrot cake, Butter, as well as seven
other types of cake, with nine different flavors of icing and ten
different fillings.
Husband Bob runs the rest of the
bakery. There are wedding cookies,iced cookies with icing so thick and
deep that your teeth sink gratefully into it, pastries and breads “to
die for,” including honey bran, blueberry, sour cream and more. Bagels.
Nut breads. Coffee cake. Pie. Cheese cake. Muffins. Pastries. The list
is endless. There is also a delivery service anywhere in the Valley. No
wonder they are a multiple “Best of Phoenix” award-winning bakery!
2929 N. 24thStreet, Phoenix, AZ 85016, 602/957-4422, www.barbsbakery.com
Berto’s Gelato & Sorbet
When
Berto Bertuccio came to Phoenix from Sicily in 1986, he had no idea he
would find true love. He came to open a gelato shop. The Italian-trained
“artisan,” according to current Berto’s owner Ed DeBartolo Jr., “was
the top gelato maker in the U.S., recommended by many, many
world-renowned chefs, and had 50 years of recipe development under his
belt.” Berto began selling his products to restaurants and, along the
way, he wandered into Isabella Mannone’s restaurant,
La Fontanella, and
the two ended up married.
In 2002, DeBartolo, who owned
part of a cheese manufacturing company in California, wanted to move
his family to Phoenix and start or buy a gelato company. “It’s the
fastest-growing segment of the ice cream industry,”he said.
So,
he called on Berto and offered to purchase the company. The following
year, the company began selling retail products to complement its
business-to-business market. Now, in over 300 stores in Arizona and
1,000 nationwide, DeBartolo hopes to grow the business to $10 million by
the end of2005.
It’s entirely possible. Eleven
employees manufacture nearly a million pounds of the icy treats annually
in 160 different flavors, from raspberry and cream and cappuccino
crunch to chocolate hazelnut and pistachio tartufo. Berto’s has even
made cucumber, celery, lavender, orchid, rosewater, pineapple champagne,
cranberry basil, raspberry tarragon and red chili pepper gelato…all
manufactured with 100 percent natural products.
“If t has a flavor,” said DeBartolo, “we can make a gelato for you.”
In 2009, the company acquired Charl’s Ice Cream Specialties Inc., a 50-year-old company based in Woburn, Mass.
Berto’s
Ice Cream is available by calling them, on the company’s Website, at
restaurants like
The Blue Burrito (Phoenix),
Roaring Fork (Scottsdale),
Monkey Box (Tucson), and at stores like
A.J.’s Fine Foods,
Bashas’ and
Sunflower Markets.
2425 W. Utopia Road, Phoenix, AZ 85027, 623/434-1141, www.bertosicecream.com
Cerreta Candy Company
When
you think of “big name” food makers in Arizona, your mind must
automatically turn to Cerreta Candy Company, located in historic
downtown Glendale.
The company was founded in 1968 by
Jim Ceretta Sr., who learned the craft in his father-in-law’s candy
factory in Ohio before moving to Arizona. Now, most of Jim’s family is
involved in the business. Four sons, Jim Jr., Joe, Jerry and Jonathan
(aka “Joner”), as well as Joe’s wife, Marcia, and their boys, all work
there. Jim Jr. handles caramels, Joe oversees the creams, Jerry is the
chocolate man, sales is Joner’s specialty and Marcia gives tours and
operates the public relations aspect of the business.
Among
the dozens of sugary treats Cerreta’s produces are almond toffees,
French mints, premium chocolate, sugar-free chocolates, caramels,
brittles and truffles. Designer-label candies are made at the facility,
including those for hospitals, airports, hotels and restaurants.
Customers
can browse through the extensive retail storefront and can, twice a
day, Monday through Friday, take a special 30-minute guided tour of the
hometown candy factory—described by Glendale residents Steve and Lynda
Kersey as “a Willy Wonka wonderland”—in which the Cerreta family strive
to create a fun, lively atmosphere where everyone can see candy magic
being made. The staff will show you how an ocean of hot caramel
transforms into individually wrapped treats and how they put the creamy
center into chocolate shells.
Besides the retail
storefront, there is a mail-order catalog and an online catalog where
Cerreta’s sells the two-and-a-half tons of confectionery it produces
daily, and candy can be purchased at select
Fry’s Food Stores, Fry’s Marketplace and
Safeway stores.
Long a staple in the community,
Cerreta’s sponsors the
Glendale Chocolate Affaire each February, serving
up chocolate pizzas, tours of the factory and the state’s largest
chocolate Valentine’s heart, which is raffled off to support the
Glendale Mayor’s Youth Advisory Commission. “It’s about 400 pounds of
chocolate,” said Joe Cerreta.
Members of the family also own and operate
Cerreta Homes,
Cerreta Construction and
The Duckhead.
5345 W. Glendale Avenue, Glendale, AZ 85301, 623/930-9000, www.cerreta.com
Cookies From Home
Cookies
From Home has been creating memories for almost three decades. The
made-from-scratch cookies are baked fresh daily and make the ideal gift
for every occasion…or no occasion at all. Elegantly wrapped in creative
baskets, decorative tins, handmade crates and beautiful boxes, a gift
from Cookies From Home is one that always stands out.
Susan
and Barry Brooks founded the company at the encouragement of friends
who had long been the beneficiaries of their delicious home-baked gifts.
Taking their favorite family recipes and creative flair for packaging,
they opened for business in 1977 as a retail store specializing in
baking fresh cookies daily and creating customized gift packages. Soon,
their popularity grew, as did the business, and customers began ordering
gifts for friends, family and business associates near and far.
Despite their growth, the company continues to manufacture cookies fresh every day.
“Unlike
most manufacturers, who have heavy equipment and enormous facilities,
we do it all by hand,” said Barry Brooks. “So, our cookies really are
homemade!”
With 45 employees and 12 million
cookies a year, Cookies From Home has been acknowledged as being the
Best Cookies in Phoenix for 12 years running by the
Phoenix New Times, and were awarded the Small Business of the Year Award by the
Tempe Chamber of Commerce.
Products
are available in a storefront attached to the manufacturing facility,
on the company’s Website and through a mail-order catalog.
1605 W. University Drive, Ste. 106, Tempe, AZ 85281, 480-894-1944, www.cookiesfromhome.com
Karsh’s Bakery
Karsh’s
Bakery was founded by Jack Karsh in the 1950s. Arnie and Gloria Gardner
purchased the company in the early 1960s and it has been a family-owned
and operated business in the Valley ever since. The old-world recipes
were brought into the shop by the Gardners, and the customers quickly
realized the difference in the quality of the products. A native of
Cleveland, Ohio, Arnie is a third-generation baker who learned his trade in
his grandfather and father’s shop. Gloria, a native of Arizona and
graduate of
Central High School, handles all the retail customer service
and is the wedding cake consultant.
The bakery
continues to upgrade its product line, and is a full-service facility,
serving crusty rye bread, chewy bagels, rich pastries, multilayer cakes,
cookies, rugalach, challahs and rolls. The products are available at
A.J.’s Fine Foods,
Miracle Mile Delis,
Park Central Deli,
Don & Charlie’s,
Costco,
Nibblers and many other shops.
Additionally, though the bakery does not have a kosher certificate, they
use only the finest kosher ingredients and separate dairy from
non-dairy, or pareve.
5539 N. 7thStreet, Phoenix, AZ 85014, 602/264-4874, www.karshsbakery.com
Mark Ferrari Coffee
Mark Ferrari does not make sports cars. He makes specialty coffee.
The
master coffee roaster moved from Hawaii to Phoenix over a decade ago
and settled down to produce his own line of coffee. And he knows coffee.
His
father got a job in the 1970s running the largest Kona Coffee
Cooperative in Hawaii, so Mark grew up around coffee. But he wasn’t
initially interested in the business. He graduated from
Valley Forge Military Academy in the top 1 percent of his class, passed up a
U.S. Naval Academy nomination to attend
Villanova University on an athletic
scholarship and was going to pursue his own career. But he stopped in
Hawaii on the way and “soon became interested in all aspects of the
coffee industry…learning about how it was grown, harvested, milled and
so on.” He even studied with a Japanese master roaster and attained the
rank of Roastmaster.
In 1985, he and his sister founded
Hawaiian Mountain Gold Coffee Co., which is still owned and operated by
his family in Holualoa, along with three retail visitor shops in Kona.
In
2003, he founded his own company in Phoenix to focus on specialty world
coffees, all of which are roasted fresh here in Arizona. So, when you
pick up Mark Ferrari Coffee, you are transported, in Ferrari’s own
words, “on a wonderful journey, where every sip is followed by a smile.
Where the distinctive aroma warms not only your senses, but also your
soul. Where the richness in every cup represents the devoted efforts of
people a world away. Where coffees of premium quality and exceptional
flavor are expertly roasted to create an unparalleled signature
collection.”
Available in
A.J.’s Fine Foods,
Sprouts Markets and online at the company’s Website, in a distinctive old-world style packaging.
10645 N. Tatum Blvd., Ste.200-PMB 216, Phoenix, AZ 85028, 602/788-5950, www.markferraricoffee.com
Riccobono’s Italian Bakery
In
the mid-1950s, Giacomo Riccobono emigrated to the United States from
Palermo, Sicily. With little more than a few dollars in his pocket,
Giacomo took the chance at a better life and sought his fortune in
America. The place he chose to begin his search was Brooklyn, New York.
With his vast knowledge in the art of baking, Giacomo was soon a
sought-out commodity. Before long, the famous
Ferrara Italian Bakery
hired him as one of their master pastry chefs.
Giacomo
became so successful at his trade, that he eventually opened his own
bakery in Brooklyn. For twenty years, the business thrived. It was at
this time that Giacomo’s health required him to move to a warmer
climate. New York’s loss was Arizona’s gain. Being the type of
individual he is, Giacomo gave the New York bakery to his sister’s
family, and it still stands today.
In 1975, Napoli
Bakery was born in Tempe. Once again, the business thrived. After ten
years of supplying the Valley with the finest baked goods available,
Giacomo decided to retire. He enjoyed it, but soon realized that his
children had loved the business of baking. So, once again, being the
type of person he is, Giacomo opened Riccobono’s Italian Pizzeria and
Bakery. It took but a couple of years to reacquire all the old customers
Giacomo had at Napoli Bakery.
Now, Riccobono’s stands
as the largest family-owned and operated bakery in Arizona. Products
such as bagels, croissants, Italian bread, club rolls, dinner rolls,
Tuscani rolls, baguettes, party subs, hot dog buns, hamburger buns,
Kaiser rolls, sandwich breads, focaccia, cannoli, pizza dough,cookies,
eclairs, pignoli, cream puffs, rum cakes and much more are available in
the bakery’s storefront.
184 E. Chilton Drive, Chandler, AZ 85225, 480/545-0535, www.riccobonositalian.com
Tammie Coe Cakes/MJ Breads
When
she was just a lass of 10, Tammie Coe was baking cakes for her
neighborhood friends. It may have seemed to be “just a phase” of
childhood, but she would go on to receive her culinary and pastry
training at
Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I., and
become a world-renowned chef.
She served in various
locations, including pastry positions at the Biga Baker in Miami, Fla.,
the
Scottsdale Princess in Scottsdale, Ariz., the
Ritz-Carlton, Naples, Fla., and
The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla. She was also the
pastry chef at Michael’s at the Citadel and at Desert Highlands, where
she worked overseeing two restaurants and the banquet production for the
private club. She was also the pastry chef for
La Grande Orange before
opening her own bakery a few doors down.
Coe’s
cakes are not cakes. They’re edible artwork. Fondant-draped, sweet,
finger-licking good pieces of artwork reminiscent of something straight
out of a Dr. Seuss book or
Alice in Wonderland. You don’t want to eat them; just look at them. But you
have to eat them.
She’s
got milk chocolate embedded with hazelnuts; a banana,espresso and
chocolate marvel; a white chocolate with blackberries; and her famous
“Zebra” cake, which is white chocolate mousse, layered with chocolate
cake and raspberries. Then there’s tarts, pastries, cookies, muffins,
chocolate chip cookies of immense proportions…and she does wedding cakes
too.
Her husband, Michael John, founded MJ Breads at
the same location, providing artisan breads for La Grand Orange. Tammie
Coe products are available at La Grande Orange and on her Website.
5210 N. Central Avenue, Ste.103, Phoenix, AZ 85012, 602/840-3644, www.tammiecoecakes.com
Originally published in
Northeast Mesa Lifestyle, Vol. 1:2, April 2005. A more complete and up-to-date version, with hyperlinks, can be found at
http://darylmallett.blogspot.com/2013/04/flavors-of-arizona.html.
