good food mercantile

This episode of HRN On Tour brings you four conversations from the Good Food Mercantile in San Francisco.

First up, Sas Stewart of Stonecutter Spirits talks to Luke Schmueker of Shacksbury Cider about producing delicious beverages, opening tasting rooms, and building brands in Vermont. Then, two bitters experts – Christa Cotton of El Guapo Bitters and Raymond Snead of Cocktailpunk – talk about the inspiration behind their businesses' names, how to navigate expansion (including securing bank loans), and their Good Food Award-winning flavors.

Elias and Michelle Cairo dive into the nitty-gritty of building their restaurant and charcuterie company, Olympia Provisions. This brother and sister duo share secrets of creating a family businesses, why winning awards like the Good Food Awards matter, and how to sustain success.

Finally, Caity Moseman Wadler sits down with Michael Dwork of VerTerra, a company that supplies sustainable, compostable dinnerware made from 100% renewable resources. (HRN uses Verterra at our annual gala!) Michael talks about his journey from finance school to India, where he observed a local woman making palm leaf plates. From there, he set up sourcing and production to get VerTerra off the ground, and has been innovating in the green dinnerware space ever since.

HRN On Tour is powered by Simplecast.

Our first dispatch from the Good Food Mercantile of 2019 includes interviews with Beatrice Ughi (Gustiamo), Rolando Beramendi (Manicaretti Imports), Dave Yourd (Regalis Foods), Luke Schmueker (Shacksbury), Suresh Pillai and Carrie Dashow (Atina Foods), and Ethan Frisch (Burlap & Barrel and host of Why Food?). All of these professionals use their platforms to promote the global exchange of food and ideas – from anchovies and caviar, to turmeric and black urfa chili. They put in long hours and hard work to preserve global food cultures and help eaters discover their new favorite ingredient or delicacy!

HRN On Tour is powered by Simplecast.

Today's Main Course OG comes live from the 2019 Good Food Mercantile in San Francisco, California.  We speak to Nico Wisler, Nick Pallone, Allison Block, Debra Dickerson, Steven Rosenberg, Sarah Mosbacher, Laura DeOliveria, Medline Theis, Daniel Sklaar, Cesare Casella.

The Main Course OG is powered by Simplecast.

One of our favorite ways to spend a Friday evening is celebrating food activism– so we completely lucked out on January 19th, when HRN had a front row seat at the Good Food Awards. This is the 8th year that the organization has spotlighted the many food producers across the country who are currently excelling at social good and sustainability, while also creating delicious food. 199 winners– from 15 different categories– received medals, and along the way, we also heard inspirational speeches from some of the winners, plus icons Alice Waters, Madhur Jaffrey, and Sarah Weiner, founder of the Good Food Awards, emceed by the one and only Sam Mogannam of Bi-Rite Market. Tune in to hear these speeches and more from the ceremony.

Heritage Radio Network On Tour is powered by Simplecast

HRN host Michael Harlan Turkell interviews the co-founders of Render Food, Dana Peck and Ali Bouzari.

Heritage Radio Network On Tour is powered by Simplecast

HRN host Michael Harlan Turkell chats with Amanda Purgh and Chase Atkins, the creators of Burn Hot Sauce.

Heritage Radio Network On Tour is powered by Simplecast

Our guest hosts from the Good Food Foundation, Sarah Weiner and Annalena Barret, interview one of this year's winners – Mark Sanfilippo from Salume Beddu.

Heritage Radio Network On Tour is powered by Simplecast

Our guest hosts from the Good Food Foundation, Sarah Weiner and Annalena Barret, interview the amazing Yair Tygiel, better known as The Coconut Man.

Heritage Radio Network On Tour is powered by Simplecast

HRN founder Patrick Martins talks with three of his favorite GFA attendees – Sam Mogannam from Bi-Rite Market, Debra Dickerson from Tomales Bay Foods, and Charles Wekselbaum, the founder of Charlito's Cocina.

Heritage Radio Network On Tour is powered by Simplecast

Liza and Caity chat with one of the Good Food Awards' most prolific winners – Eli Cairo from Olympia Provisions.

Heritage Radio Network On Tour is powered by Simplecast

Caity Moseman Wadler, HRN's Excutive director, chats with Colin Davis, one of the founders of Shacksbury Cider.

Heritage Radio Network On Tour is powered by Simplecast

HRN's Liza Hamm talks to Sara Brito about the Good Food 100 Restaurant List.

Heritage Radio Network On Tour is powered by Simplecast

This week on HRN Happy Hour, Liz Mistick, Jordan Werner, Sarah McKeen, and Hannah Fordin are filling in for Kat and Caity. We’ve got all the usual hits, including show highlights from around the network, important events (like the recent Good Food Mercantile at the Brooklyn Expo and Kat’s upcoming trip to Slow Food Nations in Denver, CO) and an update on our Summer Drive.

After that, we talk Fourth of July. Even though it already happened, we’re still hung up on fireworks and BBQ. Jordan shares an interview with Amy Lipman, a food scholar and bonafide Hot Dog Expert, about the history of hot dogs and what they mean in American culture today. Then, Liz chats with our in-studio guest Talia Pollock about how to have a plant-forward Fourth of July. Talia is a food blogger, health coach, and host of her own podcast series The Party in my Plants Podcast.

And since it wouldn’t be an episode of HRN Happy Hour without trivia, we wrap things up and try to make Kat proud with a few zingers about Independence Day.

The day before things kicked off at the Good Food Mercantile at Union Market in Washington D.C., the festivities began with Good Food USA's Small Business Breakfast Panel: Tips & tricks on starting, scaling, and surviving your venture. Introduced by Sarah Weiner, Executive Director of the Good Food Foundation, the panel was moderated by Ezekiel Emanuel. Emanuel is an oncologist, bioethicist, and health policy expert at the University of Pennsylvania—though you may recognize his name from his work on the Affordable Care Act and former First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move Initiative—and he is now working with Shawn Askinosie to create a premium chocolate bar with beans from Madagascar.

The panelists are superstars of the good food movement, including Elias Cairo of Olympia Provisions, Danielle Vogel of Glen's Garden Market, Ann Yang of Misfit Juicery, Shanika McCloud of Greenplicity, and Sarah Gordon of Gordy's Pickle Jar. They share their stories, their struggles, and the best business advice they've ever received.

Many thanks to Union Market for providing this recording!

The crafters and products at the Good Food Mercantile are the cream of the crop in terms of sustainability, innovation, and quality. At the end of their day in D.C., Caity and Jack chat with producers of salt, fine oils, cheese and gelato, and a panel of chocolate makers who agree that being part of the Good Food Awards means being in good company!

Sarah Hartman of Harper Macaw, Alak Vasa of Elements Truffles, and Robert Norman of Raaka Chocolate share their favorite chocolate pairings and their experiences educating customers about the broad world of chocolate. Next, Nancy Bruns of JQ Dickinson Salt-Works tells about the history of West Virgina's salt industry and the value of thinking of salt as an agricultural product. Then guest host Jennifer Isham of Union Market talks with Paul Bower of Zingerman's Creamery about all things cheese and gelato. Finally, the day wraps up with Clay Oliver, who produces exceptional oils on his 5th generation family farm.

After starting the day with cocktails, Caity and Jack are ready for a few snacks. Thankfully, the Good Food Mercantile is chock-full of delicious, interesting, and downright good things to eat.

Samy K (who also happens to be a radio personality) introduces the HRN team to the world of vegan cracklins, and talks about what it means to be at the "Healthy Angels Unicorns Mercantile." After that, the fun continues with fermented foods from Sarah Gordon of Gordy's Pickle Jar and Shane Carpenter of Hex Ferments (and their incredible beatboxing talents). Finally, things get cheesy as guest host Jennifer Isham of Union Market talks with Elena Santograde of Grafton Village Cheese and Elias Cairo of Olympia Provisions.

What's the best way to start a day at the Good Food Mercantile at Union Market in Washington, D.C.? With a cocktail segment, of course! Caity teamed up with Producer at Large Jack Inslee and Allison Hamlin to check out the hottest products on the D.C. cocktail scene.

First up, Tory Pratt of True Syrups & Garnishes talks about the excitement around craft booze and how her products are encouraging people to make cocktails at home. Next, Don Morton of Shrub District tells how his products are moving forward into the cocktail future by resurrecting history. Things get crude with Craig Rudewicz of Crude Bitters as he shares the secret to running a successful small business (hint: Google!). Finally, Pia Carusone and Sarah Mosbacher get the crew into the spirit of girl power and give their take on the evolution of D.C. into a cocktail capital.

Elias and Michelle Cairo are the brother and sister masterminds behind Portland's Olympia Provisions. With a fast growing meat business, a 40,000sf meat plant, restaurants and a BMW motorcycle hotdog cart, they're working hard to bring you the best European style charcuterie and changing the face of farming in Oregon.

Richard Tarlov and his wife Janet run Canyon Market in the Glen Park neighborhood of San Francisco. For the last 10 years they hve provided stellar food, wine, and grocery to their community. With a fresh bakery, butcher, produce and more theirs is one of the best grocery stores in the country. Tune in to hear more about it, as well as Harry and Richard's first takes on the Good Food Mercantile. This episode was recorded live January 21st in San Francisco.