Integrative Flavors introduces our new Instant Gravy line to the Industrial and Foodservice markets. Our first products in this line are Cook’s Delight Instant Turkey Gravy Mix No MSG Added and Cook’s Delight Instant Beef Gravy Mix No MSG Added.
These convenient and easy to use instant gravies can be ready in a matter of minutes by mixing 1 ounce of gravy mix into one cup of water, blending well and heating through. Each one pound of gravy mix makes one gallon of gravy. Both gravies are gluten free.
In the future, we will expand the instant gravy line to include Cook’s Delight Instant Chicken Gravy. Industrial and Foodservice users can request samples of the Cook’s Delight Instant Gravies by contacting Integrative Flavors’ Sales Director, John True at jtrue@integrativeflavors.com or 219-229-2825.
I am always looking for different ways to use Cook’s Delight products to show how versatile they are in your everyday cooking. While vacationing with my brother and his family, we decided to experiment with cooking baked potatoes by seasoning them with Cook’s Delight Prime Rib and Steak Rub Seasoning. The result was delicious. We had two leftover baked potatoes so this morning we used those to make hash browns. Wow, were they good! Below are the recipes for both dishes. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. Please feel free to send me your recipes using Cook’s Delight products and I’ll post them too.
Seasoned Baked Potatoes
Ingredients:
4 baking potatoes
1 teaspoon garlic butter
2 teaspoons Cook’s Delight Prime Rib & Steak Rub Seasoning
1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Scrub potatoes and prick on all sides with fork. Place in baking dish.
3. Microwave for 12-15 minutes (use additional time for large baking potatoes).
4. In small microwave-safe dish, heat butter on high for 30-45 seconds, or until butter is melted. Brush butter on potatoes and sprinkle with Cook’s Delight Prime Rib & Steak Seasoning Rub.
5. Return potatoes to baking dish, place in oven and bake for 10-15 minutes.
Seasoned Hash Browns
Ingredients:
2 Cook’s Delight Prime Rib & Steak Rub Seasoning seasoned baked potatoes (see recipe above), cut into small cubes
1 teaspoon garlic, chopped
1/4 cup onion, chopped
olive oil
1. Add 1 tbsp olive oil to frying pan. Sautee onion and garlic until translucent — approximately 5 minutes.
2. Add potatoes and combine with onion and garlic. Simmer on medium heat, do not stir. Cook until browned –approximately 5 to 7 minutes. You may need to add a little more olive oil while cooking.
3. Flip the mixture and cook on the other side until browned.
The year 2011 was our first full year in our new plant location. We had constant confirmation that all the planning put into the building renovation really paid off. We love our new building and it has afforded us the opportunity to expand our lines and work with new types of customers that we were unable to work with in our previous location. We have just wrapped up the third audit from outside food safety and systems auditors and all three produced very positive results and comments from the auditors. We look forward to 2012 being another year of growth for Integrative Flavors.
We participated in several shows this year introducing Cook’s Delight Bases to different communities. We were in Boston for the International Boston Seafood Show and Atlanta for the Research Chefs show in March. Later in the year, we were at the Chicago IFT show, the Buy Indiana show in French Lick, IN and the Made in LaPorte County event. It is always great to see old friends and make new friends. We also have the opportunity to see what is new in the area of food.
In 2011, we welcomed new team members to Integrative Flavors. Aaron is in mixing and Mike goes wherever he is needed. We also had Tim for the summer doing an externship in product development. Kevin, our head mixer, welcomed a son to his family. Our family keeps growing. We predict continued growth for 2012. 
Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones. Have a healthy and prosperous 2012!
Our Sales Director’s wife came up with this recipe we’d like to share with you.
The LaPorte County Economic Development Alliance hosted Made In LaPorte County at the Michigan City Marquette Mall on December 2, 2011. Over 30 manufacturers from Michigan City and LaPorte participated in the Expo. Integrative Flavor exhibited their Cook’s Delight Soup Base/Gravy Mix/Rub and Concentrate Line and their Flavorhounds Pet Food Flavoring products (and we gave away a lot of frisbees).
The expo was open to the public. High school students were invited as special guests from area high schools. They were encouraged to find out more about what type of employment opportunities they have locally, as well as, what criteria they need to meet in order to get a job after high school. Most companies require a high school diploma or GED for entry level positions. There are also many positions in engineering and science related fields, sales and other management opportunities.
It is always nice to do local events. It is a pleasure to get to know attendees and other company representatives. It is really amazing to see all the different types of products manufactured right here. We really appreciate it when people stop by our booth and tell us they love our products and have been buying them for years at the local grocery store.
I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the dedicated team at Integrative Flavors. Last week we had our annual NSF Food Safety Audit and had an outstanding outcome.
For those of you who don’t know what that is, it is a very thorough audit by a third party. They audit your Quality Manual and Quality Systems–including all of your paperwork. Then they audit your Production Operations and make sure you are actually doing what you say you are doing. Several of our customers request these third party audits as a requirement to doing business with them. I find it to be a good experience to go through these audits, in a weird sort of way. It confirms to our team that not only do we think we are doing a fantastic job, but so does an independent third party.
Our auditor began by telling us that the scoring system had changed since our last audit (he was not our auditor last year). NSF had determined that in order to score over 95%, a company would have to do everything in the NSF manual that NSF feels is a “must” do. The only way to score higher is to put into place “best practices” and do a significant number of the NSF “should” do items in their Food Safety Manual. The auditor mentioned that our audit score last year was 96.91. He said that with the new scoring system his average audits this year were 91-92% and that these would be considered good scores. I suggested to him that NSF provide a scoring explanation with the final audits and scores to the customers so the customers are aware of what constitutes a good score. Particularly if companies were getting lower scores and NSF considered them to be good scores. He considered that to be a good suggestion.
Our audit began. First the Quality Manual and Quality Systems. All “acceptable” scores. Which in this audit is the highest you can achieve. He was very complimentary of our system and I think a little surprised that we had no “noncompliances”. He commented on our best practices that we had put into place on several occasions.
Next we moved into the plant for the Production Operations part of the audit. Again, all “acceptable” scores with zero “noncompliances”. At one point during the inspection, he suggested that we get light covers for our florescent lights inside the warehouse. We told him that all the lights had covers — they were just so clean he couldn’t tell (which was true).
He put together his preliminary report and called me and Kate McGowan, our QA Manager, in for a briefing. He was very complimentary of our plant, our operations and our personnel. Although he couldn’t give us a final score since he had to finish writing the report, he indicated that it wouldn’t be lower than last years 96.91 and likely would be higher. What a great testament to the hard work we put in at Integrative Flavors on following our rigid quality practices. We dedicate a great deal of time to training personnel to follow the quality procedures we have in place and it is really a great feeling when a third party independent auditor gives you such complimentary feedback.
If you recognize those acronyms, you have likely ventured into the world of government contracting. I have spent the past several months trying to maneuver my way through the maze of agencies involved in contracting. To say that this is a little complicated, is the understatement of the year. I have met some interesting and helpful people along the way, but so far I feel like I’m no closer than when I was blissfully ignorant of all those acronyms. I’ve been told that patience and perseverance are the key elements. I’m beginning to think that “only the strong survive.”
If you are reading this and looking for a WOSB, WBE certified prime or sub that manufactures soup base, gravy mix, sauce mixes and/or pudding mixes–you’ve found what you’re looking for–I can do that and I’d love to talk to you!
On October 4th, I was lucky enough to participate in the Crain’s Small Business Week seminar on Netmarketing – Mapping Marketing Strategies. The panel consisted of Lisa Leiter from Crain’s Chicago Business, Adam Keats of Weber Shandwick, Mari Laungrath founder of Foiled Cupcakes, Jeff Ringgenberg partner at Evolyte and Michael Samson co-founder of CrowdSpring. The group was diverse in their area of expertise and offered valuable information.
The Lean Marketing approach that they discussed is a benefit that smaller businesses have over large companies. Mainly because smaller businesses can switch gears relatively quickly when things aren’t panning out as expected. The panel recommended that companies do testing by defining specific, data driven, measurable goals. If the goals aren’t being met. Change things.
Such goals would be determined by outlining what you are trying to accomplish. Are you trying to reach a particular demographic? Are you trying to get leads? Are you trying to make sales? All of these questions (and more) need to be answered to set your goals. Then you can take different approaches and measure the results. If it works, repeat. If not, move quickly to the next tactic.
The discussion turned to how to reach and communicate with your customers and potential customers. Be human, engage, use virtual eye contact. People have been communicating for ages. Social media isn’t magic and you need to remember to communicate as you have been. Say thank you when people are talking positively about you or your company. Apologize to those who are having difficulties. Find a company that you like how they communicate and emulate them. Personally, Zappos has always impressed me. We have used some of their customer service tactics in our business with positive results.
We are currently using some of the Lean Marketing suggestions to see if we get different results. If we do, we’ll repeat. If not, we’ll try something new.
We recently celebrated our 1 Year Anniversary in our new facility. To celebrate, we decided to go all out and take advantage of having a Le Cordon Blue Chef-in-Training as part of our team. Tim (our chef) and Peter (our R&D Director) worked together to come up with a menu that was sure to please everyone at Integrative Flavors and be an appropriately extravagant meal for a 1 year anniversary. They were even kind enough to incorporate one of our newest products Cook’s Delight Barbecue Style Rub into the meal.
The meal was very delicious and memorable to the team. I can’t vouch for how healthy it was, but we sure did enjoy the celebration! Our menu consisted of the Bacon Burger BBQ Extravaganza, Bacon BBQ Roasted Potatoes, Potato Salad, Chips, Brownies and Beverages–YUM!
I’d like to share the recipes for the Bacon Burger BBQ Extravaganza and the Bacon BBQ Roasted Potatoes for your personal enjoyment. I will be posting a cooking instructional video soon….stay tuned!
Enjoy the photos too!
Last weekend I went on a trip to Michigan with a group of friends–the proverbial “girls weekend”. When we arrived at our destination, we investigated fun things to do in the area. Since the area had many wineries, it only seemed logical to dedicate some time to visiting one.
We looked through the various marketing pamphlets that we had collected for the wineries in the area. One of the pieces was particularly clever and fun so we thought that was a perfect fit –since we fancy ourselves clever and fun. The winery was not easy to find so they marketed it as “see if you can find us” and “if you can, we’ll share our story with you”.
They were correct, it was a little challenging to find, but we had a great time looking. When we arrived we held up our marketing pamphlet and said “We found you and want to hear your story!” The people working there were dumbstruck. They knew absolutely nothing about the company marketing pieces and we had to show them what we were talking about. When we inquired about their story, they looked at each other and tried to figure out the story to tell. One of them then made a valiant effort to entertain us with a story, but by then the clever and fun had worn off. We left the winery disappointed.
I learned a valuable lesson during all this that pertains to any business. If you are going to spend the time and money on creating wonderful marketing pieces that are prompting the customer to participate — you really ought to clue the rest of your company in on the game. If they had done that, it would have most certainly changed our visit to the winery and we most likely would have spread the word amongst our friends –including Facebook and Twitter.
Believe me, we will be reviewing our marketing materials to make sure that we don’t make the same mistake!
The USDA has created a new “food pyramid” that is plate shaped. In my opinion, the plate is a better option than the pyramid because everyone can relate to the plate. They have a website called ChooseMyPlate.gov that provides a visual graphic of the new food suggestions along with some very useful information.
Of the many links on the website, one that is particularly useful to individuals is the Daily Food Plan link. Each individual can go to that page and add their personal information. It will even tell you if your are above the healthy range for your height—not that I got that message 
You can then click another link called Weight-control Information Network that will give you information on Body Mass Index or BMI and provide information on all the health risks associated with being overweight. The Daily Food Plan link will give you options for creating a food plan for your current weight or moving toward a healthier weight.
I also liked the Food Group link. It provides a lot of great information on what types of foods are in each food group along with pictures of some of the foods and what a serving size looks like. The USDA did a nice job providing detailed information for the consumer.
The Physical Activity link explains that “Physical activity simply means movement of the body that uses energy”. Examples of being active include: walking, gardening, briskly pushing a baby stroller, climbing the stairs, playing soccer, or dancing the night away. The link goes in more detail to outline moderate and vigorous physical activities the provide more health benefits.
I would recommend that everyone take some time to visit the site and click around on the various links. You never know what you might learn.
