NEWSLETTER Q3 • 2020
SEPTEMBER 2020
THE FALL EDITION
ON PROMOTION IN SEPTEMBER BENEDETTO CAVALIERI Durum Semolina Wheat Pasta
OUR FIRST COOKBOOK OCTOBER 2020!
AMEDEI TUSCANY SOFI GOLD WINNER!
A NOTE FROM OUR EVP Steven Kaufman, EVP of DeMedici
IN
The De Medici Team and our producers celebrating our 40th anniversay in 2019
early March, if someone came to me and said, "for the foreseeable future we are going to have a plague, and many will become ill, and some of them will die as there isn't any cure at this time," I would have told them they are crazy, and it couldn't happen in the USA anyway!
I would never have believed I could not dine in restaurants, fly anywhere, or take any spring, summer, and fall vacations. That I could not host my wife's milestone surprise birthday party in June or reschedule it this year! That I would have to wear a face mask almost everywhere. I would never have believed I could not visit any customers or visit or host our International producers. And as far as entertainment is concerned, how could it be that there would be no new movies, and the theaters are closed? And that Broadway would be shut down too. As far as work was concerned, I was told on March 13th (Friday the 13th as a matter of fact) the whole office was closing for the foreseeable future, but I could still work from home, and we would do something called Zoom meetings to keep informed! I would have said not possible and yet here we are, 179 days since March 13th, and all of the above turned out to be true! Now I am sure if we knew the future 179 days ago, we would all have been emotionally far worse. For living through something this monumental is very different than preparing for it. I think about my late mother-in-law, who survived the Holocaust, and the questions I had for her on day-to-day existence. I would ask what she was feeling or how she did the things she did to survive. I was always looking for more than she would reveal to me. Her answers were consistent. "What do you mean, how did I feel or what emotion was I feeling!" She would exclaim, "We had to survive. We didn't think about it. We just did it. There was no thinking or emotion most of the time." Emotionally, she would say, " was I scared at the time, yes! But we had no options. We just survived!" In no way am I comparing the present to the Holocaust, but after 179 days, I now understand what she meant. We do what we had to do to survive. Now it is September with many challenges behind us and with a more vital understanding that we can survive. True, there are more challenges ahead, but most hopefully behind us. So with that said, let me update you on what Team De Medici has been up to!
skaufman@demedici.com 1 833 496 7281
NEWSLETTER | DEMEDICI
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FALL/WINTER CATALOG
Updated DeMedici 2020 Catalog
TEAM DE MEDICI UPDATE
training, her ability to fit right
De Medici has been very busy and
Maria Roemer, Myste Snow,
in and fill an important role is impressive. Marie O'Daniels,
productive while we have been
Meg Schaefer, Victoria DiNaro,
working from home. In July, we
and Sue Lopez, our one-woman
celebrated our 13th Anniversary
Marketing Department, have all
as part of Atalanta Corp. Since that
put in herculean efforts from their
purchase, there have been many
homes.
changes, yet Atalanta has been
CLICK HERE TO VIEW CATALOG
supportive of maintaining the corporate culture of De Medici and our family of producers. Our staff grew by one, with Victoria DiNaro joining us just three days before working from home. With only three days of Steve Kaufman and Maria Roemer meet up at the office.
LAUNCHING OCTOBER 2020 De Medici SHARED PASSIONS Cookbook We are in the final stages of our first recipe book to be published shortly. The recipe book, "Shared Passions", is a collaboration of recipes from our producers and friends. We have been releasing these recipes on our social media platforms and email campaigns for the last 2 months. It's a great book with a special introduction written by our good friend Massimo Bottura. The cookbook will be available to purchase on our website: demedici.com. Look for email campaigns announcing our launch.
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NEWSLETTER | DEMEDICI
A FEATURE RECIPE FROM OUR COOKBOOK! Badia a Coltibuono and Rega San Marzano Tomatoes
TUSCAN RAGĂš 8 SERVINGS INGREDIENTS for VEGETABLE STOCK 1 onion, diced 1 celery stalk, cut into crescents 1 carrot, diced 1 tomato, cored, seeded and chopped Herbs to your taste, tied in a bouquet garni 3 cups water
28 oz can Rega DOP San Marzano tomatoes 1 cup milk Zest of 1 lemon ž cup Parmigano Reggiano cheese, grated Salt and black pepper to taste
PREPARATION: Make the stock by putting the vegetables in a saucepan with the water. Do not add salt. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven. Add the vegetables for the sofrito. When the onions are INGREDIENTS for SOFRITO translucent, add a large spoonful of the broth. Let it evaporate. 1 large red onion, diced Repeat from time to time until the vegetables are soft and 1 celery stalk, strings removed and sliced golden. Add the butter to the pan. Raise the heat to high. Add 1 carrot, diced the minced meat to the sofrito and brown it. Break up clumps 1/3 cup Badia a Coltibuono extra virgin olive oil with a wooden spoon. Let the meat stick to the bottom of the pan, then stir some more. When the meat is a nice intense INGREDIENTS for SAUCE brown, add the red wine. Let it boil up. Stir to deglaze the pan. 4 tablespoons butter Cook down a minute. Add the canned tomatoes, the milk, 1 cup 1 lb. ground beef of broth, the lemon zest, grated cheese, salt and pepper. Lower 1 lb. ground pork For more information contact skaufman@demedici.com. the heat. Let simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add 1 cup Chianti wine more broth as needed. NEWSLETTER | DEMEDICI
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COMFORT FOODS TREND Our sales remain strong in the retail sector with some slight recovery this summer from the foodservice side. Sales of more comfort types of foods such as Campanini rice, Benedetto Cavalieri and Sapori di Casa (nice new design package), Abribosco 10 Minute Grains and Ortiz canned fish items have been excellent. Rega San Marzano tomatoes and Menu pasta sauces are extremely strong, and inventories have recovered and are healthy. There is a good fit for some of our foodservice items for Back-Of-The-House use in retail stores. We have and are expanding some smaller sizes for takeout, such as mini mustards from Fallot. And we are looking at more. Click HERE to view our September Promotions.
RETAIL SIZE PRODUCT IN FOODSERVICE For restaurants with limited seating, we notice some retail sizes have been selling, so it's a reminder that retail sizes might work well in some areas. As the cold weather comes in, we hope that restaurants will find new ways to transition from sizeable outdoor dining to a safe, secure mix of takeout, indoor and outdoor as long as possible. The limited occupancy in many areas is a big challenge. As "Foodies," all of us here at De Medici have become much better cooks, yet we really miss restaurants in all honesty.
AMEDEI TUSCANY sofi GOLD WINNER
Toscano Black 70% Gocce The Specialty Food Association’s sofi Awards have been honoring the best in specialty food for 47 years. This year, Amedei Toscano Black 70% Gocce was the Gold winner in the category of Baking Mixes/ Pastry Doughs, Flours and Grain, Baking Inclusions, Decorations and Toppings, Fats and Functional Ingredients. These Gocce drops are easy to use for baking and can be sold in bulk or repacked into one pound bags for Retail. De Medici's product has been recognized by Sofi with 24 silver and 10 gold awards.
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NEWSLETTER | DEMEDICI
WEBSITE AND SOCIAL PLATFORMS GROW Our website business has grown significantly, for our customers and for us. Our followers on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Instagram have increased each week. Join us on these platforms to keep up with product and news.
GALATEO 25TH ANNIVERSARY GIFT SET
PASTA TWO WAYS
NEW KIT COLLECTIONS @DEMEDICI.COM A great value and a perfect gift for the upcoming holidays, these kit collections offer some of the best of our product. All under $45.00!
PANTRY ESSENTIALS
NEWSLETTER | DEMEDICI
SPANISH TAPAS
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MERCHANDISING TOOLS FOR THIS HOLIDAY SEASON Reach out to us for ideas on how to better engage your customers on our Brands via social media content, producer videos, virtual trainings and recipes.
TOP PRODUCING BRANDS FROM MARCH 2020 -AUGUST 2020 We have run reports on sales from March 1st thru August 31st to look at the top selling items in terms of cases. We picked this period as it has been the bulk of the time since the Corona Virus hit us here in NJ. (This list is for informational purposes only as at times we had shortages of inventory of Grey Sea Salt, Benedetto Cavalieri and Fallot mustards which have impacted these numbers.) CS
ITEM
MAR 1 THRU AUG 31
11
H1730B CAMPANINI VIALONE NANO 12/1LB BOX
SORT
NO
TOP 20 SALES BY CASES
12
G0134W CAVALLI CLASSIC BALSAMIC CONDIMENT 6/250ML
1
REG100 REGA SAN MARZANO TOMATOES 12/28 OZ CAN
13
VEA72
L'ESTORNELL RESTAURANT EVOO 3/5 LTR
2
FAL100A FALLOT DIJON MUSTARD 12/7.4 OZ
14
H1740
CAMPANINI FARRO 12/1LB BOX
3
VM100
VILLA MANODORI BALSAMIC ARTIGIANALE 12/250ML
15
VEA02A L'ESTORNELL ORGANIC EVOO 6/750 ML
4
ORT510 ORTIZ BONITA DEL NORTE WH. TUNA IN JAR 12/7.76
16
C0001A
5
ORT103 ORTIZ ANCHOVIES IN JAR 15/3.35OZ
17
ORT300 ORTIZ SARDINES ANTIGUA STYLE 12/6.7 OZ
6
SAN100 SAN IGNACIO DULCE DE LECHE 12/480GR JAR
18
AL023
7
053939
COOKIES, AMARETI SNAPS12/7oZ
19
H1736A CAMANINI CARNAROLI RICE 12/1LB BOX
8
ESP025
FLEUR DU SEL 6/5.6 OZ
20
FAL103A OLD FASHIONED (SEED STYLE) FALLOT MUSTARD
9
C0002A
BADIA A COLTIBUONO EVOO 12/500ML
12/7.2 OZ
10
H1729A CAMPANINI ARBORIA RICE 12/1LBBOX
07
BADIA A COLTIBUONO EVOO 6/1 LITER RASPBERRY FRUIT VINEGAR 6/250ML
NEWSLETTER | DEMEDICI