NUGGETS

Page 46 foodindustrynews.com Porkmafia Grows into Experienced Brand

Porkmafia was started by tailgating, barbecuing, cooking for family, friends and whole hog for neighborhood bars. As experience grew, so did travel. Traveling to the South and learning different styles of cooking led to development of seasonings to complement the areas traveled to.

The more places that were traveled to, the more knowledge and cooking experience inspired the first of the product line: Memphis Mud, Texas Gold and Louisiana Bayou Rub.

In 2014 Porkmafia founder cooked with a BBQ team for the Jack Daniel’s Invitational and took first place in ribs. This opened the door for travel abroad and teaching BBQ classes in places such as Sweden, Netherlands (Amsterdam), Finland, Lithuania and Israel.

Traveling helped expand the product base and Porkmafia now sells products in these countries. Today, there are over 10 different seasonings available, and the company looks to the future to expand its product line. See their ad on page 16.

Climate Change Commitment

Consumers’ craving for a taste of normalcy has sent them to the drive-thru in recent weeks, a trend that has fueled same-store sales growth at quickserve chains. Chains including Jack in the Box, Wendy’s and Del Taco have all reported improvements after steep declines in March and April. - Source: Restaurant Business Online

Big Hiring Spree for Taco Bell

Taco Bell will add 30,000 or more employees this summer, many of whom will fill new roles created to maintain safety standards as restaurants reopen. Other new posts will be dedicated to helping manage the rising demand for offpremises dining. - Source: Nation’s Restaurant News

New Grape Trials in Bordeaux

Winemakers in Bordeaux, France, are experimenting with varietals from other parts of the world in an attempt to mitigate the effects of climate change and its growing threat to the region’s vaunted merlot—which comprises 60% of its vineyards. “The question isn’t how will climate change change French wines, the question is how has it already?” said Agnes Destrac-Irvine, who heads VitAdapt, a program that experiments with grapes under climate change, adding that climate change is likely going to change the acidity, aroma and alcohol level of French wines as we know them today. - Source: Time online

More Vineyard Management Roles for Females

Ashley Anderson Bennett and Allison Cellini Wilson, who work for Cain Vineyard and Winery and Cliff Lede Vineyards respectively, are just two of the roughly 25% of women that hold vineyard management roles in the Napa Valley and Sonoma, Michelle Williams writes. “There still aren’t that many women vineyard managers, its more viticulturists and consultants, but many more than 20 years ago,” said Bennett, who is one of the 150 members in a “vitwomen” group that started up 15 years ago with 20 members. - Source: Forbes

Good2Grow Sales Spiked 300%

Online sales for children’s juice and water brand good2grow have spiked 300% during the coronavirus pandemic primarily due to the brand’s social channels becoming an entertainment resource for parents, said vice president Edzra Gibson. The brand prompts in-store sales of its reusable bottles featuring iconic kids’ characters with new retail displays and messages that remind parents to “bring home a smile,” he added. - Source: FoodNavigator

Food Industry News® July 2020

NUGGETS

Kellogg’s® has converted beloved cereals into perfectly snackable sizes. The new product line features fan favorites, including Kellogg’s Froot Loops®, Apple Jacks®, Corn Pops® caramel crunch flavor and Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes®-inspired Tiger Paws. These jumbo sizes make snacking easier and that each bite unleashes fun for the whole family.

According to icecream.

com, 87% of Americans have ice cream in their freezers at any given time. The average number of ice cream pints an Ameri can enjoys each year is 48. Almost half of all flash flood fatalities are vehicle related, according to the National Weather Service. If you’re driving and ap proach a water-covered road, turn around. Just 6 inches of water can stall a vehicle, and 2 feet can float most cars, trucks and SUVs. When riding a bike before entering traf fic, stop and look left, right, left again and over your shoulder. Chicago is one of the few cities in the world that has rail ser vice to two major airports. CTA’s Blue Line ‘L’ can take customers to O’Hare Inter national Airport. Orange Line trains, which operate clockwise on the Loop ‘L’ structure, travel to Midway Airport. Constantly super vise children around water and avoid distractions. If you have a pool, secure it with appropriate barri ers. In group situations, designate a water watcher whose sole responsibility it is to oversee the activity in the water. Denver Interna tional Airport is the fifthbusiest airport in the United States. With more than 64 million passengers traveling through the airport each year, Denver is one of the busiest airline hubs in the world’s largest aviation market. Fireworks can be very dangerous. Make sure people aren’t near you when shooting them off. Wear safety glasses whey you are lighting your fireworks to protect your

eyes. Don’t pick up or re ignite fireworks that didn’t go off. Safety first! Keep a flashlight within reach in your car, purse, bag or with your keys. It can come in handy and give light when no other source is available. Mason jars are great for storing your picnic food items. Make your salads, pasta dishes and desserts ahead of time. Pack them up in indi vidual jars for serving. Everyone gets their own jar. No fuss or mess involved. Plastic toothbrush hold ers are not only good for storing your toothbrush, but they can be used to store a knife when you are outdoors and need to cut your food. The general rule for driving is to drive for no longer than eight hours a day, and to take at least 15-minute breaks every two hours. The Na tional Shrine of the Cross

in the Woods is located in Indian River, Mich. The sculpture of the crucified Christ was titled “The Man on the Cross” by the re nowned Michigan sculptor Marshall Fredericks. It was his dream to give the face on Jesus an expression of great peace and strength and offer encouragement to everyone who viewed the cross. Two presidents, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both died on the same day—on the 50th an niversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

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From Connie’s to Giacobbino’s Pizza

In the early 1960s, Jimmy Stolfe opened the original Connie’s Pizzeria on 26th and Lowe in Chicago. Pizza quickly became the Stolfe family trade. His son, Michael, now the President of Connie’s, spent countless hours in the kitchen perfecting his very own recipe for a “take & bake” pizza. After years of trial and near misses, Michael finally found a recipe that perfectly balanced the quality of a restaurant pizza with the ease and simplicity of athome cooking.

The pizza quickly took off. Two years later Giacobbino’s™ Pizza, is carried in over 800 stores across the US, and has partnered with the Chicago Blackhawks and Jewel Osco, and has been reviewed by President of Barstool Sports, Dave Portnoy, on his hit web short series “Pizza Review.”

The Giacobbino’s brand has gained traction. Fans across the country love the classic Chicago pan pizzas, the ease of grabbing them fresh at their local deli, and making them right at home the way they like.

Three Life-Changers • Believe your efforts matter. Take a look at your job and career. Look at how you help people. If you understand that your work makes a difference, you’ll be motivated to stick with it. • Keep learning new skills. Look for training to expand your job skills, but also look outside the narrow scope of your occupation to pick up life skills. Take a class, volunteer at an animal shelter, learn a new sport—anything that will get you out of your rut. • Learn from your failures. Everyone makes mistakes. The only shame is repeating them because you didn’t find out why they happened. Investigate the causes of your failures to ensure you don’t make them again.

Advice for Ultimate Success

Most of the advice for success you find is familiar and predictable: Work hard, be persistent, network, never stop learning, and so forth. Here’s some counsel from the Ladders website that may surprise you:

Know what you want. You’ve got to dig deep. Don’t just ask yourself once. The first few answers will be superficial: “I want more money, I want a new car, I want a better job …” After a while, though, you’ll get to what you’re really looking for: “I want to serve others, I want to make a difference in the world, I want to help people find their inner strength,” or something else. Follow that goal, not the first, most obvious one.

Look at your crossroads. We all remember moments when we made a crucial decision that shaped the rest of our lives. Go back to one and explore it. Write down the decision in a few paragraphs, then consider the factors, emotions, events, and concerns that led to that choice. Would you make the same decision today? Why or why not? This will help you make better career and life decisions in the future.

Examine your history. Take a long view of your past. How did you end up where you are now? Who helped you? What failures did you suffer, and what mistakes did you make? What activities consumed most of your time and attention? How have your dreams changed? A thorough understanding of where you came from will help guide you on your path to future success.

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