I always start by saying how crazy busy I’ve been and giving some excuse as to why it’s been sooooo long since my last post. Well, this time is no different. We just moved into our new Catering and Central Kitchen building in west Eugene. The move went well and we were operational within a day, thanks to the great effort of our staff and lots of help from store employees. So, a HUGE “Thank You” to all of them. I’m very proud of this crew.

The Central Kitchen and Catering crew supplies all of our stores with soups and many of our popular pasta and potato salads. They also make sauces, fresh pasta, and basic items (spice rubs, dips, dressings and marinades) for the store kitchen staff to use when creating the delicious foods served at each market. With the amount of food we’re producing in a single day, we simply outgrew the old space. The new kitchen is a stunning, shining, well-deserved food temple, held to very high safety and sanitation standards.

The new kitchen is already leading to ideas for new products and how to improve upon our current line. For starters, the smoker is 4-5 times the size of our old one. After smoking the first batch of pork shoulder, rubbed with our signature “Love Rub,” we were all in awe. The meat was so tender, juicy and flavorful, with a beautiful caramel “bark” (or crust) of sugars, spices and salt. We each took a little bite, said a quiet “Oh my gosh,” and broke out in wide grins. You will be seeing lots more of this at your Market in the near future, trust me. I can’t wait to make some ribs, chicken and turkey this way!

The new equipment has taken some getting used to, just for the fact that it is so large! Our biggest kettle now holds 100 gallons of soup, and we have the capacity to make almost 250 gallons at once. The methods for packaging and chilling foods are more advanced, as well. We use a large piston-powered pump to shoot 1 gallon quantities of hot soup or sauces into heavy food-grade bags, which then get sealed and dropped immediately into speed chillers full of moving water kept at near freezing temperatures. The hot foods chill rapidly, which ensures food safety and quality.

One of the biggest adjustments for all of us is how the cleanup differs so dramatically from our old broom-and-mop days. Now, the only way to clean such a large space is with a fire hose! We spray all walls and floors with a sanitizer foam, then rinse and squeegee everything into the many long floor drains running around the plant. It is taking some getting used to, but we love the possibilities the new facility offers us, and especially you! Soon, we’ll begin experimenting to further develop our catering service. If you have any catering needs, small to large, please give us a call or check out the Market of Choice catering menus. We can always customize a menu to fit your needs.

Let me finish by saying “Thank You” to all of you. You have made this possible, propelling us forward, growing with us, and pushing us to be our best every day. We take great pride in our work and, in case you haven’t noticed, we are passionate about serving delicious food.

See you at the Market!