Fleur De Sel and other adventures

Our 1st retail location is opening in a few weeks

2011-08-10T21:59:00.004-05:00

After much soul searching I have decided that it is time to open my first retail location. This is truly a very exciting step- to this point we've been behind the scenes, supplying our customers (stores) wholesale and did not at all make an appearance in the retail market (save for a few holiday bazaars a few years ago). After reading (finally!) the book "Chocolat" I thought there is definitely a benefit in having a charming little specialty food shop and be able to market my caramels, lollies and salts directly to those who like and seek out our products.

We will be opening our very first retail store in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood- it is known for its independent and local artisan stores, unique shops and diversity of population. It is truly an ideal location for Das Foods store! Our store will be very small and located in Andersonville Galleria, which is known for featuring local artists. http://andersonvillegalleria.com/

It is a shared space retail store where one can find a variety of things- from locally made toffee to antiques and vintage clothing to custom made purses. I fell in love with the space after I walked in- and even the exposed brick wall reminds me of our own manufacturing and production facility. It is a home away from home for sure!

Over the next few weeks my talented colleague and Das Foods designer Sara (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Slim-Design/193485030680603) will be working on an awe inspiring design for our new space and I will update on the progress. I know that this space will be a piece of art: for starters it will have an Monet- inspired Mural, antique prints, cutting board, modern furniture and Indian brass wall sconce.

Sonoma Valley Trip - Adventures of the wine and food lover

2011-06-11T01:17:00.004-05:00

During Memorial Day we took a short break and visited gorgeous Sonoma Valley in California. We ate great food, drunk lots of wine from small independent wineries, biked and hiked everywhere. Enjoy our pictures (we love Hipstamatic Prints app for IPhone!)

Salted caramel dilemma

2011-05-10T23:08:00.002-05:00

Today at Costco I came across Kirkland brand salted caramels. The were little pieces of caramels coated in milk chocolate. No matter how much I wished to dislike them, I have to admit that they were passable, tasty even (if I was hungry or had really bad cravings for chocolate). The were packaged in a plastic jar with a lid-so tacky, but hey they were also about $4/lb, so who can beat that, right?

These caramels once again made me wonder if indeed what we make at Das Foods will make the cut in a cold world of commerce. In an abstract world all of the wonderful ingredients and good deeds that surround our products (sustainable! made with ingredients purchased from small vendors! no corn syrup) are very differentiating. But does all of this meet it's cold reality at the moment of face off moment with $4/lb (vs Das Caramelini, that sells at about $15/lb)?

I think that in this day of high unemployment and across the board realization that high levels of disposable income are gone forever, businesses like Das Foods need to think hard and re-evaluate how we do business and position the products we make.

There is a lot of buzz around the statement 'green is dead' nowadays. I don't think it is, but if a consumer packaged good business (like Das Foods) wants to continue capitalizing on green positioning strategy, a different take on green must be employed. in business community green is very much alive, but that is because businesses were able to articulate how being green and sustainable delivers "triple bottom line"- a.ka. "people, planet, profit" model. In other words green first and foremost needs to deliver tangible benefit to all of those parties (yes, including increased profits too). Green also cannot cost more than conventional-or at least that is increasingly the fact in B2B world. The triple bottom line has been successfully articulated to and internalized by the business community and therefore green strategies are very much alive.

In the consumer world the situation is quite different - lots of companies market green as a benefit, but it is all too apparent that one has to pay extra for it with no additional benefits other than intangible self- satisfaction that comes from the sense of contributing to some ambiguous cause. So- faced with this dilemma many people will go fro the $4/lb caramels because they are simply cheaper .

To survive and co-inhabit the space with "cheap" alternative our businesses must think and articulate triple bottom line as well to our customers. This is how I see triple bottom line playing out for our business

Using local ingredients allows us to fuel $$ back to the vendors that otherwise would not be able to survive
Local vendors are mindful about the environment and kinder to the earth and the surroundings in which they farm or gather
By being local producer we are able to provide employment to a few people therefore contributing to economic growth

Are local and artisan products more expensive? of course they are, especially vs. Costco prices. But at the same time, what price would we pay if there was a no local alternative to Costco??

On teachers, foes and friends

2011-04-25T21:07:00.004-05:00

I wonder sometimes why is it that time passing tends to turn our past experiences upside down and shine a new light on what REALLY was learned.

During my childhood I was not very much open to feedback (case to point- picture of me at 13 with my grandmother). Over the past 30 years, things have clearly changed.

Lesson 1- turning students into teachers

As I think about my past teachers I realize that some of them did not intend to teach me anything at all, and some just wanted to reaffirm themselves maybe. For example, back in 2006 I tried to teach at a small all girls college in Chicago. Heavens only knows why I thought I qualified (oh, yes, of course, I thought that having an MBA qualifies one for practically any job). Teaching just one semester shed a light on the fact that I never wanted to teach again, simply because in my cockiness I did not realize that teaching requires infinite patience, ability to listen to the silence in the classroom and perseverance in understanding why is it that some of my students struggled. In my naivete I thought that I was bestowing my infinite business wisdom on girls. Instead they thought me about my own shortcomings.

Lesson 2 - foe turned friend

During my corporate career I've had many bosses, but one in particular was constantly there to point out my mistakes stemming from my lack of attention to detail, rushed judgement and excessive enthusiasm for my projects. At the time of course, I thought she was a total witch and complained to my poor husband excessively. I thank my stars for having to report to this person til this day because while she was very demanding, she was also bright, no nonsense marketer who was down to earth and infinitely cool. Also, she made me far better marketer than I ever hoped to be.

Lesson 3 - Humbling dancing experiences (still ongoing)

After visiting Buenos Aires for the first time last July I thought that learning to dance tango would be a "cool thing to do". I love dancing (God did not give the gift of gracefulness though) and learning to dance was always something i had to prove to myself I could do easily. So, armed with a new pair of tango shoes I marched into a local dance school prepared to take a lesson and amaze everyone with my excellent steps. Needless to say that with such technically demanding dance as tango, here I am 8 months later, having only slightly better movements and body coordination. I dress up for the milongas (tango dances), have two more pairs of shoes and even get to dance once in a great while. Most of the time though I sit on my royal behind and play Angry Birds when everyone else around me is dancing. Maybe one day I will dance with a real partner, not mostly with my imaginary friends. But for now- I am armed with humbleness, patience etc..... this was not an entirely true statement, but I am trying to live up to these virtues.

So, I am raising a toast of herbal tea (it is Monday night after all which means no drinking for me because of my self- imposed calorie counting adventure) to all of the teachers, whether they intended to teach me or no.

Happy Passover and reconnecting with my roots

2011-04-18T21:34:00.003-05:00

Growing up I never realized that being Jewish is not the same as being Ukrainan, in other words not a nationality but a religion.. My grandmother had Jewish in her passport under nationality. You were supposed to take your passport everywhere, as a form of identification, sort of like Drivers' license. Except Grandma did not drive (at least not the car, however she drove us crazy most of the time). Every time Grandma had to show her passport, she would get a range of facial expressions from the government officials when they saw Jewish inside the front cover- from smirk to silent hatred and to a knowing sad smile. I did not have Jewish for nationality in my passport- I was apparently "Russian". This was done because my grandma and mom believed that my chances for success in life will be greatly increased if indeed I kept my Jewish roots closeted. I however, relished my Jewish-ness- I told everyone in school and then in university that I was in fact among the chosen ones. My mom and grandma did not approve of such behavior and no wonder- they after all lived through times when Stalin, in the fit of last minute madness decided to expatriate all Jewish people to sort of a gulag. Thank God he died before he could commit further evils. Mom and Gradma believed in being silent Jews- all high holidays were celebrated at home, behind closed doors, mostly with food and drink.

Until I came to the US I never have been to the Synagogue or really understood the meaning of Passover. And yet, I know that it's been with me all along through my childhood- through my grandma's stories of her childhood, through delicious stuffed fish that she made every Passover, through the candle she burned quietly by the dark windows during Hanukkah. Now that Grandma is gone, Passover is even more important for me- a way to remember my grandmother, to taste her delicious fish and to even remember how she in her heart loved everyone. That is why we would celebrate Christian holidays too- with painted eggs (always painted by the natural color from onion peel) and cone shaped fluffy columns of Easter pastries Grandma made (never with sprinkles on top because those are bad for me)!

Happy Passover everyone (and Grandma!)

Daily Indulgences

2011-04-14T22:48:00.003-05:00

I believe in doing something good for myself every day: whatever it is that feels "good" on that particular day. So, today I got really lucky- not one, but two things felt really good

1. Work out at noon

2. Making a lentil soup (recipe from Food and Wine magazine).

Cherry on top? Re-runs of the "America's Next Top Model" of course!

Japanese candies with Russian accent

2011-04-13T22:24:00.004-05:00

A friend brought box of hard candies from Japan recently as a gift for me. We have similar background (we were born in the Ukraine during Soviet times and have watched the same cartoons etc growing up). Imagine my surprise when the box that she brought for me featured Cheburashka, a creature with giant fan like ears and adorable eyes of a beagle puppy. What's up with Japanese obsession with Soviet characters?? In case you're wondering what this mythical Cheburashka does- he sings! He looks on adorably! He fans his ears! He lives with an older man (yes, he does, with a Crocodile!). He does your taxes...(not really). Check out this YouTube video of vintage Cheburashka

Katie Meets Ina Pinkney, the breakfast queen from Chicago's West Loop

2011-04-10T09:52:00.002-05:00

On Saturday, 4/9 I participated in a Coleman Entrepreneurship Events at Lexington College in Chicago. The topic was "Success as a Food entrepreneur and how to reach it". As one of the panel participants I was happy to share my insights, but at the same time I feel that success for me is still work in progress. I love these events, because it gives me an opportunity to meet other women entrepreneurs who are generously sharing their ideas and experiences. We can all learn from each other, that's for sure!

While there I finally had a chance to meet legendary Ina Pinkney of Chicago. Her restaurant, Ina's is located in Chicago's West loop and serves breakfast only. Ina's restaurant was featured repeatedly in Vogue, Top Chef, the Chicago Tribune, New York Times and many other publications. My favorite Ina's saying now is "It's not that your ideas are bad, it's just that mine are better!"

Inspirations from Belgium and Buenos aires

2011-04-10T09:43:00.003-05:00

Recently my travels took me to some wonderful locations- Brugge (the capital of excellent chocolates). Antwerpen, Amsterdam and finally Buenos Aires, Argentina. While exploring these wonderful places I could not help but take pictures of delicious candy and food displays. Needless to say I came back simply overwhelmed with all of the ideas for future caramel packaging and flavors. Enjoy my pictures!

Grand Opening of Chicago Farmstand

2008-10-22T22:30:00.002-05:00

Recently I was invited to participate in the Grand Opening of Chicago DowntownFarm stand, which is a joint entreprise between City of Chicago bureau of Cultural affairs and a group of Chicago foodies who are a passionate supporters of locally grown and produced foods. The result of this collaboration is a cozy and wonderful place in the heart of Chicago (located at 66 East Randolph - Randolph and Michigan Ave) Chicago's Downtown Farmstand offers edible local products, including fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs in season; a full range of condiments, preserves, seasonings and other dry goods items; baked goods and other seasonal items

available — all produced within 250 miles of Chicago.

Grand opening was an excellent occasion to come in and speak about our own efforts to increase visibility for the locally made foods and, of course, sample the caramels.

I was happy to meet again Chicago's own Hungry Hound host Steve Dolinsky and Chicago's distinguished alderwoman who's leadership was instrumental to founding Chicago's Downtown Farmstand.

Harvest time!

2008-10-22T22:12:00.005-05:00

After long summer hiatus I am back! Fall is a great time to step back, reflect on summer, get ready for the Holiday season ahead and perhaps even take a few days off here and there to refuel for the craziness of pre-Christmas rush.

A lot of retailers that carry our caramels are organizing harvest events and we're invited to delight customers with our caramels and make taffy apples. On 10/20 Katie and Das Caramelini were invited to the Green Grocer Chicago to make some yummy taffy apples with melted Classic caramels. Green Grocer Chicago is a cozy small grocery boutique that prides on only selling sustainable, green and locally made foods. What a perfect place to showcase our sustainable caramels!

I brought a few pounds of bulk Classic caramel and melted it in a slow cooker with just a splash of organic heavy cream. Then I dipped small Johnagold apples in the resulting goodness and voila- odl fashioned caramel apple taken to the new heights!

Many people asked for the recipe for caramel dipping, so here it is. Enjoy!

Easy Caramel Apples
Serves 4
What you’ll need:
4 medium apples
4 oz Das Caramelini caramels
3 Tbsp Heavy Cream
4 ice cream sticks or cinnamon sticks
Optional toppings: Oreo cookies, walnuts or peanuts, crushed, chocolate morsels.
What you’ll do
:Wash apples and insert cinnamon sticks/ice cream sticks in each apple. Place apples on baking tray or a large plate lined with parchment paper.
Melt caramel and cream in a microwave-safe wide mouth bowl on high for 2-3 min in 30 sec. increments until caramel is melted completely and cream is well mixed in. The mixture should be hot, but not bubbling.
Dip each apple in the bowl with caramel and set on parchment paper to dry
Optional: while caramel is still hot, dip each apple in toppings of your choice

Das Caramelini in New York Times

2008-07-30T23:57:00.001-05:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/dining/23fudge.html?ex=1374552000&en=9dd2726db51c9d19&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Weekend in Minneapolis

2008-07-19T23:27:00.002-05:00

We spent 7/18-7/20 in Minneapolis visiting our friends Balint and Daniel. On Saturday Dhruba and Rita had a Das Caramelini demo at Whole Foods Minneapolis and St. Paul. Good folks in Twin Cities love our caramels: Dhruba and Rita had a good time telling everyone about our caramels and sampling our delicious flavors. Also, we visited St. Paul's farmers market: we loved the fact that only the local vendors (i.e. those who grow or produce their products within 150 mi radius of St. Paul) are allowed to sell their produce there. We also enjoyed a free performance of a cajun band and people dancing spontaneously :)

After picking up fresh produce, Balint cooked a perfect summer meal while Katie managed Das Foods emails in the afternoon.

Our menu was as follows:

1. Roasted fingerling potatoes with peppers and young garlic

2..Sandwiches with mustard glazed chicken and swiss cheese

3. Fresh radish and bulb onion salad

4. Baby carrots (the real baby carrots not the ones sold in the store 365 days a year- the fake baby carrots) sauteed in extra virgin olive oil and fresh parsley

5. Moroccan ice mint tea (brewed with mint leaves from the garden)

6. Fresh fruit (inclung my favorite- hard to find red currants!)

7. Reisling-Gewurstaminer blend from Germany- chilled to perfection!

At night we went to see "Dark Knight" -I would say the only emotion I had coming out was the sense that this movie could have been concluded in 1 1/2 hr vs. 2 1/2 hr which was absolutely over the top which was partially compensated by enthusiastic audience was that participating in movie viewing experience.

food411.com - Your Online Food Directory

2008-07-16T00:19:00.000-05:00

food411.com - Your Online Food Directory
check our our newest obsession- Food 411, an online directory of all things delicious (and Weight Watchers be darned). Of course, we love the fact that Food 411 also loves us back and even featured our caramels in their recent newsletter AND right on their web page!

Ideal Bite - Today's Chicago Bite

2008-07-16T00:14:00.000-05:00

Ideal Bite - Today's Chicago Bite- Ideal Bite Chicago thinks that Das Caramelini Salted Caramels are Super-yummy and super-green!

Das Caramelini's day out!

2008-07-16T00:00:00.004-05:00

Das Caramelini caramels also went for a walk recently. It visited many places in NYC (carved stone owl in Central park is our favorite), took a ride on antique carousel, stopped by New York Times HQ, and even sneaked next to the masterpieces of modern art at MOMA. It ended the day across the Brooklyn bridge marveling at gorgeous fireworks over Manhattan.

Our Vacation in NYC

2008-07-15T23:50:00.005-05:00

While attending Fancy Foods show in NYC a few weeks ago we did A LOT of walking, even though we were completely exhausted sometimes after staffing our trade booth at the show most of the day. This was our very 1st time in NYC and we were determined to see as much as we possibly could. Here are some highlights:

We Rock The Fancy Foods show in NYC!

2008-07-15T23:46:00.005-05:00

On 6/29-7/1 we attended our very first Fancy Foods Show in NYC. What an event! We were blown away by the quality and quantity of exhibitors and all of deliciousness around us! Our booth was located between the space for the very excellent Teryaki sauce (Soy Vey- highly recommended!) and O Vinegar and Olive oil products. Evidently our caramels were a crowd favorite. We were happy to see everyone stop at our booth for some Delicious caramels: from good folks at Williams and Sonoma to journalists from NY Times and Martha Stewart Living who were covering the show. The show was great for business and networking- we are already looking forward to the next year's show!

Video Podcast The Hungry Hound June 25, 2008 Video

2008-07-07T22:29:00.000-05:00

Steve Dolinsky from Chicago's own Hungry Hound segment on ABC News visited our caramel factory and sent this report. Enjoy!
Video Podcast The Hungry Hound June 25, 2008 Video

Das Caramelini is now on Facebook

2008-06-21T11:28:00.002-05:00

Become a fan of Das Caramelini on Facebook- check out our new Facebook page and join our growing army of fans here

Three days in Minneapolis

2008-06-19T23:50:00.007-05:00

Last week I went to the Twin Cities to spread the word about delicous Das Caramelini and work on new products.

Day One: I visited and worked at Minneapolis Specialty Confections company: great folks there are helping me with new product manufacturing. We made over 6,000 lollipops in 4 flavors. See pictures below:

Day 1 (cont): after visiting MN Whole Foods Market near Lake Calhoun I had a chance to relax in the sun and walk by the gorgeous lake (below)

In the next installment of my adventures from Twin Cities- luxurious Japanese inspired dinner (with pictures!)

Katie speaks at Net Impact event in Chicago

2008-06-02T23:01:00.004-05:00

On 5/21 Iwas invited to speak at the Net Impact event in Chicago on secrets of successfull social entrepreneurship. The event took place in Chicago's IIT campus and the attendance was great! it was an honor to be included in the panel along with other companies that are well known for their green and sustainable effort, like Distant Village Packaging, Return on inspiration and Heartland Health alliance

After the event attendees enjoyed our green and yummy Das Caramelini-everyone loved them!

Enjoy these pictures!

Youtube video with Katie making the caramel

2008-05-24T18:34:00.003-05:00

"Green" Lawn mower

2008-05-24T16:27:00.005-05:00

Couple of weeks ago we found an old manual lawn mover sitting in the back of the shed. Our "old school" non PC gasoline powered mower hasn't been working well for quite a while and we decided to give the manual mower we found a try. We're officially in love with it now: it is absolutely green, requires no additional energy, cuts grass cleanly and hardly takes up any space. Check out Dhruba's effortless mowing below. If you are interested in getting one for yourself, see National Geographic's Green guide

Chicago 1930's

2008-05-24T15:28:00.007-05:00

Our dear friends Balint and Daniel visited Das Foods headquarters last weekend. Left to their own devices because we were attending GreenFest Chicago they stumbled across this fabulous photo op in Chicago- apparently there was a period movie being shot near Chicago Board of Trade. Enjoy these pictures of 1930's Chicago- this is how it must have looked like!

Das Caramelini in Green Fest Chicago

2008-05-24T15:06:00.008-05:00

Our friends from Sustain.org and Familyfarmed.org invited us to share a booth with them and a few other sustainable Midwestern producers at Green Fest Chicago this past weekend (5/16 and 5/16). Over 30,000 people attended the festival and enjoyed our delicious Das Caramelini. Some satisfied customers even texted their relatives about Das Caramelini- how great is that?
See many satisfied customers as well as Katie showcasing her caramel here

Make a Statement-Design for the Cure

2008-05-24T14:49:00.005-05:00

Das Caramelini is on the move! On 5/8 Katie, Rita and Dhruba fed Das Caramelini to fab and glam attendees of Make a Statement- Design for the Cure, a super-fabulous runway show in Chicago benefitting AIDS Foundation of Chicago. Steven Rosengard from Bravo's Project Runway hosted the show and loved our caramels! We saw our very 1st runway show: apparently this season empire waist dresses are still in! See our photo collage below or click here to see all pictures in Google Picasa. Read about our committment to AIDS Foundation here