A Piece of the Pie… Introducing Our New Line of Fruit Tarts

I wrote a few blog posts ago about the process of product development (at least from our side in the food industry). The past few months, we’ve been keeping our fingers busy (and sticky!) working on refining and launching our new line of fruit filled tarts.

I can definitely say we’re pretty excited about the outcome. We work hard on keeping our products top quality as we scale and grow.

Our fruit tarts have been a long time coming. Not so much in the product development (that’s what January and February were for), but considering how to figure out where best to address the market demand.

Ever since our first farmer’s market we’ve had customers come up to us and ask if we were doing fruit tarts. My very first presentation to New Seasons Markets, the buyer asked if we were doing any fruit versions. I knew the market was there (but back on both occasions, the timing was wrong).

In the past 18 months (against a flat economy, to say the least), we’ve been growing and morphing into the next stages of where I want to company to be, and after this past holiday season (where we did some small fruit tart tests), I felt the timing was right to get on getting fruity in 2011.

We’re keeping to the classics, as our target audience hits all ages. I want our fruit tarts to be something kids would enjoy as well as adults. Portable for picnics and lunches or dress up with a scoop of ice cream (and um, eating for breakfast as we discovered).

In this past week, we put our fruit tarts out to market (starting exclusively with New Seasons around Portland).

Our flavors out of the gate: Cherry, Strawberry and Ginger Peach.

Have you tried one? Let us know what you think! I’ll let you know how they’re doing after a bit, and if there’s a clear favorite of the group emerging.

And I’m Always on the Run… Five Favorite (Fast) Foods of 2010 (in PDX)

As one can imagine, I spend part of my days (weeks) driving to client deliveries, meetings and just running around in general. In reality, I am my own ultimate client searching for great tasting food to grab on the run. When I’m not munching on our own tarts, here are a few of my favorite fast treats from the past year.

Pain Au Chocolat, Florio Bakery. Carrie Birrer & staff do a great job turning out flakey goodness in pastry form from their small bakery in North Portland and their pain au chocolate (chocolate croissant) is certainly worth stopping by and saying hello for.  

Vegetable Bahn Mi, Best Baguette. Bahn Mi really nails the fast, cheap & good trifecta of food. It’s even more appealing that they have a drive through, allowing for even faster food while on the run. The mixture of tofu and vegetables (usually carrots and taro or radish) is well seasoned with enough dressing to offset the bulkiness of the bread. If you see someone driving down 82^nd with a long white sandwich bag protruding from their mouth, it’s probably me.

Caramel with Salted Dark Chocolate Ice Cream, Ruby Jewel Scoop Shop. I’m hot, I’m cranky or I’m tired (and cranky or maybe just cranky) and like a little kid, ice cream will hit the spot and while maybe not make everything better, a sure heck of a lot sweeter. I’m a big fan of Lisa, Becky & Co. and when they decided to open physical ice cream shop I hoped we’d see other great ice cream creations from them. I was not disappointed. The caramel with salted dark chocolate ice cream is like an adult sundae in a scoop, creamy, salty chocolately… just don’t let me buy a pint! 

Roasted Mushroom Sandwich, Meat Cheese Bread. For a sandwich shop that specializes in their namesake, the menu item which is generally my only menu option, has turned into a favorite. (Though it’s a bit messy, I don’t recommend trying to eat this one while driving).  See my previous post about why I enjoy this sandwich (then go get yourself one!).

Where would Portland be without coffee? Something needs to cut through our damp gray winters and a cup of Mudd Works Mudd House will have you bright, upright and ready to conquer your day. I tend to grab a cup when I’m at Mr French’s Coffee Kitchen (a friend and a fave coffee house client of ours). 

Judging from above, I’m fairly well-fueled for our week (and working on our 2011 goals). The downside is, the tart mobile could really use a good vacuuming! 

Riffing is a Good Thing

Fairly frequently, I get asked why I chose to call our products tarts instead of hand-pies (or pasties (pah-sties)).

Traditional pasties (pah-sties) regardless of if their fillings are vegetarian or meat contain onions and potatoes as a base ingredient. The fillings tend to be a bit “heavier” as in closer to what you would find in a pot pie*. The fact that I feel I need to explain their annunciation in every mention brought us to realize we’d spend more time teaching audiences about the derivative of the word vs. our products.

In truth, our tarts are closer to hand-pies than pasties (pah-sties). When I think of hand-pies, fruit fillings come to mind (like apple turnovers which we use to devour at our local orchard in the fall). The crust we use is very similar, though we incorporate an extra few steps to create the irresistible flake you see on them.

Our tart fillings are derived from a mixture of family recipes and eating experiences across globe with the goal of taking our customers to new places with all of our varieties (even if it is through a few short bites). With that in mind the idea of a “hand-pie” seemed a little too traditional while “tart” added a little extra character in embodying our products.

Besides, who wouldn’t rather be “Queen of Tarts” over “Queen of the Hand-Pies”?

What comes down to being most important, is however, that our customers enjoy them!

* This is not a dis on the pot-pie, we’re big fans of them!