SFA 2024 Summer Fancy Food Show Spotlights Epicurean Pantry
Epicurean Pantry was thrilled to attend the SFA 2024 Summer Fancy Food Show! Founder Lisa Zeitel was able to speak about Epicurean Pantry’s delicious black garlic products. Here are some of the highlights from the event!
FI Spotlight - The Food Institute
Video Transcript
Susan Choi -
Hello and welcome to a special edition of FI spotlight. I'm your host, Susan Choi. I'm here at the 2024 annual Summer Fancy Foods show in New York City. I've been checking out the best of what the specialty food industry has to offer, and I wanted to share with you a couple of up and coming brands that I thought were really interesting.
Let's go check it out!
Lisa Zeitel -
Epicurean pantry is the company that I founded to source life enhancing foods with a delicious flavor from all around the globe, and I happened to get the idea for this company. I was celebrating my retirement from corporate America and I was sailing in Greece, celebrating with friends.
We were on a sailboat and the chef host on our sailboat happened to be a supplier of black garlic in Greece. I'm a nutritionist by training. I spent 40 plus years in health care and a light bulb went off in my head. It was serendipitous that I thought I found my second act. I asked if this was available in the United States.
I had never heard of black garlic. I learned and read voraciously about the health benefits. I loved the flavor, and I asked the supplier if I could import export it to the U.S. and now I am has exclusive distributor in the United States. It's so highly nutritious. The white garlic that's sourced in Greece that my supplier utilizes is grown in an area in Greece that is renowned for its high quality and concentration of allicin, which is the ingredient in white garlic that confers all of the health benefits.
And when it changes to black, it transitions that are essentially ferments over 40 to 60 days in a heat chamber. He follows the traditional Korean method, and when that process occurs, the black, the allicin in the black garlic becomes more available in your body. So the antioxidants almost triple. So all of the health benefits of white garlic are amplified.
It's so versatile. It's such a versatile ingredient. You can use it in so many different ways. And I love the variation and product that he has available. And he continues to innovate. So it gives people an opportunity to introduce black garlic through mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, you know, in smaller doses. And then if you're really into the flavor, you can have more of it through honey paste, a pearls and then ultimately the actual peel cloves.
Hospitality News Spotlight
Video Transcript
Martin Daniels -
Martin Daniels here. Hospitality news. And we are at the, Fancy Food Show 2024. And I am here with who?
Lisa Zeitel -
Lisa Zeitel, the founder and owner of Epicurean Pantry.
Martin Daniels -
So Epicurean Pantry. And that's the tongue twister, by the way. And I see this black black garlic thing. I'm sure our readers want to know about that. Can you tell them a little bit about the product?
Lisa Zeitel -
Sure. It's, made with fresh farm fresh garlic. And this garlic is from Greece and an area of Greece that's renowned for its high quality garlic with very high content of Allison. Okay. Which is what confers all the health benefits.
And so it's put in a heat chamber for about 40 to 60 days following the traditional Korean process. And it eventually at a low temperature, they monitor the humidity, okay. And essentially caramelizes ferments and turns black and white.
Martin Daniels -
And you can use this garlic just as you use any other garlic?
Lisa Zeitel -
Well, it loses the pungency and strong odor of white garlic and it becomes even healthier. And it adopts this more like yummy flavor, like more, earthy complex, like tamarind, balsamic.
Martin Daniels -
I'm getting excited. I'm getting excited. You keep going. So so real quickly, where can our readers and our all of our followers that want your product? Where can they find it?
Lisa Zeitel -
They can find it on my website, we list our partnered stockists in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It's in 25 stores. We also sell to restaurants and food services. So it's in a few a handful of restaurants as well.
And I just want to share how I discovered this when I was celebrating my retirement in Greece, sailing. The chef on our sailboat happens to be the supplier. And I have a nutrition background. I was a nutritionist, so I fell in love with the superfood aspect of it. It's so healthy, super healthy.
And I'm a foodie. I was raised by a mom who loved to cook. My sister's the chef. And it appeals to foodies because if it's wonderful, delicious umami flavor.
Martin Daniels -
Well, I'm obviously a foodie, you know. Thank you so much for the amazing interview with you I wish you the best. And what is your booth number? If you're in the building booth #4416 get over here right now!
About Epicurean Pantry
Epicurean Pantry was founded in 2023 by food aficionado, nutrition expert, and business executive, Lisa Zeitel. Located in Greenwich, CT, the company is currently focused on its unique Black Garlic product line, which merges modern technology with traditional methods to create a notably flavorful and superior health product with all-natural ingredients. Using fresh garlic from Greece and controlled fermentation methods, the company’s inspiration and focus is to elevate garlic's natural benefits through a meticulous 40-to-60-day transformation process in controlled heat chambers, akin to traditional Korean black garlic production. Future plans include expanding the black garlic product line to include additional black garlic-based products and diversifying the company’s offerings with other specially-sourced gourmet food items from around the world. More information can be found at https://www.epicurean-pantry.com.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Lisa Zeitel
Founder/Owner
203-550-8750
Epicurianpantryus@gmail.com
IG: epicureanpantryus
About the Specialty Food Association
The Specialty Food Association (SFA) was founded in 1952 and is the not-for-profit trade association of the $207 billion specialty food industry. Representing more than 3,800 businesses worldwide, SFA champions industry participation and success for a diverse community of makers, buyers, importers, distributors, and service providers by developing resources, information, education, and events that celebrate innovation and inclusivity. SFA owns and operates the Fancy Food Shows as well as the sofi™ Awards, which have honored excellence in specialty food and beverage annually since 1972. The SFA also produces the e-newsletter SFA News Daily, the Trendspotter Panel annual predictions and Fancy Food Show reports, the State of the Specialty Food Industry Report, Today's Specialty Food Consumer research, and the Spill & Dish podcast. Find out more online and connect with SFA on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.
Press Contact: press@specialtyfood.com
