It’s Grilling Season

It’s Grilling Season

Welcome to that wonderful time of the year when baseball season is underway, storm doors are being replaced with screen doors, furnaces go dormant and everyone’s mood naturally improves. Welcome to grilling season.

The glorious aroma of on-the-grill meat wafts through neighborhoods all over the country, with special enthusiasm among our fellow Michiganders. Those about to indulge begin to salivate and those down the road become envious of the lucky family with the grill aflame.

At Bremer, grilling season also means making sure our warehouses are stocked with everything hot-dog producers, meat packagers and other food producers need to produce, manufacture, package and ship their products.

The Perfect Barbecue

The perfect barbecue is, of course, heavily influenced by the person doing the grilling. However, that person knows he needs the right ingredients. Even something so seemingly simple like barbecue sauce needs high-quality sugars, brown sugars, spices and seasonings.

Seemingly simple, maybe, but actually highly complex. The proof of barbecue sauce not being so simple is the sheer number of available recipes on shelves. Smoked paprika, onion powder and cracked black pepper are just a few of the ingredients we’re loading onto our trucks this time of year.

We’re fully stocked to keep barbecue producers’ ingredient supply abundant, keeping neighborhoods around the country smelling delicious all summer.

Take Me to the Ballpark

What’s the first thing fans do when you get to the baseball game? Many go straight from having their tickets swiped to the hot-dog stand, no matter what it costs. As baseball season gets underway, the human palate senses the deliciousness of a properly prepared hot dog.

Packaging supplies, especially when dealing with meat, are extremely important, keeping products fresh and at their best for fans to enjoy at the ol’ ballpark.

We enjoy grilling season as much as everyone else, which is why we keep our dedicated trucks on the road, full of the ingredients producers and processors need so we can all enjoy a quality time outdoors.

We understand the special needs of meat packing and poultry processing. If you have a request, please Click Here to get in touch. We are here to help!

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2016 Beverage Industry Outlook

Another year approaches the end of the first quarter, and the beverage industry is showing several interesting trends we are seeing. Particularly of note is the shifting consumer base of health drinks.

Health drinks include sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade as well as protein drinks and other beverages that are typically marketed to athletes or people who are looking for something to complement or supplement their workout regimens.

The industry is finding more and more people regularly consuming health drinks, even if those people are not working out before or during consumption of the beverages, which may even lead to a shift in the marketing target.

Protein drinks in particular can have benefits to non-athletes. Vegetarians and vegans use protein beverages to supplement their diets, while some people simply use the drinks instead of eating an actual meal and elderly consumers might regularly consume these drinks to prevent muscle loss.

Sports drinks are permeating markets beyond athletes, too, as people are stocking their refrigerators with their favorite brands and flavors. According to a January report from Mintel’s Bloom titled “Nutritional and Performance Drinks,” 61 percent of adults consume sports drinks.

From an ingredient standpoint, it means food-grade chemicals are likewise increasing in popularity. Health drinks require high-quality ingredients like preservatives, coloring agents, food safe flavors, minerals and more. As we keep up with the industry trends, we make sure to have all the ingredients our customers need on hand.

Trends for Wineries and Distilleries

Also continuing to trend are ingredients for ever-growing wineries and distilleries that we work with in Michigan. Specifically, whiskey and sparkling wine have both grown significantly over the past year, with whiskey replacing vodka as the top-dollar producer among spirits.

Like with health drinks, food-grade chemicals are essential to wineries and distilleries. Citric acid, tartaric acid, malic acid and others create unique flavor profiles and characteristics, with sugars and sweeteners also playing essential roles in wine and spirits.

What other trends are you noticing as we progress into spring and summer? The beverage industry continues to fascinate and we continue to keep our warehouses stocked for everything our customers will need.

Thinking of an ingredient that can enhance your beverages? Let us know how we can help.

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Sights and Smells of the Holidays

Can you define the smell of the holidays? Almost certainly, you can, and even more certainly, that smell has something to do with food.

No matter the holiday, no matter the family celebrating and no matter the main course, the holidays make people think about food. Specifically dessert. What delicious meal are you salivating over right now? The mere mention of the holidays undoubtedly made your mouth water a little for something. What is it for you?

For many, we can start with cookies. Delectable sugar cookies, for starters, which require sugar (obviously), flour, baking soda, an egg, vanilla extract and whatever special touches the baker uses to separate her batch from the rest.

When sugar cookies are topped with frosting, sprinkles or other sweets, they become even more appealing.

The commercial food manufacturers we are honored to work with know every family has its own traditions and holiday staples, which is why they rely on Bremer Authentic Ingredients for all the flours, sugars, sprinkles and everything else that defines the sights and smells of the holidays.

Pies, Pastries and Cakes

Pumpkin pie and apple pie get most of the glory at Thanksgiving, but there’s a lot to be said for a cherry pie, blueberry pie or whatever satiating concoction graces your dinner table every year. To make the best pie possible, you need the best crust possible, which means you need the best flour possible. Butters, sugars and a little salt make the simplest recipe taste irresistibly good.

Are you into sweeter items like pastries and cakes? Sweet frosting, fluffy frosting, no frosting?  There are essential desserts at every family’s table. If they’re missing, even for a single year, it’s a noticeable void. That’s why you see the grocery-store aisles packed with options from your favorite brands.

All this talk about the holidays and desserts undoubtedly has you looking forward to some sort of mouthwatering masterpiece. What is it in your family?

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Pumpkin Spice is More Than a Latte

Pumpkin Spice – It’s More Than a Latte

It’s a wonderful time of year for coffee magnates large and small. Customers pack their stores daily, paying any price for the succulent taste of the latest pumpkin-spice latte. Autumn has a way of telling people it’s not only okay, but necessary, to bask in the enticing, savory flavor of pumpkin spice.

But why do fancy coffee drinks get all the love? We enjoy a good latte, too, but pumpkin spice can do so much more.

The Pumpkin Beer Craze

Craft beer’s boon continues to swell, and as seasons change, breweries try to find their signature brew to accompany its devotees. When fall arrives, so do the pumpkin beers and the droves of people looking to imbibe. Right here in Bremer’s home of West Michigan, people clamor for New Holland Brewing’s Ichabod the moment they can get their hands on it, and that’s just one of hundreds of pumpkin beers available locally, nationally and internationally.

Pumpkin Spice Beer - New Holland

Just like the pumpkin-spice latte has become associated with changing leaves, so too has the pumpkin beer.

Not everyone who likes coffee likes beer, and vice versa, and yet lines are out the door to get both, so what’s the correlation? Pumpkin spice, of course.

Pumpkin Spice Makes (Almost) Anything Better

The human senses are powerful. A familiar sound or scent conjures memories and moods, sometimes inexplicably. Pumpkin spice is quintessential to leaves changing, a crispness in the air and all things autumn. The power of the spice comes from its incomparable blend: nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and ginger.

Those four spices alone will entice, but when combined, they’re irresistible. That’s why we’re seeing people add pumpkin spice to yogurt, oatmeal and pancakes.

Energy bars now have a hint of pumpkin. Spiced nuts tout the pumpkin. Flavored butter, whipped cream and other condiments have joined the craze. We’ve even seen people creating delicious pumpkin ravioli dishes or using the spice to roast vegetables.

Browse the aisles at your local grocery store and you will see scores of products that either feature pumpkin spice or include pumpkin spice in some quantity.

Yes, pumpkin spice makes for a tasty latte. But it also deserves recognition for everything else it enhances. How do you use pumpkin spice? 

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