July 16 2012

July 16, 2012: A long but productive travel week to Tennessee and the Carolinas is over. The old Trailblazer logged 2000 more miles but is still going strong and did great through the mountains and hills of the Blue Ridge Smokies. Thanks to Dave and Barbara Olson for allowing me to stay overnight with them in Cleveland, Tennessee. They introduced me to Keith Scott and Benjie Widener from Cookes and it was great to see a thriving independent grocery store operation successfully competing against all of the national chains. I traveled Monday to Waynesville, NC and called on several places that afternoon. The people at BiLo could not have been nicer, even though they were unable to make a decision on carrying our products. Assistant Manager Lisa Messer spent time with me and researched bbq sauce distributors for me to contact. This is how I remember the southern hospitality of the Carolinas! Thanks Lisa! The people at Ghost Town in Maggie Valley were still stocking their gift shop and were not ready to make a decision but just down the road, Stacey Boris, owner of the Maggie Country Store quickly said yes to stocking E’s Best sauces. I stayed 2 nights with Steve Gambill who happened to be at his mountain home the same time I was in town. We had a great time cooking and watching All Star game events while I was there. Thanks Steve for everything. During my stay, I met Radawn Elmore between Asheville and Spartanburg as she needed to re-supply her stock. I also went back to Asheville and called on The Chop Shop Butchery, which was recently featured on The Food Network. They are a really nice group of people and are currently sampling our sauces for stocking consideration. Then I went over to the WNC Farmers Market and checked in on Coates Produce and also stopped by Jarvis Produce on the same campus and Ken Jarvis ended up stocking our sauces as well! We are still working on the Moose Cafe at the Farmers Market. Hopefully they will stock us in the future. From the mountains, I traveled to Charlotte and Tonda Bynum and I called on a number of prospects. Our first sale in Charlotte was Fat Boy Produce at the Charlotte regional Farmers Market. As I left town, Tonda re-stocked her supply in anticipation of 3 or 4 stores making a decision in the coming days.

All in all, it was a very productive trip. We sold 34 cases last week from our second run of bottling and God has really blessed us with great retailers, distributors, and retail buyers. It really means so much when people come up and tell Jan and me how much they enjoy our products. This week we are seeking to add new retailers in Florida and hope to have more announcements soon. Thanks for your prayers!

E’s Best!