The latest poster products for this evolution are new Wegmans brand baking mixes for make-your-own double chocolate brownies, chocolate cake, sugar cookies and vanilla cake.  One of our artisan bakers, Patty Fowler, worked for nearly a year testing and tweaking the recipes for these four mixes.  My favorite is the brownies, a cross between fudgy and cakey.  Want them more moist and fudgy? Bake 28 minutes; less moist, 32 minutes (have you noticed that people’s preferences are really divided when it comes to brownies?).  I’m here to say that when we tasted these, no way would we have known they were anything other than a perfectly delicious indulgent brownie.

What did our supplier, Raymond Hadley, in the NY Finger Lakes area, substitute for the wheat flour in these mixes?  The answer is rice flour.  All you have to do is add a couple of fresh ingredients…an egg, butter or milk..and pop in the oven.  Anne Lerminiaux, our test kitchen expert,  reminds us not to over-bake.  You can find these in Nature’s Marketplace.

I’m still proud that Wegmans received an award in 2005 from the Columbia University Celiac Disease Center.  We’ve continued to focus on customers with celiac disease or the larger number of people who are gluten-sensitive or just exploring different ways of eating to see what makes them feel good.  Having affordable baking mixes like this is just the latest example of how we try to help folks with special dietary needs.  Coming later this year:  chocolate chip cookie mix, corn bread, and biscuit, pancake, and waffle mix.

Have you tried our Gluten Free Baking Mixes?  What do you think?

Senior Vice President, Consumer Affairs
40 years @ Wegmans

Here are two of my favorite sweet ways to show love:

1. Photo Cakes – We all have those pictures that make our mom’s smile.  Now you can take those pictures and have them printed right on the cake!  Pick your favorite picture for mom and then share it with one of our Bakery folks. You can bring the actual photo, or electronically via a camera card, flash drive, or email.  The photo can be copied onto a buttercreme or whipped cream cake and you can sit and wait to capture the look on your mom’s face when she sees it!
2. Decorate your own – This Saturday (May 12, 2012 – Check with your store for hours) you can come into any of our stores and decorate a cake for mom.  Let the kiddos come in and show their creativity – mom is sure to love it!  No mess for you, just a sweet treat for mom!

I hope I’ve inspired you to treat your mom to something special this mother’s day. Either option you choose will show Mom you’re thinking about her and her special day!

What’s your favorite way to show your mom you care?

Because of Purple Passion’s intense flavor, we think you’ll find it hard to resist munching on it raw. It will add beautiful color to any salad or hors d’oeuvre. Once cooked, the veggie’s purplish color turns dark green, with a pale green to creamy white flesh.  I enjoy my asparagus grilled or sautéed to bring out a nutty flavor.

So, what makes it purple? Wegmans’ Nutrition and Product Labeling ManagerJane Andrews, M.S., R.D., explains: “Asparagus, already respectable nutritionally, takes on the trendy color purple due to natural plant pigments called anythocyanins. These are especially rich in blueberries and may be responsible for brain and eye health benefits. Go purple! Asparagus is also a source of fiber, vitamin C, iron, folate and a few other B vitamins.  Note that 5 spears have only 20 calories!”

It’s always a plus to enjoy something you can’t get enough of and is so good for you. We’ll only be harvesting this asparagus from April to May, but it’s worth the short window when you’re rewarded every spring with spears full of flavor and nourishment.

Have you tried growing asparagus? This is a great vegetable to grow and the crops will stay productive for at least 10 years

Have you ever tasted purple asparagus?  Tell us what you think!

Amy Cimino

9 years @ Wegmans

Wegmans Organic Farm Store Ambassador

YOU Helped Pick our New Gluten Free Pasta

There is no cure for Celiac disease, and the only treatment is a strict gluten-free diet. Fortunately there are lots of naturally gluten-free foods along with great tasting products specifically designed to be gluten-free, including Wegmans new gluten free pastas.

Our product developers set out to find gluten-free pasta that tastes great and is easy to work with. Unlike the regular kind, gluten-free pasta can often be challenging as some get mushy, clumpy or completely fall apart.  They found a few products they liked, but wondered how consumers would react. To help us find out, we invited over 100 gluten-free customers (adults and kids) to participate in a blind taste test. Customers tried samples of four different gluten-free pastas and provided written feedback.  The sample that came out on top (and was preferred over the top-selling gluten-free pasta) became our new Food You Feel Good About Gluten Free Pasta!

Gluten-Free Summer Pasta Salad

Made from 100% corn and also free of egg and soy as well as wheat, it has a texture similar to regular pasta with a slightly sweet finish. Just like traditional pasta, you’ll find easy-to-follow cooking directions on each box.  It’s available in four varieties – Elbows, Fusili, Spaghetti, and Penne Rigate (my personal favorite). Pair with one of our new Italian Classics Organic Pasta Sauces (which are also gluten-free) or use in seasonal  recipes like Gluten-Free Summer Pasta Salad.  We think it’s perfect for Mother’s Day or Memorial Day gatherings!

As a thank you for helping us pick this pasta we’d like to give you a coupon to try it out for a little less!

What’s your favorite way to enjoy pasta?

Trish Kazacos, RD, ACE-CPT

Wegmans Nutritionist

5 years @ Wegmans

Traditionally, Natural Casings have been used in making salami.  This goes back many years to the times when every part of the animal was used in some form (long, long before sustainability became a buzz word). At the risk of telling you more than you wanted to know, the lining of the intestines were used as the casing into which the meat mixture was stuffed.  These natural casings allowed enough airflow for  the salami to cure slowly and develop flavor.

As technology changed and meat processors looked for less expensive and less complicated ways to cure salami, Artificial Casings were developed, mostly made from cellulose.  Almost all the salami sold in the U.S. today is made with artificial casings, although our Deli Departments still sell several natural casing products.

So should you eat the casing or not?  As a general rule, the casing should be removed before eating salami.  The only exceptions to this are Columbus Secchi Salami and Columbus Artisan Cacciatore Salami.  These are cured with very thin natural casings that adhere tightly to the meat and are very easy to chew.    Columbus tells us that these artisan salami are best enjoyed with the casing left attached.  So that’s our advice, although you may be one who likes really chewy casings, in which case, ignore all this.  Enjoy!

What’s your favorite kind of salami?

Senior Vice President, Consumer Affairs
40 years @ Wegmans

You may know that we’ve had an Organic Ketchup for some time.  It was launched in our Nature’s Marketplace and gained such a following that we decided to put it in our main condiment aisle as well.  And there it has been for the last couple of years – a lonely beacon of organic goodness in a sea of conventional items.  Well, it’s not alone anymore. Our Wegmans Organic Ketchup has some new friends this year!

• TWO Organic Mustards, Yellow and Spicy Brown
• TWO sizes of Organic Ketchup, convenient 20 oz. and family-sized 36 oz.
• Organic BBQ Sauce
• Organic Mayonnaise
• TWO Organic Relishes, Sweet and Dill (coming in June so we can get the freshest harvest!)
• Organic Bread & Butter Pickles (also coming in June)

Back to Basics

As a company, we are very focused on organics.  We feel that by getting back to clean and basic ingredients, the flavors of food really shine through. We also know that organic items are better for the Earth, since they don’t use synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.

Of course, all of this applies to our organic condiment line….but we wanted to go a little further.  With the condiments, we wanted to make them approachable.  So what the heck does that mean?  I’ll admit that the idea of an “approachable” condiment sounds kind of silly, but hear me out.

Approachable Prices

Once we had developed the flavors and chosen our ingredients, the first thing we wanted to get out of the way was the price.  We have some great pricing on organics throughout the store, and it was important that the condiments also be priced where they would make sense for families. We worked with our suppliers and made sure that our price would be among the lowest in the market.  That’s why you can walk into our store and get an Organic Ketchup, Mustard, or Relish for $1.99!  (We’re starting to get approachable.)

Approachable Locations

We also decided that these organic condiments should also be placed in both the Nature’s Marketplace and the main aisle.  When I’m shopping, where do I think “Hmm, I think I need mayo.” In the mayo aisle!  Ta-da! Approachable! (Mentally, I just did jazz hands for emphasis.)

Approachable Labels

Our final piece of the “approachability” puzzle was the label.  It is my opinion that for too long, labels on organic condiments have looked pretty stiff – almost more like pharmaceuticals than something you’d put on a sandwich!  I don’t know if the intent was to justify the price or to convey the seriousness of the product.  But come on, what’s so serious about a BLT with mayo?  Do you really furrow your brow and contemplate the meaning of your existence while adding mustard to a hot dog? We let the USDA Organic seal do the serious talk – that’s the standard.  Our labels are just fun, and they take the unnecessary murky mystique away.  The bright, fresh-looking labels make our organic condiments feel…oh, I don’t know…approachable.

So, there you have it!  Nine new Wegmans Organic Condiments, all with the great flavors that you’d expect from such natural, basic ingredients. Happy Summer!

Have you tried these condiments yet?  Tell us what you think!

Steve Philips

9 years @ Wegmans

Grocery Category Merchant

Hi everyone!  I can hardly believe that May is here and we will be opening in just 5 short days!  We are so excited to open in King of Prussia, and I can tell you that shopping in King of Prussia will never be the same!  I’ve been in Pennsylvania for awhile now and I was thrilled when I got the opportunity to open another great store here in PA.

Our team can’t wait to share the Wegmans experience with our new friends and neighbors in this great community. If you haven’t been in a Wegmans, I think you’ll find it’s a fun place to shop and eat. Our team can’t wait to share the Wegmans experience with our friends and neighbors in this great community! Our top priority is helping you make great meals easy – it all starts with incredible service and amazing, fresh ingredients.

We reached out on Twitter to ask you what you’d want to hear about with your new store.  These were a couple of the questions we received:

@brianltobin – @Wegmans any big differences as compared to the other local stores on Collegeville and Malvern?

I think one of our biggest and best differences are our people!  We’ve got a great family here and we can’t wait to meet you and welcome you to your Wegmans.  If you’re familiar with our Collegeville and Malvern stores, then you are probably familiar with the Pub as well.  We’re excited to say that we’ll be bringing the Pub to your Wegmans!  There’s a little something for everyone and you can watch our chef’s prepare your meal!

@mrswormie – @Wegmans when is the opening date?

That’s a great question and I am pumped to say that we will be opening on May 6, 2012 at 7 am.  It’s going to be an exciting morning and I hope you can join us for the fun!

If you need more information on your new store please check out your new store site!

I am so happy we can bring another Wegmans to Pennsylvania and I can’t wait to see you!

Kevin Lang

Store Manager, King of Prussia

Have you seen the list of products we’ve selected to maintain the same price until the end of August?  We want to make it affordable and easy for you to shop at Wegmans.  There are some seasonal additions as well as holdovers from the Winter List.  Example:  frozen ice cream sandwiches are new; frozen pizza is a perennial favorite that stays on.  Another:  cough and cold remedies go away, but allergy medications and sunscreen are new.  Frozen salmon, tilapia and haddock stay on; a brand new mild fillet called Swai is new (I’ll blog about that later.)

Customers tell us these pricing ‘deals’ make a real difference to them, and they say it better than we could:  “My husband and I work so hard and yet it seems we are just caught up in this windtunnel where everyone wants just a little bit more and lately more is just not there.  Please know how valuable you are to our community.”

The way we figure it, this list plus our simple Consistent Low Price approach means that you can do your shopping at just one store (that would be ours, of course).  Our approach is meant to be simple for you, but behind the scenes, there’s a rigorous process to back up our claim that on average we are 15% lower than other supermarkets and competitively priced with mass merchants and club stores.  We use an outside auditing firm, plus store price-checkers and customer comments to be sure we stay underneath other stores’ specials.  We’re certainly not perfect, but we are committed to doing what it takes to be sure that your shopping basket at Wegmans doesn’t cost you more.  We don’t want price to ever be the reason you don’t shop with us.

Want to see the whole list? Go to www.wegmans.com/wclp

Senior Vice President, Consumer Affairs
40 years @ Wegmans

Grilled Zucchini with Chipotle Lime Butter

1. I often use vinegar as a compliment to salt. The acidity has a tendency to brighten up almost everything, and our new Vinegar Spritzers are a great way to make sure that you add just the right amount. Try a little blast of raspberry vinegar on fresh tomatoes, apple cider vinegar on any root vegetable, and our wonderful balsamic vinegar on almost any vegetable
2. I also love to use our finishing butters as a last-minute addition to my vegetables that will turn the same old, same old into something special. From a simple shallot and thyme butter that works with ANYTHING to more exotic ones like black truffle or chipotle lime, these butters add a quick burst of flavor.

Just writing this made me hungry!  I am off to eat some veggies but I would love to hear how you jazz yours up at home!

How do you like to top your veggies to make them irresistible?

Russell Ferguson

13 years @ Wegmans

Executive Chef of Culinary Development

One of the first things we did was gather a group of Wegmans people to sample every different organic pasta sauce we could find in the marketplace.  We wanted to see what the best sauces had in common and think about what ours should taste like.  You might not realize it, but sometimes there are differences in organic products vs others. An organic tomato may taste completely different than a traditional one or the olive oils and spices may vary in flavor.

Ultimately, we believed the flavors of our Italian Classics sauces really were the best and went after recreating them with organic ingredients. Lidestri Foods not only manufactures our Wegmans brand sauces, but also the organic pasta sauces for some of the best brands out there. So they were a natural to help create our newest additions. The new Organic Chunky Marinara was inspired by our Grandma’s Pomodoro, and I bet you can guess which sauce the Organic Grandpa’s Gone Vegetarian Sauce was based on.  I love the spice in that one! The Roasted Garlic is all new, and one we think will become a lot of people’s favorite.

Have you tried them?  What do you think?

Chris Coffey

19 years @ Wegmans Education & Product Development Specialist for Wegmans Brand