Montebello Kitchens Adds Nutritious, Local Ingredients to Salad Dressings
September 26, 2011
Montebello Kitchens is incorporating several nutritious ingredients to its line of dressings. The Citronette, Fig Balsamic, and Lavender dressings now contain agave inulin, milled chia seed, and organic coconut palm sugar. Additionally, owner Steven Lynch now uses canola oil culled from Virginia-grown canola plants in the dressings. While the taste remains the same for all three dressings, the added ingredients continue Lynch’s mission to make food fun, accessible, and most importantly, healthy.
Montebello Kitchens' Steven Lynch, with wife Becky, at the 2011 Fancy Food Show in Washington, D.C.
“Montebello Kitchens makes foods that my family and I eat,” said Lynch. “We try to create the most flavorful and healthful foods that we can. We make food that is good for those who eat it, and good for the workers who grow and produce our ingredients.”
Lynch, a native of Central Virginia, is especially proud of the contribution local farmers and workers now add to the dressings.
“Locally grown seed and locally produced oil has a direct positive impact on our area’s economy,” Lynch said. “Buying regionally eliminates wasteful trucking expenses and insures that we are using the freshest ingredients possible.”
And also the healthiest; the recent additions deliver a wealth of nutrients for consumers.
Inulin, a relatively new word on the nutritional scene, is a naturally occurring soluable fiber found in agave. When inulin is consumed and absorbed by the lower intestine, it increases overall dietary wellness. Inulin contains powerful prebiotics, non-digestible food fiber that promotes the growth of “good bacteria” in the digestive tract. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition notes that inulin increases calcium absorption, thus leading to stronger bones. In addition to associating inulin with digestive and bone health, nutritionists also believe it plays a role in controlling both weight and diabetes. It’s also thought to lower cholesterol as well as boost the body’s immune system.
In recent years, nutritionists have helped redefine the chia seed—once notable for the ever-popular Chia Pet—as a venerable superfood. Chia, classified in the mint family, is native to Guatemala and central and southern Mexico.
The final new addition, organic coconut palm sugar, is quickly gaining popularity with food enthusiasts. Pure coconut palm sugar is a natural product made from the nectar of the coconut palm tree. The Lance Armstrong Foundation recently endorsed the healing benefits of palm sugar, saying the ingredient “may help maintain proper levels of blood glucose, or sugar, while providing an abundance of nutrients and minerals to keep you healthy.” Additionally, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that palm sugar is the world’s most sustainable sweetener.
While health and sustainability are important to Montebello Kitchens, so is taste. All of these dressings make for perfect toppings on salads and also serve as delicious marinades for meat.
Montebello Kitchens, a Virginia Finest company, is family owned and takes great pride in creating genteel gourmet foods. All food is made in the artisan style—by hand, in small batches, and honoring Virginia Traditions and Heritage. Montebello Kitchens has been recognized in such magazines as Ladies Home Journal and Woman’s World. Their acclaimed Chipotle Ketchup has won numerous Scovie Awards, one of the food industry’s most coveted honors. Montebello Kitchens peanut soup mixes have received recognition from the Queen of England and the United States Congress.
For more information, visit www.montebellokitchens.com, www.facebook.com/montebellokitchens, or www.twitter.com/m_kitchens.
PO Box 610 Gordonsville, VA, 22942 USA
customer.service@montebellokitchens.com • 800-743-7687
Montebello Kitchens chooses Alice.com for online storefront
September 19, 2011
Montebello Kitchens chooses Alice.com for online storefront
Montebello Kitchens partners with Alice.com to sell direct to their retail customers with always‐free shipping.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Montebello Kitchens, a Virginia’s Finest company producing artisan Virginia foods, today announced the launch of its new online store, powered by Alice.com, a retail platform that enables leading manufacturers to sell direct to their customers with always‐free shipping and a host of other benefits.
“Since we have been honored with three 2011 SCOVIE awards and recognition in Woman’s World Magazine, Ladies Home Journal Magazine, The Nibble.com, and many gourmet internet and catalog retailers, demand for Montebello Kitchens products have skyrocketed. Selling online allows us to expand our reach nationwide so that Montebello Kitchens fans all over the country can have our delicious food shipped free directly to their door,” says Steven Lynch, Founder of Montebello Kitchens. “We were thrilled to select Alice.com to power our storefront and give our fans the convenience of the Alice.com shopping experience whenever they buy a Montebello Kitchens product.”
Founder Steven Lynch, a native Virginian, has been crafting his culinary skills since an early age. He brings a vast expertise and colorful flair to all of his culinary creations. His impressive talent for creating the best in Virginia food brings him significant and popular acclaim. “As a family business, we believe that integrity, hard work, and good will pay off in satisfied customers. We strive to be a friend to the environment and the community through responsible business practices, donations, volunteerism, and community memberships.” said Lynch. In this spirit, Montebello Kitchens has partnered with local 501 (c) (3) organizations dedicated to providing job training, as well as employment opportunities, to area residents with disabilities in effort to promote greater levels of self-sufficiency.
For additional information on Montebello Kitchens products, contact owner Steven Lynch or visit www.montebellokitchens.com, where a catalog of all Montebello Kitchens products is also featured.
About Montebello Kitchens: Montebello Kitchens is an award-winning family owned specialty food company that carries the Virginia Finest trademark distinction of quality. All products are made in the artisan style – by hand in small batches, honoring Virginia traditions and heritage.
About Alice.com: Alice.com provides eCommerce and interactive marketing services exclusively to the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry. The company’s eCommerce platform allows CPG manufacturers to sell direct to consumer online through a unique online service that provides always free shipping, automatic coupons, and a reorder tool that makes it easy for consumers to avoid the chore of running out to the store. Alice.com is privately held and headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin.
Montebello Kitchens receives 3 awards in hot and spicy showdown
January 12, 2011
World’s Most Competitive Fiery Foods Contest Announces 2011 Scovie Award Winners
Montebello Kitchens receives 3 awards in hot and spicy showdown
Montebello Kitchens, a Virginia’s Finest company producing artisan Virginia foods, has been honored with three 2011 SCOVIE awards. In the industry’s most rigorous blind tastings, a panel of the country’s top culinary experts sampled hundreds of the world’s most lauded gourmet foods, and the top scoring products each won a coveted Scovie banner. More than 600 products from around the world competed this year for top Scovie honors. When the results of the 2011 Scovie Awards, the world’s leading recognition for hot and spicy products, were announced, Steven Lynch of Montebello Kitchens was excited to get the call from the competition organizers. “We are extremely excited.” Said Steven Lynch “This is 2 years straight that our Chipotle Ketchup has won an award and we are grateful that our Lavender Dressing with organic agave won an award as well as our Thai Curry Peanut Soup. The Thai Curry Peanut Soup is a new product for us this year and we could not be more excited that straight out of the gate we win a SCOVIE award. We are very honored to receive these awards and excited that the judges loved our gourmet food products”.
Dave DeWitt, the “Pope of Peppers,” is still impressed after all these years. DeWitt states, “This year I was blown away by all of the great submissions. Some are out of this world and the new ideas and flavors never cease to amaze me. The competition gets better and better each year.”
Montebello Kitchens gourmet food is available at Whole Foods stores in the Mid-Atlantic region, at Moms Organic Market stores in the Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC area, Foods of All Nations in Charlottesville, VA, gourmet internet and catalog retailers, and specialty stores.
About Montebello Kitchens: Montebello Kitchens was founded in 2005 by Steven Lynch on the concept of providing healthful and flavorful gourmet food products, addressing the popular demand for real food with no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. Montebello Kitchens soon gained notoriety as the source for nutritious, delicious, healthful, and flavorful specialty foods. Montebello Kitchens is an award-winning family owned specialty food company that carries the Virginia Finest trademark distinction of quality. All products are hand-made in small batches, honoring Virginia traditions and heritage
