Upper Midwest Gourmet

We are really excited to finally have this awesome delipaste flavor in stock.

It can be used to make blackberry gelato or sorbetto and can even be used in pastry and savory applications as well!

(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

We pride ourselves on being ahead of the curve when it comes to industry innovations and the new Elmeco Quickream soft serve ice machine is no exception!

This 110 volt, counter-top machine has a small footprint and an awesome price point. This is a great way to offer soft serve ice cream or even soft gelato using the Fabbri ingredients from Italy. We believe this will be great for smaller-sized cafes and restaurants that want to offer homemade ice cream/gelato on site without needing the space or money for a traditional gelato set-up (batch freezer, display case, etc…).

We will have this machine in our new training cafe, UP, and really think it will be a easy addition for any business looking to add ice cream to their offerings!

It works great with our new Dairy or Non-Dairy soft serve ice cream base from Pacific Natural Foods flavored with Fabbri delipastes from Italy and will be an exceptional machine for using the Fabbri Simple products (fully balanced mix of base powder, sugars, and all-natural flavors).

(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

There’s nothing quite like the nutty, syrupy sweetness of a good porter.  There’s nothing quite like the soft sweetness of  hand-crafted gelato. So, imagine if you will combining this two fantastic flavor sensations into one delightful frozen treat.

Lo and behold, Moka Porter Gelato made with Town Hall Brewery’s Porter and an assortment of Fabbri delipastes.

A match made in heaven.

For more information on this gelato experimentation at Fat Lorenzo’s see my full blog post.

As many of you know, things always seem to take a little longer than expected to get up and running when opening a cafe.

UP will be an open to the public cafe serving Flamenco Organic coffee and espresso roasted on site, Italian gelato made fresh on site, and tasty baked goods and panini’s all made from local ingredients.

The best part for all of you is that this cafe will be our brand new fully operational training cafe and state-of-the-art showroom. We will be able to have you come in with your staff to get full company trainings. In areas like espresso, coffee, and gelato preparation, this can be very beneficial to everyone!

If you have any questions about the UP, please Contact Us.

That’s right, a new, smaller sized gelato cup is here!

It is an 80 cc  green cup that can be used as your new small size cup or even better as your kiddie cup option.

Gelato Cup Options

Italian Gelato Cups – Green (2400 – 80cc cups)
Italian Gelato Cups – Yellow (800 – 130cc cups)
Italian Gelato Cups – Blue (600 – 170cc cups)
Italian Gelato Cups – Orange (450 – 220cc cups)

(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

Yes, it’s that time of year again when the trade shows begin. We are exhibiting in a couple of them that we would love to invite you to attend.

Our first show of the year is the Wisconsin Restaurant Expo being held in downtown Milwaukee on March 12-14th. That’s a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday show. We have been exhibiting at this show for over 10 years now and will have our usual spot on the floor with a 20 foot end booth. This year we will be highlighting our Flamenco Organic Coffees, Dr Smoothie 100% crushed fruit smoothie mixes, Mozo Chef shoes, Cappuccine, Big Train and a host of fine products from Amoretti including flavoring syrups, 100% fruit smoothie mixes, Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar and Martin mixes. We will have many other items on display as well including a 2 group espresso machine. We would love to see you there this year so stop by for an espresso, smoothie or martini (maybe all 3 mixed together!). We have a limited amount of FREE passes for Wednesday the 14th. Please contact us if that is a day you can make it.

Go to http://www.everythingfoodservice.org for more info on this fantastic show.

The second show of the year for us is Coffee Fest Chicago being held at the Navy Pier Convention Hall. This show is on June 8-10th (Friday-Sunday). We will have another 20 foot booth there highlighting many of our products including Flamenco Organic Coffee and are hoping to have a full display of Gelato on hand. For more info on this show and to register to attend, please visit http://www.coffeefest.com for more details.

Please stay tuned for more details on this show as we comprise them.

Hope to see you at one or both of these shows. We love to meet with our customers rather it may be the first time, or an annual routine. We truly appreciate your continued business and support and feel these show are a way for us to convey that to you.

Feel free to contact us for any further information on either of these shows.

What a winter we have had this year! It’s either been the worst or the best, depending on your perspective. We hope that the warmer than usual weather has helped business for everyone.

The weather will be turning even warmer, though, which means cold drinks like iced espresso drinks, cold press coffee, smoothies, frappes, iced tea, and lemonade are going to really start picking up. It also means that those of you that are making gelato will start to see some serious sales increases.

We have used this winter to make some serious improvements around here with a focus to better serve you, and want to let you all know again how much we appreciate your business!

Please check out our newest Brewsletter – Volume 46 – Winter 2011/12

Also, please go to the Brewsletters Page on our website to download and read previous Brewsletters. They contain lots of useful information!

Enjoy and thanks again from all of us at UMG!

Upper Midwest Gourmet and Flamenco Organic Coffee Company will be in booth 748 for the 2012 WI Restaurant Show.

Where: Frontier Airlines Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Booth 748)

When: March 12th-14th (11am-5pm Monday, 10am-5pm Tuesday, 10am-3pm Wednesday)

Here is a link to the show for more information: WI RESTAURANT EXPO

If you would like more information or possibly a FREE pass to the show please Contact Us.

See you there!

We are very happy to have our relationship with Papa Gelato at the Minnesota State Fair. He started at the Fair many years ago with his amazing pizza at The Pizza Palace and decided to stay in the authentic Italian theme when he introduced gelato to the State Fair and most of Minnesota, for the matter, back in 2005. He has been producing gelato/Italian ice cream at the MN State Fair for seven years now and it continues to get better and more creative every year. This year he has introduced new flavors like the super popular “Sea Salt Caramel Gelato” and the savory “Bacon Gelato!” Yes, BACON GELATO!

 You have to make sure to stop and get some gelato or sorbetto on your next visit to the MN State Fair and tell them that the Beanheads at UMG sent ya! Remember, you can always ask for a sample of a flavor to try first if you just can’t decide which flavor you want.

(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

Upper Midwest Gourmet is proud to now offer the newest line of Gelato and Pastry display cases from Ciam.

Here are some information sheets of their current options:

(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

Crostata (Pastry Tart/Cake) delipaste is an amazing flavor option that can transform any gelato or ice cream to taste like a cake! This can be great when making creative flavors like “Birthday Cake Gelato” topped with sprinkles (kids love it!) or to make my personal favorite, “Wedding Cake Gelato!” This one is close to my heart as I made it for my own wedding reception and for our roaster, Alan’s, wedding reception as well.

This is our Fabbri flavor of the season and can be used to create hundreds of new gelato flavors with ease.

(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

We would really like to thank everyone that visited our booth at the Wisconsin Restaurant Expo this year in Milwaukee. We were very happy to be a part of this expo for our 16th or 17th year. Who can keep track anymore…

This, again, was a success and we owe it all to our customers, new and old. Here are some of the products we showcased and received most feedback on:

• Flamenco Organic Coffees and Espresso- per usual our wide array of micro-roasted Organic, Fair Trade, and Direct Trade coffees were very popular. The Nicaraguan Rio Coco and the Minnesota Mudd Blend were both talked about a bunch, but the Papua New Guinea, the Ethiopian Dara, and the Kona coffee (especially out of the Bunn Trifecta) were holding their own as well. The Matador Espresso Blend was also being pulled from the Casadio 2-group Espresso Machine and tasting just as sweet and smooth as ever!

• Amoretti Martini Mixes- yes, we are now carrying a martini mix line, and yes, it is awesome! David was making martini’s all show and everyone loved them. We will be bringing in the Apple, Blueberry, Cosmopolitan, Lemon Drop, Mango, Mojito, Passion Fruit, Pomegranate, and Raspberry flavors, with more coming soon. They are super easy to make, made with the finest ingredients, and very reasonably priced.

• Umpqua Oats Oatmeal- this product never ceases to amaze us! We knew we liked this oatmeal when we first tried it, but never imagined how fast our customers would agree. It is one of the quickest products to take off for us and works perfectly for cafes to get that extra sale with your morning rush customer. These oatmeals are nutritious, delicious, and fast to make and with eight flavors including the “Not Guilty” which is salt and sugar free, who can go wrong?

• Cappuccine Red Velvet Frappe Mix- not only did this product win 2010 “best new beverage” at Seattle Coffee Fest, it continues to emerge as the next “must have” flavor at every cafe. We see a lot of new flavor ideas for blended beverages in our industry, but none have had the steam that the Red Velvet Cupcake frappe is making. It only helps the cause that Cappuccine has their own EXCLUSIVE Whipped Cream Cheese topping recipe on their website that completes this delightfully different cupcake in a cup.

• Fabbri 1905 Pastry Ingredients from Italy- delipastes aren’t just for gelato anymore. Tom Trieschmann from Fabbri has been helping us learn about all the amazing pastry applications for many of the products we carry and have only used for ice cream and gelato in the past. Tom personally sampled out the famous “Amarena” cherry of Italy that Fabbri is known for and started the company over 100 years ago. These Fabbri Amarena cherries are sour and intense and are like nothing you have ever tried before!

• David Rio Chai- this is a brand new product for us that we just had to bring in after sampling. We have known for years that David Rio Chai’s had a great reputation, but it wasn’t until we made some ourselves that we really understood just how good it really is. There are eight amazing flavors including Tiger Spice Chai, Elephant Vanilla, and Tortoise Green Tea. This chai is easy to prepare hot, iced, or blended, it is Kosher Certified, Gluten Free, and has No Hydrogenated Oils or Trans Fats.

• International Paper Hold & Go “Flamenco” Design, Insulated Hot Cups- these cups are the ultimate hot cup in the industry. It was hard not to spot a Flamenco hot cup in someone’s hand when walking the show. With so many people trying our coffees and espressos you wouldn’t have to look far to see the beautiful dancer silhouette. Even many of the presenters and speakers at the show could be seen sipping from our snazzy cups during their presentations! These cups are part of the “Sustainable Forestry Initiative” which promotes sustainable forest management and is something we feel is very important. Not only are they double-walled which means no sleeve is needed, but the lids are universal meaning the same lid fits the 12oz, 16oz, and 20oz cups!

(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

Upper Midwest Gourmet now has a Facebook Page!

Upper Midwest Gourmet is excited to announce that we will be exhibiting this year at Coffee Fest Chicago being held at the Navy Pier on the shore line of Lake Michigan.

This year’s event is being held the weekend of February 18th-20th, 2011. The show hours are Friday and Saturday 12:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. and Sunday from 12:00 P.M. to 4:00 P. M. Upper Midwest Gourmet and our Flamenco Organic Coffee Company will be showing off our goods in booths 101 & 102. You may also find one of us assisting one of the many vendors and/or manufacturers in their various booths throughout the show floor on any one of the open days.

We would love to have you stop by and visit with us, take a look at some new and exciting products and sample some goodies. If you would like to attend this show, please contact us as we have a limited number of FREE PASSES for up to four persons per business. You will need to obtain a pass code from Upper Midwest Gourmet in order to receive this free admission. You only have until January 30th to take advantage of this offer so act soon if you are planning on attending. Please Contact Us for more details.

You can go to www.coffeefest.com for more info on this show and to see who will be exhibiting this year.

As always, we greatly appreciate our customers continued patronage and support and always look forward to a face-to-face opportunity to visit with you.

Hope to see you at the show!

UMG Staff

Winter is upon us! Warm up with a blanket next to a fire and enjoy our newest brewsletter.

Please check out our newest Brewsletter – Volume 42 – Winter 2010

Also, please go to the Brewsletters Page on our website to download and read previous Brewsletters. They contain lots of useful information!

Enjoy and thanks again from all of us at UMG!