Upper Midwest Gourmet

Summer is almost over with Fall on the way!

Please check out our newest Brewsletter – Volume 41 – End of Summer 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!

UMG is happy to anounce our new line of Natural Cleaners from Green Works. We are currently carrying the All-Purpose Cleaner, the Bathroom Cleaner, the Dishwashing Cleaner, and the Glass & Surface Cleaner.

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

We hope to see you there, please visit us in our booths 326 & 328!

Coffee Fest Minneapolis
Minneapolis Convention Center – June 04 – 06, 2010

In this challenging time of economic uncertainty, with trusted advice more valuable than ever, Coffee Fest brings you the nation’s best retail operators and industry professionals and consultants to ensure your business survives and even thrives with today’s profitability threats and tomorrow’s challenges.

Event Location
Minneapolis Convention Center
1301 Second Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55403-2781
612-335-6000

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

Thanks to everyone that took part in the Fabbri workshop yesterday at UMG. Special thanks to Tom Trieshmann and Donna Domiano “The Gelato Queen” from Fabbri North America for their efforts and expertise.

Donna and Tom put on a great workshop by making some amazing gelatos and sorbettos, refreshing seasonal drinks, beautiful pastries, and showed us all how to use Fabbri in a ton of different applications.

Here is a link to all pictures from the event:

Fabbri Workshop

Donna’s pics from Fabbri Seminar

If this looks like something you want for your business or if you have questions please Contact Us.

Thanks again!

Wisconsin Food Expo Milwaukee, WI; March 8th through the 10th, 2010 - Booth 748

Ah yes, the show season is soon to be upon us. For starters, Upper Midwest Gourmet will be showing off our duds again this year in Milwaukee Wisconsin at the Wisconsin Restaurant Associations annual Expo to be held at the Airline Center in downtown Milwaukee on March 8th trough the 10th (Mon-Wed). Go to www.wirestaurant.org/expo/ for more details on this show and to register. As in the past years, UMG has a boat load of FREE PASSES for Wednesday the 10th, the last day of the show. Please contact us direct at 612-728-7208 or contact Kevin direct at 612-250-8277 or Kevin@umgcoffee.com and we will mail you the tickets. You will need to register them once you have the ticket code. This can be done the day of the show at the door. This year we will be highlighting our new line of Ce Organic and Fair Trade, all natural flavoring syrups, our new International Paper Insulated Hold & Go Hot cups, Angela Marie’s Mega Marshmallow Munchies crisp rice bars, Pacific Foods Organic Simply coffee & tea ready to drink products, Deep River all natural chips and snacks, and our new Flamenco Organic Coffee Direct coffees. We will also have a new espresso machine on hand for your review, use and sampling of our espressos.

This is one of those shows that our staff ALWAYS looks forward to because of the amount of you that take the time to visit with us there and the many new customers we are lucky enough to meet each year. Of the many food & coffee shows that we show at, this has always been the best run and most fun to attend so I encourage you to try to make it if you can, you will not be disappointed!

Coffee Fest Minneapolis, MN, June 04 – 06, 2010

We are very excited to announce that the folks at Coffee Fest have scheduled one of their 2010 show right here in Minneapolis this year in June. Coffee Fest is still one of the better coffee focused shows in the industry so we expect nothing less at this show. We among many other local, regional and international companies will be showing. This Upper Midwest region of the country is finally getting the recognition we have so rightfully earned in the coffee world so this show should be full of useful information for any café owner in this market. As more details come in, we will continue to pass them on to you so please stay tuned or go directly to www.coffeefest.com for more details and to register for this show.

We always love to see our customers at every show we attend so please do come and say hello at one or both of these shows. Upper Midwest Gourmet will also be announcing our annual picnic/open house very soon so please stay tuned for that date to be made.

We thank you all for your continued support and patronage. We are nothing without our great customers and we are driven by your support to continue to improve our services and offerings to you!

See you at the shows!

Welcome to Fall!

Please check out our newest Brewsletter – Volume 39 - Fall 2009

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!

Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring!

Please check out our newest Brewsletter – Volume  37 – Spring 2009

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

Enjoy the new format and thanks from all of us!

Winter is officially over and Spring is here!

Now is the time to get your gelato and ice cream equipment cleaned up, sanitized, and make sure that all old milkstone is removed.

Our Stera-Sheen “Green Label” does an amazing job with all three of those tasks on:

    * Gelato Batch Freezers and Display Cases

    * Soft-Serve Ice Cream and Shake Machines

    * Granita, Smoothie, and Iced Cappuccino Machines

    * Blenders and Blending Equipment

    * Iced Tea Brewers and Dispensers

    * All Removable Parts and Utensils

    * All Food Contact Surfaces

Please click on the image above or here for more information about Stera-Sheen.

Feel free to Contact Us for more information or Order Yours today!

It’s show season again!  Look for Upper Midwest Gourmet at the shows this weekend, next month and all year:

Chicago, IL - Coffeefest 2009: Friday, Sat, Sun: Feb. 20th – 22nd:Look for Kevin and David, we’ll be mixing up all those yummy Frappes in Cappuccine’s booth

Minneapolis, MN - UP Show 2009: Monday, Tuesday: Feb. 23rd & 24th: Look for Kevin in the Vita Mix booth for some delicious smoothies.

Moorhead, MN (Concordia College) NACUFS Conference: Monday,Tuesday: Feb. 23rd & 24th: Michael and Jesse will be giving a presentation on the benefits of using Fair Trade, Organic Specialty Coffee. They will also be focusing on ’Going Green’ and how it can improve your profits and strengthen sales, all while leaving a better mark on the world.

Milwaukee, WI Restaurant Show & Expo 2009: Mon, Tue, Wed: March 9th-11th:  Jesse, Kevin and David will be demonstrating all the new products for 2009.

Minneapolis, MN - UMGWHQ 2009 (Upper Midwest Gourmet World Headquarters): February – December 2009: The show that never ends!  Come to our showroom and try out any product anytime. Our showroom is fully functional so you can brew coffee, extract espresso and froth milk, make gelato and sorbetto, prepare pastry or even bake bread! You can also see the latest equipment in action, watch training videos, see what’s new and exciting before anyone else or just come to play some foosball (beware, Michael can really run a table).  We’d love to have you here.  If your going to the UP show, stop by before or after the show?  David,  Sarah, Eric, Alan, Brandon and Charles will all be around to help you.

We hope to see you all soon!

Cheers,

David – Chief Beanhead

Looking for some fun ideas for the Holidays?  Having trouble coming up with good ideas?  Give your salesman a call and we can help you come up with some great recipes.  Remember, give your drinks names with flair.  Would you rather buy a Cinnamon Pecan Latté or a Sticky Bun Latté?  A White Chocolate Mocha or a Polar Bear Latté?  Spice up the names and watch the syrup sales flow! Adding Hot to Pumpkin Pie is simple but affective.  Add Toasted to your Gingerbread, Hazelnut, Almond and Marshmallow menus. 

Don’t forget to garnish your drinks!  Whipped Cream, shaved chocolate, ice Cream/donut sprinkles, fresh spices all go a long way when presenting the drink to your enamored customer.  If you make your own whip cream (why wouldn’t you), give it a shot of flavor matching some of your featured drinks.  We stock both White and Semi-Sweet Dobla Chocolate Curls (pictured below) for the ultimate garnish……also great on any of your favorite deserts!

Don’t forget to print off a copy of our seasonal items.  You can get them all right off our website, just ask your salesperson for a password to the POS vault.

Wishing you all a Happy, Safe and Profitable Holiday Season,

David 

Brrr… Hello Fall, here comes Winter!

Please check out our newest Brewsletter – Volume 36 - Fall/Winter 2008!

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

Enjoy the new format and thanks from all of us!

Alternative titles for this entry could be Coffee fan realizes dream! or Sales rep now selling something he loves! For the past 9 years I have been a part of growing a small frozen pizza company from a small local player (Appleton, WI) to a strong regional player (WI, IL the UP). This was challenging and satisfying work but I was ready for a change.

I have for a longtime been a fan of the espresso/coffee house industry. My first Cappuccino experience was at the Ovens of Brittany restaurants in Madison, WI. in the early 80s. The people in my life know of my love of coffee and many have told me that I should be working in the industry, and now happily I am. This came about because I learned of UMG at Backroads Coffee in Hayward, WI. (By the way, very nice people, who took time when busy, to answer this customers coffee questions). I am so pleased to be a part of the team at UMG where my responsibilities will be to grow our business in IL and eastern IA. The blend of products, expertise and committed people at this company will be a joy to share with new customers.

If you would like to contact me my cell # is 612-432-8119 , email tim@uppermidwestgoumet.net.

Tim Eddy – Southeastern Sales Manager

Most of us in the industry have read stories and seen pictures of coffee plantations and their processing plants.  However, many have never been able to visit personally or have seen live footage.  Here is a great link to a video shot in Brazil at the Fazenda Ipanema plantation.  Pay particular attention to the part on Full natural vs natural processing of their delicious coffee beans.  After watching the video, give us a call and we’ll tell you about some of the great Natural Processed Fair Trade Organic coffees we can roast for you everyday.

http://gizmodo.com/5061054/coffee-tastes-sweeter-with-giant-mechanized-beast

Cheers,  David

Hello all,

In my daily readings I ran across this set of inspirational articles indicating that consumers are still willing to treat (or indulge) themselves in their daily fix of black gold. As the economy gets tighter and our pay checks seem smaller, most consumers are making cuts elsewhere to ensure that they don’t miss out on their daily brew. This is good news for the coffee industry and just goes to show us how important our coffee is to the consumer even in tough times.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hello Summer!

Please check out our newest Brewsletter – Volume 35 – Summer 2008!

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 from all of us!