Upper Midwest Gourmet

We are very pleased to announce that we now offer the awesome Synesso Espresso Machines! That’s right, the The Cyncra™, The Hydra™ and The Hybrid™ are all available from Upper Midwest Gourmet.

We met a bunch of the great people from the Synesso company at SCAA, Portland and are really excited to be working with them. This opportunity to have what we consider to be the “best of the best” available to us is very cool and we even plan on showcasing one of these sweet machines in the new cafe, UP.

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

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.

It’s never too early to start thinking about the next trade show.

That is why we are already telling everyone now that we are in booths 100/102/104 at Chicago Coffee Fest in June 2012.  We will be making gelato on a Carpigiani Coldelite batch freezer and displaying in one of the new Ciam Pozzetti display cases.  We will definitely be serving our award-winning Flamenco Organic Coffee along with a ton of other great products for you to check out and sample.

Here are the basics:

When – June 8th-10th 2012

Where – Navy Pier, 600 East Grand Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611

Registration Information

Early Bird is $20 per person if registered by Sunday, 5/20/2012. $30 per person after that.

Onsite Registration Hours: Trade Show and educational Classes
Friday & Saturday: 7:00am to 4:30pm
Sunday: 7:30am to 3:30pm

Show Hours:
Exhibition Hours:
Friday & Saturday: 12:00pm to 5:00pm
Sunday: 12pm to 4:00pm

Educational Training
Friday & Saturday: 8:00am to 6:00pm
Sunday: 8:00am to 4:00pm

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

This process, although taking longer than expected, is really getting us excited for this new cafe and training space that we plan to have completed in the next few months.

Our newest additions include new full length windows (will add a ton more natural light into the cafe), leveled floors, finished floors in the new kitchen, new electrical, and we are almost ready to start on the ceilings and finish the floors.

Here are some pictures to help you the idea:

New kitchen floor:

We hope you enjoy our updates and can’t wait for you to visit once we are “Up!” and running!

Just wanted to say “Thank You” to everyone that came out and chatted with us at the Wisconsin Restaurant Expo last week.

It was a pleasure sampling our great products to all of you and we really appreciate your business!

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

Please enjoy this article about composting from Heather at Badger Brew Express in Rice Lake, Wisconsin that she wrote for the Twin Cities Coffee Guild.

ARTICLE – “Where Do Your Grounds Go? by Heather H. Haller”

Remember that UMG carries a bunch of compostable disposables like the Eco Products Green Stripe cold cups that Heather uses.

(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.

Upper Midwest Gourmet is pleased to offer a new service from Intuit, the makers of our accounting software: Intuit Payment Network or IPN.

IPN works similar to services like PayPal. First you set up an IPN account with your own passwords.  Next, when you place an order with us, we’ll email a copy of your invoice to you with a link to IPN to pay your invoice. Click the link and sign in with your password and confirm the amount and click pay. That’s it you’re done.

Once you’ve paid we’ll instantly get a notice from IPN that you’ve made a payment.  Our accounting system will automatically sync with IPN daily and record your transaction. This automation insures your invoices gets recorded as paid and eliminates any human error.

-No more having to leave the counter and write a check when the delivery man shows up

-No more $8.50 COD fees

-No more credit card fees

-No more lost or stolen checks in the mail

-It’s completely free

-Your checking account is safe! Account information is all securely stored with IPN, even we’ll never see it

If you’d like to give IPN a try please let us know when you place your order. It’s simple and we’re sure you’ll love it.

(For additional information or to sign up for this, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

Yes, the rumors are true. We are doing away with our showroom and opening a cafe in it’s place!

This cafe will be open to the public and will hopefully be completed in the next few months. These should help you get the picture:

BEFORE

DURING

MORE DURING

AFTER – Coming Soon…

From this months issue of Specialty Coffee Retailer Magazine:

“Without food, most coffeehouses will starve.”

Do you serve food at your cafe?

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!

What an amazing Fall it has been so far! Warmer than usual temps have really made for some great weekends and good business for all. 

The weather is turning cold though which means hot drinks likes coffee, espresso, steamers, chai tea, apple cider, hot cocoa, and hot tea are all going to really start picking up. 

Also, those Umpqua Oats Oatmeal bowls are going to be the perfect option for your customer looking for a warm, hearty breakfast or lunch on these chilly Autumn days.

Please check out our newest Brewsletter – Volume 45 - Fall 2011

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!

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.)

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 and Flamenco Organic Coffee Company will be in booth 748 for the 2011 WI Restaurant Show.

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

When: March 21st-23rd (11am-5pm Monday, 10am-5pm Tuesday, 10am-3pm Wednesday)

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

See you there!