While our area isn’t a powerhouse of manufacturing, food entrepreneurship is strong. Several businesses, both large and small, ply their trade locally. This is a roundup of just a few of them.
Pickle power! Opportunity Knocks is a local organization created to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Their marquee jobs program is Knockout Pickles – available in classic, deli-style, spicy and bread & butter varieties. This artisanal business manufactures 10 five-gallon buckets and 120 jars of pucker-worthy slices each month.
The pickles are used at nine local restaurants and on the shelves of several local grocery stores, including The Sugar Beet, Alpine Food Shop and coming soon to Jewel in River Forest.
Meat joy! Jilly’s Jerky started with a desire to recreate the meat-based magic that Jill Evans LaPenna’s dad made. Through trial and error, she recreated the recipe which now comes in four flavors: original, Cayenne Tang, Chipotle Crush and Habanero Heat.
LaPenna and her husband Anthony still cook jerky locally for direct-to-consumer trade, but when demand ratchetted up, accelerating to retail speed was trickier than they had anticipated. Meat products sold at that level must be manufactured in a USDA-approved facility. Luckily, they found a Michigan partner who is carefully crafting their retail line.
Beer here! Kinslagher Brewing Company’s owner Keith Huizinga keeps two of their brews on local retail shelves: Chicago Common and Prohibition Pilsner.
Chicago Common is Kinslagher’s own creation, an ode to a brick. The red hue references the red, orange and cream colors of that icon of construction. The flavor is a rye lager, with hops giving it an earthy and piney twist. Prohibition Pilsner is an American-style pilsner from back when recent European immigrant brewers started to adapt to fermentables available in the U.S. It’s drier and a touch hoppy-er than nationally marketed pilsners.
Hot or mild? Hank’s Giardiniera takes this local treat “from the Windy City to the world” according to creator Hank Tibensky. After closing his Italian Beef stand in New York City, due to Covid-borne complications. He pivoted to retailing his signature recipe.
The garden-in-a-bottle mix is whipped up in Cicero, but the retail footprint is national. Two heat options are available in Sprouts groceries stores in 24 states and locally at Carnivore.
Raising the bar! Silverland Bakery ships brownies, bars, and cookies nationwide. It started from a combination of owner Athena Uslander’s desire to work for herself and her, then partner, Lisa Silverman’s family brownie recipe. The company has expanded, adding vegan, gluten free, keto and sugar free options. All are preservative free.
They’ve been the private label supplier to restaurant chains such as Olive Garden. But their storefront location in Forest Park was a life saver during the pandemic. Now the 41-year-old business is back to thriving.
What packaged food survey would be complete without two local heavyweights.
Turano Bread has been making Roosevelt Road smell heavenly for almost 60 years. It all started with Mariano Turano’s classic recipes from Italy. Now it bakes in four states, but locals can visit Mamma Susi’s Bake Shop on Roosevelt Road.
Ferrara is seen by all who pass by their plant along the Eisenhower expressway near Harlem. The company is more than 115 years old and now encompasses brands such as Jelly Belly, Nerds, SweetTARTS and Trolli. The Ferrara Pan Factory Outlet Store in Forest Park is a real treat.
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More Info:
opportunityknocksnow.org
jillysjerky.com
kinslahger.com
hanksgiardiniera.com
silverlandbakery.com
turano.com
ferrara.com