When our grocery team first tried Noosa Yoghurt it was love at first bite.  The creamy, delicate yogurt was unlike any other yogurt we’d tried before, and we decided it was a perfect match for Bi-Rite.  But we were soon heartbroken to find out that there wasn’t a reliable way to get it onto our shelves.  It became an obsession and after two years of pursuit, at long last, our love has been fulfilled:  Noosa is now available at Bi-Rite Market!

Noosa Yoghurt is an outstanding Australian-style yogurt.  Named for the small coastal Queensland town where the yogurt recipe originated, Noosa is the handiwork of Australian brothers Grant and Paul Mathewson.  Since 2010, Noosa has been stateside, based out of Colorado, and has enjoyed an ever growing adoring following that includes ourselves.  It’s rich like Greek yogurt, but looser and silkier in texture with a milder tartness that is perfectly balanced by a touch of honey and, if you prefer, fruit puree.  It’s velvety perfection!

Though the final product itself was enough for us to fall head over heels for Noosa, the ingredients deserve praise as well.  Noosa is a farmstead yogurt, made on site at family-owned and operated Morning Fresh Dairy in Bellvue, Colorado.  There the cows graze seasonally on fresh pasture or on home-grown, pesticide-free alfalfa and grain.  Their milk is rBGH and preservative-free.  Noosa is sweetened with an amazingly pure-tasting honey, Golden Clover Alfalfa honey from Colorado’s Beeyond the Hive, another family-owned operation since 1908.  Finally the colorfully bright, deeply flavorful fruit purees are 100% natural without any artificial flavors, colors or preservatives.  So, dig in!  Enjoy this naturally delicious yogurt; we hope your experience will be as delightful as ours.

We are so excited to have a new organic dairy line at the Market!  Inspired by the community of small farms in and around Kalona, Iowa, Kalona Supernatural was launched in 2010 by resident Bill Evans as a way to distribute their quality dairy products.

What these guys eat directly affects the taste and quality of the milk they produce!

What makes their products so special?  Well, it all starts with the farms.  The dairy comes from small, sustainable Midwest farms, mostly run by Amish and Mennonite farmers who tend herds of no more than 35 cows.  Many of these farms have been in the family for 150 years and have never been touched by herbicides or pesticides.  The work is pretty much all still done by hand.

Being raised on organic farms means that the cows–including Holstein, Jersey, Brown Swiss, Guernseys, Ayrshire, Milking Shorthorned, Scandinavian Red and Montbeliard breeds–get to enjoy grazing on green pasture during the spring and summer months.  During the colder months, they dine on an organic mélange of hay silage, baleage, ground corn, maybe some soybeans, oats and alfalfa.  While the resultant output may not be voluminous, what they eat directly affects the taste and quality of the milk they produce, which, by the way, is outstanding Grade A milk!

Kalona Supernatural maintains intimate relationships with all of their farmers.  They know the farmers and their families, regularly visit the farms, and know the story-the why and the how-behind the products that each farm produces.  And they’re dedicated to sharing products in their most natural state so that all of their products are minimally processed.  They are vat pasteurized at the lowest possible temperatures and non-homogenized.  There’s no added sugar or synthetic vitamins, and free of any stabilizers, the texture is as pure and genuine as can be.

We’re pleased to offer you the following dairy treats from Kalona: creamy buttermilk, thick and rich sour cream, farm-fresh cottage cheese, and cream-top not-too-sweet yogurt. Let me know what you think!

We’re very fortunate to have the relationships we have with the producers whose food we sell.  It’s even better when you can share your experiences with these producers among friends, guests, and co-workers.  This is what creating community through food is all about.

I’d like to highlight a couple of ongoing projects we have with our olive oil producers, starting with Yvonne Hall from Terra Savia.  Yvonne’s orchard is located in the hills of Sonoma and Mendocino Counties.  She makes a very strong effort to conserve and protect the wildlife and their habitat.  All wildlife is free to roam her land and she uses an irrigation system assisted by wind and solar.  A percentage of Terra Savia’s revenue supports wildlife rescue centers in Mendocino and Sonoma Counties.

Tuscan or Ligurian: So many choices in life!

Did I mention that her team makes incredible olive oil?  They’re responsible for producing our most popular olive oil year in and year out, the Bi-Rite Tuscan Style Olive Oil.  The Tuscan olive varieties used to make this oil include Frantoio, Leccino, Maurino, Moraiolo, and Pendolino.  It has a wonderfully floral aroma.  It’s very fruity, with mild notes of herbs and light touches of spice at the finish.  It’s mellower than our 2010 harvest yet it’s still a perfect every day olive oil.  Olive oil at priced at $19.99 for 1 liter isn’t supposed to taste this good!

Our latest project with Joe Bozzano and his father Jack is also very exciting.  The Bozzano family has been farming in California for more than four generations.  Producing olives and olive oil is nothing new for this clan.  Back in the good old days, they had a small family farm in Liguria where they produced olives and olive oil for their community.  Fifteen year-old Lino Bozzano brought the tradition with him when he arrived in Stockton many many years ago.  In Stockton, it began with tomatoes.  Later the tomatoes were replaced with cherries, before Joe and his father started growing olives and producing olive oil.  It’s amazing how the Bozzano farm has come full circle.

It’s funny because the 2012 project we just completed with Joe and Jack is a Ligurian-style olive oil.  It’s made in a small batch production with 100% organic Taggiasca Olives at their ranch in Stockton, CA.  The Taggiasca olive is the most common cultivar in Liguria.  This oil is mild and delicate, similar to a French olive oil.  Despite the fact that it’s mild and delicate, it’s a very fun oil.  It has notes of fresh almonds and ripe fruit on the palate to go along with its sweet buttery finish.  It pairs perfectly with fish and vegetable dishes.  It’s also wonderful to use when making mayonnaise and pesto, which is a Ligurian specialty.  It’s priced at $17.99 per 500 ml bottle, half the cost of most French olive oils.  Enjoy!