Berry Berry Rhubarb Conserve by Vermont Harvest Rocks the Taste Buds of the Peachy's Pantry Panelists and is Highly Recommended
If you really know Peachy and were in the group with her that came to New York from Connecticut to see the New York Rangers lift the cup in the 1994 parade, and Brian Leetch in particular, esteemed Avon Old Farms and Boston College alum that he is, you know the story about how Peachy really likes berries...and she loved this.
The image of a freshly baked pie came to mind as I opened the jar of Berry Berry Rhubarb Conserve from Vermont Harvest. Their perfect blend of tangy rhubarb and sweet berries makes a winning combination. Use it on your morning toast, muffins, bagels, or go one more step and brunchify it. Crepes, with a spread of this conserve will be just what you needed to impress the boss, or your beau. Delicious, packed with flavor, and with the rhubarb twist, just what my Grandmother would have ordered.
Rhubarb, strawberries and raspberries, what a wonderfully amazing combination! Try this all natural conserve on toast, bagels or just about anything else that could use a little flavor or sweetness! I used is as a spread on sourdough toast this morning. The tanginess from the sourdough highlighted this delicious spread just perfectly!
Berries and rhubarb are one of summer’s great pleasures, but this product goes beyond that. The spices that are in here are simply amazing and perfectly accentuate the fruit; this has more depth of flavor than your usual jam. The nuts and raisins are other secret ingredients, and the tart nibs of rhubarb are a nice surprise. While I enjoyed mine on simple toast, I bet this would be a killer filling for baked goods.
Berryberry Rhubarb is really an exquisite conserve made with strawberries, raspberries and rhubarb. It has just enough of all these fruits to make it perfectly balanced with nothing over shadowing the other. Rhubarb is one of those flavors that can be hidden so easily. And if you don’t know what it tastes like, it is easily missed, but if you truly love that flavor, it is totally discernible.
Whip Burks, owner of Vermont Harvest tells us:
Vermont Harvest is celebrating its 31st year in business this year. Our tradition of amazing gourmet condiments are consistent with those that were created 31 years ago. I purchased the business in 2007; at the time I was working for Ben & Jerry’s in Waterbury, Vermont. My main focus was managing the scoop shop at the factory and on the side I was asked to participate on the quality control of the products that the plant was producing. I was asked to join this team because of my background with food. Not just because I had attended culinary school in Vermont, but more from what was discovered while I was in school. The fact of the matter was, I was a super taster, which is allows me to taste with far great intensity than the average person. I really enjoyed this aspect of my job, so much that I was trying to find away to get into the field. And so when I was playing golf one weekend at a local golf club, and I was approached by a husband, whose wife was trying to retire from a jam business, I said I would take a look.
When I went into the meeting at first I was a complete greenhorn, in fact I rarely ever ate jam or jelly and really just figured they were all the same. How wrong was I. As I took some time to investigate the field, I started to understand that there were many things that I didn’t know about the whole field. And when I tasted the 16 or so products I was amazed. I was not only amazed but truly humbled. As an average person growing up I had my fair share of grape jelly and strawberry preserves that my grandmother made from going picking at a local fruit farm, but those flavors were pretty basic, one flavor, one purpose. When I began tasting the products by Vermont harvest I was amazed at the numerous flavors that were in each mouthful, and the fireworks that were set off when different textures were added to each flavor. I was intrigued and this was just the beginning. As I tasted all of these products, I was amazed that not only did they taste great but they all were complex with flavor and balanced. So it wasn't really a surprise to my coworkers and my family that we decided to purchase this business.
Since buying the business it has been our goal to further their development as well as introduce them to farther reaching heights. The original business was more of a hobby than a business set on reaching international customers. The first several years I really concentrated on learning the ropes and trying to figure out the best way to approach my international goals. I quickly learned that our products are like minnows in an ocean. There are literally thousands of brands out there and we have to be better than the average one. With that in mind it is hard to distinguish your products in a very competitive market. We do so through our flavor profiles.
Our product line currently sits at 21. We are committed to conning to produce products that ignite the fireworks in peoples taste buds. We hope to be in more countries in the next year. In a matter of a couple of months are products will be available nationwide in Canada. We are in discussions with Sweden and have just started to investigate a new export market in Korea. Our products are natural, gluten free and non gmo. We have a simple motto here at Vermont Harvest. “If it doesn't taste good….Why eat it”.
I attended Lake Forest College and earned a BA in Economics. I
also attended New England Culinary Institute and received an associates degree in culinary arts and a BA in Food & Beverage Management. I've been a
Board Member of the Vermont Specialty Food Association 2011 to present.
