Another recipe

Here's a recipe that uses Sofia's Selection Black olives   Black Olive Pate Ingredients ·         1 pound (about 4 jars) large Sofia’s Selection Black olives (pitted) ·         1 large head garlic (about 2 to 3 ounces) ·         Olive oil ·         1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Directions ·         Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. ·         Spread the olives out on several thickness of paper toweling, top with several more thicknesses of paper toweling, then roll up tight, and set aside ·         Slice off the top part of the head of garlic, exposing the cloves. Drizzle the head with olive oil. Wrap the whole head of garlic in a double thickness of aluminum foil, and then twist each loose end into a gooseneck sealing in the garlic. Place in the oven and roast until the garlic is very tender, about 1 hour; remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. Take out all cloves of garlic and put into a blender or food processor fitted with a metal chopping blade; add the olives and pepper, and puree by buzzing 15 seconds nonstop. Scrape down the sides of the blender or work bowl with a rubber spatula, buzz for another 15 seconds, then scoop all into a small bowl, and cover tightly. Store in a refrigerator until about 30 minutes before serving. ·         Serve as a cocktail spread on crisp crackers. (Courtesy of FoodNetwork.com)     Find more info at www.sofiaselection.com and www.facebook.com/SofiasSelection

Recipes

I'd like to share a recipe for green olives with you.

Green Olives Tapenade Ingredients 1/2 pound pitted Sofia’s Selection green olives 2 anchovy fillets, rinsed (if desired) 1 small clove garlic, minced 2 tablespoons capers 2 to 3 fresh basil leaves 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil Directions ·         Thoroughly drain the olives from their brine. ·         Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Process to combine, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl, until the mixture becomes a coarse paste, approximately 1 to 2 minutes total. ·         Transfer to a bowl and serve over crusty bread.  (Courtesy of FoodNetwork.com)     Find more info at www.sofiaselection.com and www.facebook.com/SofiasSelection

The Hard Path

After I wrote about how long the path was to launch Sofia's Selection brand of speciality olives and marinated vegetables, I'll take some time to talk about how hard it was. Don't get me wrong here. Although it was was hard, it was challenging also. I learned a lot about start ups, accounting, food regulations, building codes, and how hard it is to get a plumber to do the job for you. The challenges I faced kept me going until I passed the finish line.

There were so many decisions to make from the beginning. What products to launch first? How much they cost? What are my target customers? Will they buy? Location? Packaging? In almost all start ups, there was more than one person to do everything and answer all the questions but I did it alone, not by choice though. Then the other decisions followed, financial decisions, legal decisions, marketing decisions, etc.

Branding was a major decision also since I wanted to make sure our branding efforts go into the right direction from the beginning. Actually, all decisions had to go into the right direction as quick as possible. While I made decisions I had to change later, I don't regret them but they were not the right decisions to help putting Sofia's Selection on the right track. Changing directions on few things made me realize that I need to do more work and do more research to ensure all pieces of the puzzle fit together for a successful launch. In every step of the way, I documented everything I did so I would have a complete archive of my story.

Order your olives today and enjoy the hard work that was done by myself. You can order at the website www.sofiaselection.com

The Path

Let me start by saying the path to start Sofia Foods was long and hard. It was long because we took the time to make sure that we have good and quality products. We have good olive products in the sense that they have great flavors and they have great taste. Also we made sure that we have different olive products than all other olives in the market. We took great care to make our products are flavorful and healthy to appeal to many people because we like flavorful and healthy food also. They have a unique spicy and savory flavor profile that will linger in the pallet for a long time. At the same time they are very low in salt, probably they have lowest salt content among all other olive products in the market. Their salt content is even lower than many granola bars for example. We use sea salt only so there are no additives in our olives. Our olives as low in fat also and they are free from any artificial ingredients. We chose to make our olives this way because we wanted to make a different and healthy products.

Our olives have great quality because we make them according to our top manufacturing standards. The whole process is monitored and measured at every step during the process of making these olives. The whole process is done by hand and all olives are made in small batches and packed by hand. Off course we have to make sure that all batches have the same great flavors.

More about the hard work in a different day

Don't frget to visit our website at www.sofiaselection.com for more information and to order your olives so you can see what kind flavors they have and tell us abut the quality. All feedback is welcomed

Sofia Foods, The Company

The name of our company came to me after my daughter, Sofia, which was 18 months at that time when all this started, liked many vegetables I made so I thought there isn't a better name to use for a my new company. Unfortunately, these days when you need to choose a name, you need to think about similar names, trade marks, and domain names to avoid any conflict in the future that force you to change the name you have chosen and create confusions for your clients. When I did all this research, I picked Sofia's Selection as a brand name and named the company after that to give me more flexibility in the future. After that, the hard work started, the logo design, the labels, the packaging, etc
Then the work started and here we are

Our company is environmentally friendly by recycling all our containers and by products and encourages healthy lifestyle for all employees (only 1 employee as this time) and all people associated with this business. This is done by minimizing waste and use green and sustainable technology when applicable and use environmentally friendly supplies and processes when available

All employees will be working in a healthy and clean work conditions to reflect the company position on environment and their health and well being. Also, by working with vendors and local growers (in the future), the company will be contributing to local economy and improve the quality of life of employees and clients

All products are hand crafted in small batches in a company owned facility to provide the highest quality control and continuous flavor monitoring.

Sofia's Selection olives and good for your
health and they have great flavor. Visit
our website at www.sofiaselection.com 
to get more information and to place
your online order
 

 

The Story

The story of our company started as a hobby about 15 years ago when I started making olives and pickles to enjoy since I'm a big olives and pickles fan. I kept changing the recipe and using different ingredient to come up with new flavors that will give unique and bold flavors. I was sharing my hobby with my family and friends all these years. About 4 years ago, I gave some olives to a chef that I met at the cafe where I used to have my lunch few days a month. He was so impressed with the taste and flavors that he said maybe you should consider selling them to other people because they are so different and bold than what's available in the market. After that I started looking into starting a business to make and sell my olives. I then started working on a business plan and figuring out how to make them at a reasonable cost and keep the same great quality and taste. I started production in our facility in February 2012 and started selling about 2 months ago. We make Sofia’s Selection olive products: Sicilian green pitted Olives (Jumbo size) and Black pitted Olives (Large Size) marinated in a balanced mix of White Vinegar, Water, Sugar, Garlic, Sea Salt, and our own blend of Spices. Our Olives have unique and bold flavors that you will not find in any other product. They are savory and spicey at the same time. Our Olives are free of artificial flavors, free of artificial colors and free of artificial preservatives. They are low in calories, have the lowest sodium content than any olive product in the market and the sodium level is even lower than many other products. They are free of high fructose corn syrup. All have natural and best quality ingredients. They are Hand crafted in small batches and hand packed in our facility in Warren, Michigan.

This is a picture of our Green Olives jar

Sofia's Selection olives are healthy and fun. Visit our home page at www.sofiaselection.com to have more information and to order them online.

Healthy? Really?

Olives are one of the healthy foods that base many benefits to our bodies and help us live better and longer. It's an essential parts in the Mediterranean diet that have pepper live healthy and happy life. Olives are rich in Iron, Copper, Vitamin E, and Antioxidant minerals.
While I don't plan on going too deep into science and medical terminology related to olive and its content, I'd like to point out few of the health benefits related to olive consumption in the same manner the people living in the Mediterranean basin do. The health benefits include but not limited to reducing the severity of Asthma, Osteoarthritis, Inflammations, and Rheumatoid arthritis. It help prevent heart disease, and help prevent colon and stomach cancer.
In addition to all this, olives are excellent source of renewable energy and when you burn olive woods, the ash cab be used as a fertilizer.
Olive is a high fat food ( don't eat a lot of it when you go for your medical physical exam), the kind of mono-unsaturated fat in olives help reduce LDL cholesterol and decrease blood pressure.
Don't forget olive consumption in moderation gives the best results. Also keeping healthy diet and regular exercise make you live even longer and healthier.

Sofia's Selection olives are healthy and fun. Visit our home page at www.sofiaselection.com or our facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/sofiasselection to find more information

What kind of olives?

Spain is the largest producer of olives in the world and it's followed by Italy and Greece respectively. Olives are also cultivated in Turkey, France, Syria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Algeria, Portugal, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Argentina, Chile, Peru, United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Some countries have common kinds and others have unique kinds.Most olive kinds are good for both eating and making olive oil
Although Kalamata might be the best known olives for consumers in the United States, there are many more varieties of olives in this world. Kalamata olives are named for a region in southern Greece and has a protected status meaning that no other olive can be called Kalamata unless they are grown in the region. Another olive variety from Greece is called Amfissa which also has a protected status for the region where the olive groove said to contain more then 1,200,000 olive trees.
From Spain there is Cornicabra which comprises about 13% of Spain's olive production and Picual in Southern Spain which is about 50% of olive production in Spain and 20% of the world production. Also from Spain, Mazanillo ( which is grown around the world including United States), Arbequina, and Hojiblanca varieties. From the Middle East, there is Maalot, Chemali, Nabali, Souri, and Malissi. All these varieties are know for producing high quality olive oils. From Italy, there are Frantoio and Leccion varieties which are grown in Tuscany.
In the United States, five varieties major varieties are grown which are: Manzanillo, Sevillano (also called Sicilian), Mission, Ascolano, and Barouni. The Mission variety is grown exclusively in California and it originated from the first olive trees planted by the Spanish monks. See the blog "How old is Olives?"
Sofia's Selection olives were selected to be Mission Black Olives and Sicilian Green Olives. Visit our home page at www.sofiaselection.com  or our facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/sofiasselection to find more information

How old is Olive?

The olive tree was first cultivated about 5000 years ago in Crete and Syria. After that it flourished in Spain, Tunisia, Morocco and other Mediterranean countries for thousands of years and featured in many of the region's culinary specialities.
Olive trees were brought to Mexico by the Spanish monks and in 1769 the first olive trees were planted in California at the San Diego Mission.
The oldest olive tree is claimed to be in Lebanon and it said to be about 6000 years old. Some olive trees on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean were determined to be about 3000 years old. However most of the old olive trees are between 1500 - 2000 years old