By Ryan Slattery and Debbie Hall
When it comes to selecting sauces, seasonings, and dressings, Dan Giamartino, owner of about 20 restaurants, mostly in upstate New York, says he relies heavily on Foothill Farms® branded products to create many of the crave-worthy dishes they serve at Tully’s Good Times, the Coppertop Tavern, and Tully’s Tenders.
“They provide us with such a diverse set of products,” he says, explaining how Tully’s has a long and healthy relationship with Foothill Farms®. They’ve been working together for more than 15 years, he says. “We use Foothill Farms® branded products for quite a variety of items on our menus. They’re innovative, very forward-thinking, and easy to work with. You can almost tell them what you’re looking for, and they have it. If we come up with an idea, we can bounce it off of them, and they’ll either have something or be willing to work with us and try to create it.”
Many of Foothill Farms® products have a wide range of uses. Giamartino raves about Foothill Farms® nacho cheese sauce and says they helped develop it together for his chain of casual restaurants. It’s used as the cheese sauce on their super nachos, a spread on their buffalo tender melt, and a dipping sauce.
Tully’s also uses Foothill Farms® ultra-versatile taco seasoning blend in its hand-rolled Tex-Mex eggrolls to give its taco meat a kick. In addition, it relies on Foothill Farms® for its graham cracker crust mix in its desserts and dressings for use in salads, as dipping sauces for wings, and to create signature aioli for its sandwiches.
“Everything we use of theirs just raises the items on our menus up a notch,” Giamartino says.
Foothill Farms®, a division of Kent Precision Foods Group (KPFG), has been in the food service industry for decades, helping restaurants elevate their dishes with a huge selection of sauces, seasonings, and dressings. Instead of painstakingly hunting for herbs and spices to create a blend, many restaurant owners have fallen in love with Foothill Farms® products and the ease at which they can just mix them in with little prep time to create dazzling dishes with bold and unique flavors.
KPFG Chef Mario Arena recommends on-trend products using Foothill Farms® new cheese sauces, the perfect base for creating an on-trend cheese sauce.
“We’re always looking for ways to celebrate regional flavors, and the idea of blending the classic Southern pimento cheese spread with our Cheddar cheese sauce mix is a perfect example. This fusion creates a rich, tangy, and slightly spicy Southern Pimento Cheese Sauce that’s incredibly versatile. Imagine it as a dip drizzled over fries or even as a topping for burgers or grits. It’s a bold yet nostalgic nod to Southern cuisine, designed to bring comfort and creativity to chefs’ menus. It’s a flavor profile that will resonate with diners across the country.
“One of the exciting innovations we’re working on is combining the bold, herbaceous flavor of chimichurri sauce with our Foothill Farms® Superior Melt™ white queso cheese sauce mix to create a Cuban-inspired steak and cheese sauce. This fusion brings a vibrant twist to a classic, delivering a steak sandwich experience that’s rich, zesty, and unforgettable. It’s a balance of comfort and sophistication that chefs will love for menus that demand a creative edge.
“We’re exploring bold flavor combinations, and one idea we’re excited about is blending the heat and tang of sriracha sauce with our creamy Superior Melt™ white queso sauce mix—a spicy, Korean-inspired cheese sauce pairs perfectly with dishes like kimchi Korean-style cheese fries. The sriracha adds a fiery kick and umami depth, while the queso provides a smooth, rich base that ties everything together. It’s a fusion that brings a modern twist to comfort food, giving chefs a creative way to elevate their menus with global flair,” says Chef Arena.
“Operators will increasingly ask their supplier network for ideas on cross-utilization of their products across operators’ menus, as well as providing recipe ideas to help operators. Today’s business environment pressure on foodservice operators is very challenging, and I see them asking for help in these areas from their suppliers,” adds Todd Eucke, a brand manager for Foothill Farms®.
Using dry ingredients to create sauces, seasonings, dressings, and desserts has many benefits. For example, Foothill Farms® Ranch Salad Dressing & Seasoning Mix is highly versatile. It can be used as a base for creating at least 40 dressing recipes. It is perfect for operators wishing to offer LTOs that differentiate their ranch dressing offerings from those of their competitors. Foothill Farms® dressings are ideal for salads, dipping sauces for wings, and creating signature aioli spreads for sandwiches.
“And since Foothill Farms® products are dry and shelf stable (many for up to 18 months), they can be stored at ambient temperatures, saving consumers money on shipping costs and helping to reduce costly food waste,” explains Eucke.
“All of the ingredients in Foothill Farms® are selected carefully for their functionality, quality, taste/flavor, and performance. Our ingredients are either dry by nature or dehydrated versions of their moisture-containing counterparts, allowing for identical function, taste, and highly consistent performance. Each ingredient is inspected upon receipt, blending, and packing, ensuring that quality is guaranteed at every step of the manufacturing process. Given that 95 percent of the products in the Foothill Farms® line are dry mixes, the ingredients are chosen and combined to create a fresh product once rehydrated, so the choice of each ingredient is highly selective. The dry nature of Foothill Farms® products offers restaurants and kitchens the flexibility to have high-quality products every time, on demand. They also offer minimal storage space since you don’t need to store the water, and extended shelf life to have ready to go all the time,” says Michael Coladipietro, KPFG Research and Development Manager.
Affordable and versatile with endless menu possibilities is what Giamartino loves best about Foothill Farms®. It’s a reason why the second-generation restauranteur—whose father and uncle started Tully’s 60 years ago—leans on Foothill Farms® to deliver the best high-quality products to enhance the dishes he proudly serves.
“We pride ourselves on making everything from scratch. We handroll our own egg rolls and pan-batter our chicken tenders,” he explains. “Working with Foothill Farms® has been amazing. They treat us like we’re family. They’re great to work with and very supportive of our work.”
KPFG purchased Benno Foods from its founder, Ed Brink, in 2004. Founded in 1984, Benno Foods manufactured and sold Foothill Farms® products to foodservice operators in the United States and abroad. KPFG continues to uphold this legacy by selling to foodservice operators domestically and internationally from its headquarters in Muscatine, Iowa.
“We will continue to follow our process: leverage global and culinary trends, partnering with key customers, and identifying critical gaps. The power of Foothill Farms® is leveraging its strength in product versatility and culinary experiences for operators and chefs,” says Giamartino.
Their motto is Foothill Farms®: “Tasting is Believing.” Food and Beverage Magazine readers are invited to take the Foothill Farms® challenge by ordering a sample of their products and discovering the culinary-inspired quality and craftsmanship of the products.
For more information on Foothill Farms® product line visit: foothillfarms.com.
