Business: Local food makers present first product

Published 5:00 pm Tuesday, August 15, 2006

JOHN DAY – Sonshine Bed & Breakfast proprietor Carolyn Stout and her daughter, Angie Johnson, are officially in the gourmet food business, as their first product hits the shelves of Eastern Oregon stores this week.

Stout and Johnson are co-owners of Canyon Mountain Foods LLC, established in 2005, and headquartered in John Day.

“Our goal is to bring to market some gourmet food items that are truly unique,” Stout said. “We are only interested in developing products that have no equivalent in the marketplace. So we have started out with the most requested recipes from my bed and breakfast.”

All of the food served at Sonshine Bed & Breakfast is made from scratch, and many recipes are specially requested by returning guests.

The first recipe to be commercialized by the new company is Blu-Barb Syrup & Topping – a unique combination of rhubarb and blueberries, with a hint of raspberry. The topping has been served on buttermilk oatmeal pancakes at the bed and breakfast for more than 15 years, and it is equally good on ice cream, cheesecake and as a milkshake.

Other unique products that are in the development stages include a buttermilk oatmeal pancake mix, a baked fruited oatmeal, and “Mountain Sunrise Syrup-Glaze,” a sauce blend of apricots and oranges.

Once the additional three products have been produced and all four are on the market, the company plans to offer a breakfast gift basket, which will include all four products as well a bag of Dancing Goats Blend gourmet coffee.

When asked about the challenges of starting a new company, Johnson said, “It has been a slow process, because neither of us had experience in the packaged food industry. Getting the recipe perfected for commercial use took a long time – longer than we anticipated. Building a good network of contacts to assist us took a great deal of effort as well. This is an area in which having more experience in the industry could have helped us.”

David Peterson, the graphic artist who designed the label for the Blu-Barb topping, also designed a label for the Canyon Creek Candle Company.

“We were very pleased with the artwork David created for us,” Stout said. “We were grateful that Shelly Bezona shared that contact with us.”

In Grant County, Blu-Barb Syrup & Topping is available at Chester’s Thriftway, The Outpost Pizza Pub & Grill and Canyon Creek Candle Company, and at Prairie Drug and Hardware in Prairie City.

The company is taking the syrup on the road to a gourment food show this week in Seattle, and there will be a demonstration at Chester’s during fair week (Aug. 22-27).

? Inquiries for wholesale purchases may be made via the company’s web site, (www.canyonmountainfoods.com), or by calling 541-575-1153.