Pacific Natural Foods

We love our producers, suppliers and vendors and we think most of them have some pretty interesting stories behind their products too. We’ll be sharing some of our favorites here in an ongoing series opens in a new tab.Chuck Eggert, founder of Pacific Natural Foods in Oregon, has an extensive book collection that includes cookbooks dating back to an English cookbook from the 17^th century. This helps explain the philosophy behind Pacific, a company that began by producing soymilk and now offers soups, broths, non-dairy beverages and more. “If you look at most historical recipes, they never had more than five to ten ingredients,” says Eggert.History’s culinary influence is evident in Pacific’s Organic Turkey Gravy, which contains seven ingredients: turkey broth, roux (turkey fat and flour), crème fraîche, turkey, sea salt and rosemary extract. “Using crème fraîche instead of milk gives the gravy a rich, savory flavor,” Eggert explains. “We believe in keeping recipes simple to capture the full flavor of natural ingredients. We want people to read our ingredient lists and know what they are.”Choices like these result in products that are simply delicious. In fact, Eggert often hears from people who think their products are as good as — or better — than homemade. Better than mom’s? That’s quite a compliment. “It validates our food philosophy of using high-quality ingredients, simple recipes and doing things like you would in your own kitchen.”Good gravy, indeed! What do you think about Pacific’s historical approach to recipes? Check out the slideshow above and leave us a comment to let us know what you think.