Dennis Knows Food

It's Thursday, July 13th, and today is National French Fry Day! Every July 13th, the nation joins in celebration of an culinary staple, French fries! That means our foodie fact for the week is inspired by French fries! During WWI, which army influenced the coining of the term "French fries" among US soldiers; the Russian, Belgian, or French army? The answer in this episode! This week we’ve added nine new items to our inventory. From the world of pizza comes a new dough option, 16″ presheeted pizza dough from It’ll Be. From Kellogg’s we’ve added Eggo brand heat-n-serve 3″ buttermilk pancakes. We’ve added an epic new low fat gelato from Honey Hill, Candy Bar Crunch. Lastly, from Juicy Juice we’ve added six new individual serving juice flavors. These come as a pack of 40, 4.3oz juice boxes. In this weeks episode we're talking coffee, with recent news on the health benefits of coffee giving frequent consumers reason to celebrate. Plus, there's hot news for cold brew, the math is in and there's opportunity and profit with this on-trend coffee item. We've also got fries, and every imaginable type of potato product! The team at Dennis is ready to find just the right one to your business needs. So, grab your ketchup and dive into episode 22 of Dennis Knows Food! Links and product information mentioned in this episode include our website at www.DennisExpress.com. Our National French Fry Day page at www.dennisexpress.com/national-french-fry-day. And, our cold brew coffee page at www.dennisexpress.com/nescafe-cold-brew. This weeks image comes from T.Tseng. Subscribe to the Podcast - Subscribe Now (Subscribe with iTunes) We look forward to your feedback, send an email to [email protected]!

It's Thursday, July 6th, and today is National Fried Chicken Day!That means our foodie fact for the week is inspired by chickens! What is the greatest height an unprotected egg has been dropped to earth without breaking? The answer in this episode! Three new items have been brought in to our inventory this week. We’re adding to our impressive selection of beef products with two of them. First up are mouth-watering steak tenders from South Shore Meats. We’ve also added a fresh 7oz Angus beef patty to our lineup of Burger Maker steakburgers. New in dairy products this week we’ve added Strawberry Gogurt from Yoplait which come in a pack of 96/2oz tubes. In this weeks episode we're giving a shout out to the cheese makers at Great Lakes Cheese Company. We share insights on how to engage with Millennial diners. Plus, there's a BBQ contest going on right now that could take you and your smoked-turkey recipe to Austin, Texas! Production Note: We've refreshed our podcast artwork! If all goes according to plan it should be showing up in your podcast feed over the next few days. We've also been trying to improve our audio quality and overall volume level, this is a work in progress. Links and product information mentioned in this episode include our website at www.DennisExpress.com. Our Social Media 101 guide at www.dennisexpress.com/social101. Our interactive map of local New England brands at www.dennisexpress.com/newengland. The How America BBQ's contest page at www.howamericabbqs.com. Subscribe to the Podcast - Subscribe Now (Subscribe with iTunes) We look forward to your feedback, send an email to [email protected]! SaveSave

It's Thursday, June 29th, and this is Episode 20 of the Dennis Knows Food Podcast! Today is National Almond Buttercrunch Day! This week's almond-inspired foodie fact asks "What conditions do almond trees need to produce almonds?" The answer in this episode! This is a rare week where we do not have any recently added inventory products to discuss, we'll explain more about what that means in this episode. Instead, we're taking the opportunity to discuss how the strong relationships between our team, our Account Executives and our customers can lead to delicious and profitable results. In this unique episode of Dennis Knows Food we're heading to the coast of Maine to talk business strategies and fresh lobster meat with a couple of special guests - a Dennis Account Executive and a seasonal businesses operator with saltwater in his veins! Links and product information mentioned in this episode include our website at www.DennisExpress.com. And the lobster products page of our website at www.DennisExpress.com/lobster. Subscribe to the Podcast - Subscribe Now (Subscribe with iTunes) We look forward to your feedback, send an email to [email protected]!

It's Thursday, June 22nd, and this is Episode 19 of the Dennis Knows Food Podcast! Today is National Onion Ring day! This week's onion-inspired foodie fact asks "What was the fastest recorded time to peel 50 pounds of onions?" The answer in this episode! We've added 9 items to our inventory this week covering new products as well as some seasonal favorites that are now back in stock! This week's additions include a new specialty Mandarin Orange Sesame Ginger dressing. Frozen chicken leg quarters that have been ice glazed to maximize freshness. An expertly smoked pre-sliced turkey breast. 4 bakery-fresh items; a hearth baked bulkie roll, a potato burger roll, a country style burger roll, and a soft bulkie roll. In for the season in seafood; premium crab meat and our extremely popular fresh “tail-claw-knuckle” lobster meat. In this week's episode we revisit the conversation on dressing-up your dishes for extra appeal. Applying the strategy to other menu areas it's amazing what a specialty dressing or glaze can do to add a unique twist to new or classic menu items. Riding that good-flavors vibe we've got a recipe for Tomato Butter to share with you, the link to access that is below. We cover an important business-capturing strategy that you should be doing online; helping to put your best foot forward with potential customers. If you haven't "claimed your business" yet, and quite possibly have no idea what that means, pay attention to this segment! Lastly, we've got some fantastic beef purchasing opportunities coming that you're definitely going to want to take advantage of while you can. Links and product information mentioned in this episode include our website at www.DennisExpress.com. The article/recipe for Tomato Butter from Food Republic at http://www.foodrepublic.com/2017/06/19/make-tomato-butter/ Subscribe to the Podcast - Subscribe Now (Subscribe with iTunes) We look forward to your feedback, send an email to [email protected]!

It's Thursday, June 15th, and this is Episode 18 of the Dennis Knows Food Podcast! In this weeks episode of Dennis Knows Food we focus some of the spotlight on New England, with 3 of our 12 latest inventory additions coming from right here in Maine. We're also putting some emphasis on produce, with Chris Webster, one of our Dennis Account Executives joining us for a discussion on "veggie perceptions." This week we’ve added a dozen new items to our inventory. In for the season we have fresh cooked lobster meat and 10-20 fresh scallops. We’ve added cooked bacon bits and unbreaded cooked chicken wings. Golden Velvet Yellow Cheese Sauce. New England style sliced hotdog rolls. 3 varieties of coffee cake, complete with plain craft windowed boxes and labels. In non-foods we’ve added a 21oz clear plastic, 2 compartment, tamper evident package and a 5 pack 200CT option of the C2 hybrid synthetic gloves in size medium. Scorching its way into our inventory is a hot new item, Blueberry Habanero Hot Sauce from Maine Man Flavors. This is a great product with fantastic potential applications, and in this episode I'll share a couple of the ways in which I've been able to try it. Also in this episode we revisit cold brew coffee, but this time there's alcohol involved. Our Foodie Fun Fact takes inspiration from a seasonal favorite, strawberry shortcake. Do you know how many pounds of strawberries were used to make the worlds largest strawberry shortcake? The answer at the end of our podcast. Links and product information mentioned in this episode include our website at www.DennisExpress.com. The article about cold brew cocktails at http://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/menu/beverage-trends/cold-brew-coffee-can-wake-cocktail-sales#page=0. The article on Mastronardi's acquisition of Back Yard Farms at http://producenews.com/the-produce-news-today-s-headlines/21595-mastronardi-produce-acquires-backyard-farms and how to find us on social media at www.DennisKnowsFood.com. Subscribe to the Podcast - Subscribe Now (Subscribe with iTunes) We look forward to your feedback, send an email to [email protected]!

It's Thursday, June 8th, and this is Episode 17 of the Dennis Knows Food Podcast! Here we are with another Thursday edition of our Podcast; the last few episodes have been recorded on Thursdays rather than our usual Wednesday schedule. This made me reflect on how, even with schedules and planning, the unexpected can cause a hiccup in our regular routines. In this episode I've got some advice to help you overcome unforeseen changes and challenges to your routines. This week we have 8 new items to share with you which were just added to our inventory including an ABF honey ham from McKenzie Deli, French baguettes, new salad dressings and more. There's something "marrowvelous" in the world of burger condiments that fits perfectly with our discussion from last week's episode about signature burgers. We cap that off with some recent burger statistics from industry data firm Technomic. Our new test kitchen gets its first use on Friday and Stouffer's will be there with a new premium mac and cheese that everyone is looking forward to trying. We're hitting the road with Social Media and there's an update on our upcoming Summer Buying Brochure. All that and more in this episode of Dennis Knows Food! Links and product information mentioned in this episode include our website at www.DennisExpress.com. The article about Chef Stevens' marrownaise at http://www.foodrepublic.com/2017/05/25/derek-stevens-marrownaise-makes-killer-burger/. The registration for our New Hampshire Social Media Round Table at https://www.dennisexpress.com/socialroundtable/. Lastly, here's the website for the fine folks at R.M. Flagg - http://www.rmflagg.com. Note: This week's episode is slightly longer than our usual, and due to file size requirements it needed to be compressed down more than normal. So, if you perceive a loss in audio quality, that's not on your end, it's just the MP3 compression. Hopefully it's not too noticeable. A high quality version of our podcast is also uploaded to SoundCloud each week. Subscribe to the Podcast - Subscribe Now (Subscribe with iTunes) We look forward to your feedback, send an email to [email protected]! SaveSave

It's Thursday, June 1st, and this is Episode 16 of the Dennis Knows Food Podcast! Our podcast is protein packed this week as we put the spotlight on creating new opportunities and dishes for your menu. Burgers are big and getting bigger, we discuss the customer-keeping-power of crafting unique signature burgers. The record breaking popularity of bacon means customers are hungry for more pork menu options. And, we share the 8 new products that were added to our inventory this week; one of these new items is a first of it's kind compostable hot/cold food container. Links and product information mentioned in this episode include our website at www.DennisExpress.com. Subscribe to the Podcast - Subscribe Now (Subscribe with iTunes) We look forward to your feedback, send an email to [email protected]!

It's Thursday, May 25th, and this is Episode 15 of the Dennis Knows Food Podcast! In this weeks episode we share 10 new products that were just added to our inventory; including a larger size of our extremely popular Arcadian Harvest lettuce mix. We talk about the return of a fresh seafood favorite, and cover some recent Maine-seafood headlines. We're big on beef, and we're setting up a future "all beef" episode of Dennis Knows Food. We've also got a great device for kitchens that you're going to want to hear about! Links and product information mentioned in this episode include our website at www.DennisExpress.com. The Portland Press Herald article about Maine clamming at http://www.pressherald.com/2017/05/22/clammers-feeling-the-pinch-as-green-crabs-threaten-another-harvest/. You can learn more about the Date Code Genie on our website at https://www.dennisexpress.com/introducing-date-code-genie/ We look forward to your feedback - help us make future Podcasts more valuable! Subscribe to the Podcast - Subscribe Now (Subscribe with iTunes) We look forward to your feedback, send an email to [email protected]! This weeks podcast photo comes from Filipe Fortes.SaveSave

It's Thursday, May 18th, and this is Episode 14 of the Dennis Knows Food Podcast! We hope you had an opportunity to get outside for at least a few minutes today and enjoy a taste of this early Summeresque weather. I was able to spend all weekend outside while fishing in Northern Maine. In this episode of Dennis Knows Food I've got a fishing/cooking story to share with you. Also in this episode we talk about the latest items added to our inventory, discuss new soups from UniPro, spend a few minutes highlighting the value of utilizing your expertise, and more! We've also got an update on our expansion... Spoiler alert! It's nearly complete! Links and product information mentioned in this episode include our website at www.DennisExpress.com and access to all of our social media accounts on www.DennisKnowsFood.com. Subscribe to the Podcast - Subscribe Now (Subscribe with iTunes) We look forward to your feedback, send an email to [email protected]! SaveSave

It's Thursday, May 11th, and this is Episode 13 of the Dennis Knows Food Podcast! It's been an interesting couple of days trying to record audio for our Podcast, you'll hear why in the episode. This week we've added 14 new items to our inventory spanning several delicious categories. We’ve added liquid coffee concentrate, cereal, almond milk, yogurt, soups, a 4.5oz beef and bean burrito and more. Keith Durrah our Director of Risk Management drops in to talk safety. We cover some of this weeks food industry headlines. Don't forget Mother's Day is this coming Sunday. Visit our website for great Mother's Day menu ideas! Links and product information mentioned in this episode include our website at www.DennisExpress.com and FoodNavigator.com's white paper on "Developing a Culture of Food Safety" available here: http://www.foodnavigator.com/Product-innovations/White-paper-Developing-a-culture-of-food-safety-in-your-business/ We look forward to your feedback - help us make future Podcasts more valuable! Subscribe to the Podcast - Subscribe Now (Subscribe with iTunes) We look forward to your feedback, send an email to [email protected]! More about this week's Podcast photo: The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) recommends an internal cooked temperature of 165 to 180 degrees for poultry. The food thermometer depicted here is thermistor-style food thermometer, which uses a resistor (a ceramic semiconductor bonded in the tip with temperature-sensitive epoxy) to measure temperature. The thickness of the probe is approximately 1/8 of an inch and takes roughly 10 seconds to register the temperature on the digital display. Since the semiconductor is in the tip, thermistors can measure temperature in thin foods, as well as thick foods. Because the center of a food is usually cooler than the outer surface, place the tip in the center of the thickest part of the food. This type of thermometer does not remain in the food while it is cooking but should be used near the end of the cooking process. USDA Photo.