Local Food Spotlight

Local New Jersey
At Its Food Finest

It should come as no surprise that a place called the Garden State should know what to do in the kitchen. New Jersey is home to some of the finest food manufacturers, ingredients and of course signature foods, like the Pork Roll Egg and Cheese. In fact, New Jersey has nearly 5,000 food and beverage manufacturers and wholesalers responsible for over $50 billion in sales. New Jersey exports over $1 billion annually with biggest markets in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and Mexico. We are also home to food research and development centers working to strengthen the food-processing industry, and to major development labs, like International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), the industry leader and producer of flavor and fragrance products used by countless other manufacturers.

From global food giants like Campbell Soup headquartered in Camden, to local food artisans who lovingly turn our hand made specialties, the Garden State has it all. Let’s take a look at just a few of the mm-mm-goodies:

Big Brands

Nabisco – Try to imagine a world without Chips Ahoy, Ritz Crackers or heaven forbid, Oreos. Thanks to East Hanover based Nabisco, the parent company of these and thousands of other brands like Triscuits, Nutter Butters and Mallomars, these classic snacks will keep rolling into shopping carts everywhere.

Cento Foods – There has to be a tomato in the pack, and Cento Foods, with its subsidiary lines like Ferrara Foods is one of the nation’s leading producers and distributors of fine Italian products, based not in Sicily or Roma, but a little town in South Jersey called Thorofare, NJ.

Alpine Lace – Forget your visions of Heidi and the rolling hills of the Alps. Don’t even think about Wisconsin Cheeseheads. No, Maplewood, NJ based Alpine Lace is the leader in low-fat, fat-free, and low-sodium cheese and dairy products.

Local Favorites

Blackwell’s Organic, LLC – Long Branch is the cool corner home of Blackwell’s Organic, maker of delicious frozen desserts and Gelato by Mail, an online store featuring Blackwell’s Organic gelato and sorbetto. For the health conscious who still want a coneful of comfort, Blackwell’s Organic Gelato offers dairy-free, cholesterol-free, completely vegan, organic ingredients. Check Blackwell’s Organic selection at www.BlackwellsOrganic.com.

MaryAnna’s Tea, LLC – Located in Point Pleasant, MaryAnna’s Summer Sweet Tea is an all-natural, ready-to-drink bottled iced tea sold to specialty and natural food markets all over the Jersey Shore. Mary Anna uses premium natural ingredients including custom-blended black tea leaves, filtered water, pure cane sugar and 100% lemon juice, and no artificial flavorings or preservatives. Visit www.maryannastea.com.

Mazi Piri-Piri Sauce – Asbury Park is home to Mazi Piri-Piri sauce, which is handmade in small batches of 100 bottles and can be used as a spicy marinade or a fiery hot sauce straight from the bottle. Made from 100% recycled packaging, this authentic Portuguese hot sacue is featured in restaurants from the East Coast to the West Coast. For more information visit www.mazi401.com.

We’d love to hear from you to help expand on this Garden State food column.

If you know of a New Jersey based food company or a great locally grown product, email us at
edit@currentsnj.com.