the culinary art of coffee

It takes a lot of people and passion to put great products on our shelves. Part of Fresh & Easy’s commitment to you is that we put the best products on our shelves that we know are created with care. Behind each Fresh & Easy product is a story and group of passionate people who strive to make the highest quality, fresh products possible – and keep them all at a reasonable price.

So when we met the owners of Caffe Calabria, a local café and artisanal coffee roaster in San Diego, we knew we had to partner with them to produce some of the most amazing, rich and delicious coffee for our shelves – the fresh&easy artisanal coffee. The company’s passion for the culinary art of coffee-making is apparent in the incredible care they put into each step of the coffee roasting process – from raw bean to finished product, each batch goes through rigorous testing and tastings to make sure it is perfect.

We took a camera down to Caffe Calabria to capture the care and passion the roasters of Caffe Calabria put into every single batch of fresh&easy artisanal coffee.



The coffee is carefully packaged in tins, preserving the freshness and aroma so when you open the canister in your home the result is a perfect cup of fresh, handcrafted coffee made with care. I don’t know about you, but I can practically smell the coffee through the screen…

For another “story behind the product” – check out our trip to the Il Fornaio bakery to see the bakers of fresh&easy breads!

Cheers!
~SallieB

Fresh food in South LA

We were thrilled today to partner with Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry to open our South Los Angeles store – one of the first store locations we identified over two years ago!

This store is part of a broader redevelopment program to revitalize the Central Avenue corridor. We’re excited to be a part of the effort and hope to encourage even more business and growth as a result.

Providing food access and healthier foods to underserved communities has been getting national attention with First Lady Michelle Obama taking up the torch to try to get Americans to eat better and tackle childhood obesity by encouraging better eating habits. We continue to open stores in all types of neighborhoods because we fundamentally believe everyone – regardless of where they live – deserves access to quality, fresh food at affordable prices. In reviewing our the best selling items across all Fresh & Easy stores – from Hollywood to Pasadena to Compton, we have found that fresh fruits and vegetables and quality meats and poultry are consistently best sellers, regardless of the neighborhood.

The opening was quite the neighborhood event – lots of local leaders, friends from the City of LA and neighbors showed up to see the new store. We even had the Jefferson High School marching band perform outside the store!


We presented Councilmember Perry today with a Fresh & Easy Superstar Shirt. Each week, at our company team meeting, we award Superstar Shirts to employees who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to do something extraordinary for our customers or their neighborhoods. This is the first time we’ve ever awarded a Superstar Shirt to someone outside our Fresh & Easy family, but we certainly feel Councilwoman Perry deserves one for her work in revitalizing the area and bring fresh, quality food to residents in the neighborhood.

We also had a team of Fresh & Easy volunteers in the neighborhood to help beautify 28th Street Elementary School by painting murals later this afternoon. One mural of the U.S. Map and the other one reminding kids to eat their fruit and veggies!


For more pictures and stories of the South LA opening, visit here, here and here!

Cheers!
~Sallie

Celebrating the Holidays Latino Style

We joined bloggers and journalists for a holiday fiesta at Sur La Table in Los Angeles last week. We indulged in Latin-inspired dishes created by our Chef Cynthia Perez and delectable desserts, all paired with our exclusive wines to toast the upcoming holidays and new year.



Everyone helped Chef Cynthia cook and eat the great tasting food including Maple Ham & Brie Crostini, Sweet Corn Tamales with Roasted Garlic & Rosemary, Homemade Roasted Poblano Guacamole with Grilled Shrimp, and Mini Black Bean & Goat Cheese Quesadillas.


(For full recipes click here)

Chef Cynthia also shared simple tips on how to take the stress out of the kitchen and turning staple Latin items, like chorizo, into unique concepts – Mini Chorizo Salad, yum!



Getting to know our neighbors was the best part of the night. We’re grateful for our new friends and had a great time celebrating this holiday season with them!


A special thanks to our friends who joined us:

Soy Fashionista
Thought of a Mommy
8 Years old and Babies
Day Tripping Mom
Spanglish Baby
My Fat Big Cuban Family
Rockin Mama
Greenery in Mommyhood
Nuestra Vida Con Adrian

Bringing authentic Italian bread to the neighborhood

Ever wonder how Fresh & Easy gets fresh baked bread to your neighborhood store daily? This is made possible thanks to our partnership with Il Fornaio, who are locally based in La Mirada, CA.

Il Fornaio got their start by opening a baking school in Barlassina (Lombardia), Italy and they make their bread the same way they have for centuries. Luckily for us, they made it to our side of the Atlantic and now bake their baguettes, kalamata olive loaves, sourdough boules, and ciabattas (to name a few) for us to make available right in your neighborhood.

In this video Jan Schat, Vice President of Bakeries for Il Fornaio, spoke to us about the love and care that goes into baking these breads.



We're proud to work with the great team at Il Fornaio and are happy to offer their artisan breads that have all been made, in the words of Jan, with no mysterious ingredients for you to enjoy.

Buon appetito!

~SallieB

We’re thankful for good friends and good food

In an early celebration of the season of connecting with friends and family, last week the Fresh & Easy team traveled to Phoenix and Las Vegas to reconnect with some of our blogging friends, make some new ones and of course enjoy some great fresh&easy holiday food.



With Chef Cindy’s expert guidance, we all pitched in to help prepare a complete Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings, including some different takes on the classics – such as an easy, healthy and very tasty sweet-potato-spinach-salad.



(For the full recipe check out Noshtopia’s post)

Chef Cindy also wowed us with her simple tips to make fresh&easy readymade meals unique, such as the mashed potatoes, by adding your own spin to them. She incorporated garlic and parmesan cheese into her recipe and someone mentioned even adding bacon or chives to the potatoes. Not only is it simple and time saving, but because our fresh&easy prepared meals only use ingredients you can pronounce, the potatoes tasted just like homemade.



The no fuss fresh&easy dip trays and vegetable platters make a delicious and simple starter that will keep your dinner guests at bay and out of the kitchen until the turkey is done. And you won’t have to deal with prep or cleanup. As for the desserts and wines, well all I can say is they were a hit!



We had a great time with all of our lovely friends in Phoenix and Las Vegas. By the end there were full stomachs, empty glasses and lots of laughter.


For more pics of the event check out our Flickr page.

Very special thanks to our friends who joined us :
Loosing It in AZ
Noshtopia
Mom Memos
The Crepes of Wrath
Vivian Nelson Melle
Tim Swearingen
The Traveling Rose
Megan
Concoctions of a Wanna be Chef
Fresh & Easy Wine Review Blog
Chef Mona
Steve, Sam, Steve and Andy from UKLV.org
Carlo and Alex from Recession Recipes
Sparkle Power
The Deal Fanatic
Coupon Chic

From our team, to you – we wish you a happy Thanksgiving full of great food and great friends!

Cheers!
~SallieB

Back-to-School at fresh&easy

It’s that time of year again – the back-to-school rush is here. While parents are busy filling backpacks with supplies, they are also packing those lunchboxes with meals and snacks that will take their kids through the day. It is a challenge that all parents face to pack lunches they feel good about but will also be eaten and not “traded” away to friends and classmates. But who says it has to be complicated?

We just launched our new line of fresh&easy Goodness Snack Trays. They contain nitrate-free ham or turkey, real cheddar cheese (not processed) and organic wheat crackers for just $2.49 a pack. They taste great and they’re made with ingredients you can trust…



What are your tried and true tips on making fun and healthy lunches and snacks for your family (and for yourself)?

more stores opening at fresh&easy

It was a big opening day for us with three new stores in Southern California, including one in Ventura, CA and our first two in Santa Barbara County, CA.

- Channel Islands & Rose, Oxnard
- Clark & Bradley, Orcutt
- H & North, Lompoc

Lots of our neighbors came out to check us out.



Like we do for every opening, we donated $1,000 to a local charity for each store. Congratulations to The Boys and Girls Club in Lompoc, the Orcutt Aqua Center, and the Parent Faculty Organization of Channel Islands High School!



These new stores created nearly 75 new jobs… and we are creating about 25 more for our next store opening in Delano, CA on August 19th!

For more pictures of the store openings check out our Flickr page.

Cheers!
~Sallie

Wining & Dining with Chef Mike

Last Thursday night we had a great time cooking, eating, drinking and laughing (a lot) with a few blogger friends. Our own Chef Mike cooked for us and even taught us a thing or two about making great food.



LA bloggers gathered to taste our exclusive wines and try out the delicious, fast and easy meals that Chef Mike put together using all fresh&easy ingredients which never contain artificial colors, flavors or added trans fats and only use preservatives when absolutely necessary. The group even donned aprons to make homemade margarita pizzas and prepped the ingredients for apricot chicken tenders, salmon with peanut sauce and veggies, and beef fajitas.

Here are some pictures and a video of the event, the food and the fun. (Special thanks to Oakley for the permission to use some of her pictures.)


These easy Beef Fajitas were a hit and serve four for less than $5 each


Ana, Melissa and Silvia roll out dough for the pizzas


Cynthia, Amy, and Lee tweet and share some laughs


Handmade margarita pizzas made with love by Lupe, Annette, Bernadette and Marsha


Ready to cook in less than 10 minutes and serves 4 for less than $8



And who could forget dessert? A delectable sampling of fresh&easy banana cream pie, tiramisu cake, and gourmet chocolate cupcakes was definitely a hit!

For more pictures of the event, visit our Flickr page and the Flickr pages of bloggers Annette and Oakley. We hope everyone had as much fun as we did!