PRESS RELEASE- Gem City Fine Foods has won a fourth Specialty Food Association Sofi Award, this year for their Lemon Zest Cheesecake, a rich cheesecake base on a GF cookie dough crust topped with a tangy sweet lemon zest topping. The cheesecake ran away with the Gold medal in the Baked Goods- Bakery Desserts category, the same category in which Gem City’s Blueberry Lemon Loaf won Best New Product in 2020, and Pomegranate Cheesecake took Silver in 2021. This decadent creation hit the market late in 2014, and has earned a solid following, gaining sales annually since. "I'm not the only one on ou ..read more

A couple evenings ago I was reading a trade mag, and suddenly stopped at this quote in the midst of an interview with the CEO of Super Coffee: "There is a barrier to entry in the food and beverage industry. Stores will only carry your products if you have a distributor that delivers them, and distributors will only carry your products if you have stores that will bring them there." - Jim DeCicco, CEO Super Coffee I stopped and took a picture with my phone and emailed it to myself as a reminder to blog about this Catch-22. It's a fact. The man speaks the truth. And this fundamental food bi ..read more

It's almost SQF Food Safety Level 2 Certification audit time again for Gem City Fine Foods! In a couple weeks an outside auditor will come into our bakery and scour all our food safety documents, from policies and SOPs (standard operating procedures) through records including temperature readings and employee training attendance. The auditor will walk the entire premises looking for areas where we can improve and will interview team members as they do their jobs- just to make sure we know what we are doing and that we are doing it with your safety utmost in mind.  It's a grueling and, qui ..read more

Last Friday was a long and very full day. Not really that long even, just 8 to 3, but filled with information. I am a member of the Leadership Utah Class of 2022 through the Salt Lake Chamber. This month was Government Day. (We meet one day each month, and each meeting explores a different theme.)  Since the world, down to state, county and municipal level is still in varying stages of lifting of Covid restrictions, our visit was limited in physical scope. We spent the morning in a board room at the Utah State Capitol, did get to sit in on the House in session for a few minutes, and ..read more

Wow! Has it really been since November 2021 that we last posted? Sincere apologies, a happy new year- we hope it's been good to you so far- and here comes Punxatawney Phil in just a couple days to usher in Midwinter. Time has absolutely flown! So much going on in 2022 right off the bat. We would like to welcome Amanda Kanashiro, our new Social Media Manager, to the team. Amanda has worked with us for several years in her role as influencer with Eat at Our Table, and this year she provided an offer we just could not refuse: to work instead coordinating our SM calendar part-time. Along with Jess ..read more

Improvise. Welcome to t he latest installment of "Supply Chain Shortages." We received an update from a local distributor this morning listing several items currently in short supply. The distributor- OK, it was Nicholas and Co- did an excellent job in listing the level of level of impact for each item, an estimated time table in which supply is expected to normalize, and a brief "Summary of Challenges" for each item. Impressive, really! We have tried to be transparent about the lack of access we have had to a number of items this year, most recently and longest running being dry ice, for whic ..read more

When I was in grad school - the second time around- a bunch of us got together a couple times to go bowling on a Friday night. We had a friend named Scooby- still do- and somehow one night the question was asked, "What would Scooby do?" (I truly cannot recall the context, but it was funny! WWSD? WWJD? WWYD? Decisions, decisions.  Yesterday Leadership Utah class was scheduled for a tour of the prison and visits to a couple area police departments. This month's theme (it varies every month during the program): Crime and Law Enforcement. I had looked forward to being with the group again, si ..read more

Hey everyone, it's Lisa from Gem City Fine Foods. For some of you, those who have followed our Lunch'N Watch and other Facebook Live videos, a familiar voice is saying that line right now. So, where have I been? NOT in Myrtle Beach for a much-anticipated first vacation in well over two years. I canceled that trip because I am a Covid breakthrough case- how exciting! (Not at all.) But wait! I just read this morning that Covid is on the decline. OK, that's great news! But I am only one of several people I know right here in my own town who hold the dubious honor of being breakthrough c ..read more

We are pleased and a little proud to announce that Gem City Fine Foods has been recognized as Finalist  in the Utah Ethical Business Leadership Awards for 2021! What does this mean? We were recently recognized at an awards breakfast by the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative at University of Utah as one of 6 organizations singled out for ethical leadership in the state of Utah. The awards recognize an overall winner and a finalist in each of three categories: Business, Non-profit and Government. (Zions Bank was recognized as this year's overall winner in the Business category.) Click here&nb ..read more

It's been a year. Have I said that lately? This is not to be construed as "good" or "bad," though certainly challenging!  The latest? If you haven't heard: Last week we were robbed. In broad daylight. Of several pallets bound for two distributor warehouses. I can't give details during an investigation, but can assure you there is an investigation ongoing.  But, let's move on. That is just one more challenge among many as this year and this pandemic wanders onward.  Recently while reading the latest issue of Convenience Store News -aside from the references to tobacco ..read more