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| ChefShop.com - searching the world for the best artisan-produced, sustainable foods and ingredients |
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| Located in the inner bay area of Seattle, Washington, ChefShop.com was started in 1999 by a small group of passionate food-lovers with a very big mission: To change the way people think and feel about the foods that they eat by finding the very best-tasting foods from small farmers and artisan producers from around the world – especially from those growers and craftspeople who see the connection between the way the land is maintained and the quality of the food they produce - and making these products available to ChefShop.com’s customers wherever they live. |
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genesis
The owners of ChefShop.com feel that the industrialization of food production and mass market dominance of food distribution here in the U.S. have led to a noticeable degradation in the quality of food available in this country, most noticeable by its lack of flavor and healthiness. They long recognized that this sorry state of affairs was due in significant part to the breakdown in the traditional, sustainable methods of growing and producing foods. In 1995, Tim Mar and Seattle food personality, Mauny Kaseburg, produced a video for children called “Earth to Table.” The concept was to help children understand where their food came from – highlighting local farmers and producers who toil to grow, harvest and deliver the food that we buy at local farmers’ markets.. |
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“No one really knows anymore where their food comes from. Kids think that food comes from the grocery store already wrapped in plastic. We wanted to change all that!”
- Tim Mar, President & CEO, ChefShop.com and Founder
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From these humble seeds germinated the idea for a content-only website for the Microsoft Network (MSN), and in 1997, Mauny’s Kitchen on MSN was born. In 1998, they launched an e-commerce website on Yahoo Store. Finally, in early 1999, they married content with commerce and launched ChefShop.com, the first education-driven e-commerce site for high quality specialty food..
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“It was a novel concept at the time … and still is, for that matter. We actually think information is a good thing when it comes to food. If more people understood where grocery-store food actually came from, they could make better choicest!”
- Mauny Kaseburg, Founding Partner, ChefShop.com
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in search of the very best
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“We research and taste every item we sell. Less than one in 100 make the final grade. We want to know who makes it, how it’s produced, and what ingredients are used. And, of course, it needs to taste great. It is an learning process we then share with our customers.”
-Eliza Ward, VP of New Products, ChefShop.com
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| Because of their focus on traditionally crafted foods and ingredients, ChefShop.com’s producers are often extremely small, located in remote places, and do not have mainstream distribution or modern brand management. One example is Stephanie Fuller of Stephanie’s Specialties. Michael first heard about Stephanie and her products through a friend in Central Washington. Stephanie jars her own jams and pickled vegetables, all made from sustainably grown organic produce, most of which is grown on her own farm. |
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“ChefShop.com does a great job of educating their customers about the products they sell. I really
appreciate their efforts.”
- Stephanie Fuller, Organic Farmer & Owner,
Stephanie's Specialties
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serving local seattle customers
ChefShop.com’s customers are food lovers who realize that there is more to food than what they see on their supermarket shelves. To help their local customers learn more about the products that they sell, ChefShop.com opened a brick-and-mortar retail store in late 1999 that included an olive oil, balsamic and wine vinegar tasting bar, as well as separate tasting stations for honeys, sea salts and jams. |
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“ChefShop.com is the only place I know where I can taste the product before I buy it. It is just a better way to shop.”
- John Sundstrom, Owner & Executive Chef, Lark (Seattle),
Food & Wine Magazine’s “Best New Chefs” in 2000
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expanding on the traditional-production concept
In 2002, ChefShop.com started offering a small selection of artisan-produced fresh foods, such as tree-ripened fruit from Central Washington, smoked-to-order free-range, naturally raised turkey, and seasonal Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese from Italy. What sets ChefShop.com apart from other retailers is that they work directly with the grower to get the absolute freshest, most flavorful products possible. |
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“Every piece of fruit we sell is left on the tree until it is actually ripe. It is picked at its peak, and then packed and shipped the same day. No early harvest or cold storage for our fruit. It’s like eating fruit right off the tree!”
- Tom Batch, Owner, Batch’s Best Family Farms
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| In 2003, ChefShop.com added sustainable Alaskan and Hawaiian seafood to their list of fresh products. They work directly with a native Alaskan family who has been fishing for salmon in the Situk River for generations. The fish is line-caught, properly processed on the boat (so that the fish is not stressed), then packed and shipped to ChefShop.com’s customer within 24 hours. |
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“Not only do we support sustainable fishing practices, our fish arrives far fresher than anything one could get in the typical grocery store, even in ChefShop.com’s native Seattle.”
- Eliza Ward, VP of Marketing, ChefShop.com
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five years later
Today, ChefShop.com offers a seasonal selection of over 1,000 of the very best artisan-produced foods and fresh products from around the world. The majority of the products are handmade using pure, natural ingredients, and traditional, often centuries-old, techniques and recipes. Products include a broad selection of domestic and imported estate olive oils, balsamic vinegars, and exotic and hard-to-find spices and herbs. They also offer a growing list of fresh food items, such as tree-ripened fruit, wild Alaskan salmon, smoked-to-order organic turkey, made-to-order artisan chocolates, and seasonal Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses from Italy. Freshness, purity, healthiness, tradition, value, consistency, knowing the provenance of each product, and most importantly, flavor are ChefShop.com’s criteria when deciding what products to offer their customers. |
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