After spending a lot of time in the kitchen, these chefs decided to step outside the box and whip up their own recipe for success.
They quickly discovered that it’s nice to work with spice.
“There’s no middle men here,” said Duff Allen, a longtime Seattle chef who has spent a career in restaurant, catering and convention center food production. “Here, we can control things. We blend, order and deliver.
“We’re not looking to dominate the spice world. We just want to carve our own local niche.”
Allen, who has more than 20 years of experience in the industry, has joined forces with longtime chef Ed Lintott of Olympia to establish Northwest Chef Products, a local food distributor specializing in dry herbs and spices, seasoning blends and USDA food base products.
The recently-opened, wholesale order food purveyor is centrally headquartered in Auburn.
Together with their wives, Martha Gray-Lintott and Jennifer Reck-Allen, the four owner-operators have more than 70 combined years of experience in the industry – from kitchen management and food production, to customer service, public relations, business and administration.
It was that experience that spurred the foursome to run their own show, a business focused on selling quality products at affordable prices in customized sizes. To maintain freshness, the company avoids mixing in bulk. They cater to customers by providing ordering and packaging alternatives to suit the customer, down to the smallest detail. They also formulate proprietary seasoning blends for all applications.
In essence, they wanted to be efficient purveyors, an extension of what today’s food business clients really want.
“There’s more control here, and that control (of the product) is huge,” Lintott said.
NWCP expects to catch the interests of the regional hospitality market, from local restaurants and hotels, to corporate, educational and other food service areas.
They offer a diverse lineup of more than 150 herbs and spices and seasoning blends. They also sell many varieties of salts, whole chili peppers, extracts, flavorings and colorings and USDA bases, from beef and chicken to lobster and sautéed vegetables.
There is Australian River Salt, Chili Pepper Hot Asian and Yakima Applewood Smoked Salt. One also can find Cajun, Chinese and Wagon Trail Rub seasonings.
On the herb shelf, there is Dill Weed, Rosemary Cracked and Marjoram. The wide variety of spices includes Juniper Berries, Lemon and Lime Peel Granulated, Mace Ground and Mustard Dry English.
The chefs-turned-proprietors are constantly experimenting and introducing new blends.
“It’s nice just to be able to talk to a chef, give them a cooking idea and be able to get a call a couple of days later,” Lintott said. “We’re constantly looking for new products and ideas.”
Added Allen: “And we want to be able to have answers for someone when we walk through the doors.”
The goods are delivered in PETG recyclable, environmentally responsible packaging. Allen and Lintott pride themselves on quick delivery.
“When they order something from us, they know they’re going to get it,” Allen said.
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WE’RE OPEN
• Business:
• Location: 3902 W. Valley Highway N., Suite 304, Auburn
• Specialize: Dry herbs and spices, seasoning blends, USDA food-base products. NWCP offers a broad range of seasoning products procured from a select group of distributors that offer domestically grown and processed premium quality air-dried culinary herbs and imported pure spices milled in the USA. All suppliers are industry leaders in meeting FDA microbiological requirements.
• Information: 253-939-4400, 253-939-4411 (fax)
• Hours: Perpetual online service, including daytime phone availability, for wholesale orders.
