Local Foods
When Chuck Hafner’s opened nearly 50 years ago, we based our business on providing the best quality plants and produce to the community of North Syracuse and surrounding areas. When we gather as a family for a simple meal or celebration, we pride ourselves on using the best local produce and products. This is reflected in the local brands we carry in our store.
We asked each of our vendors to share something about their own story; here is a closer look at the local businesses we are proud to support.
Syracuse Salt Company
Syracuse Salt Company is a true family business, bringing the Salt back to Salt City. Formed in 2015 by a father-daughter team, Syracuse Salt Company has grown and evolved, now harvesting Salt from a brine well almost 300 feet down in the historic Inner Harbor area of Syracuse, where remnants of salt sheds from the 1800s can still be found. Salt City Flake Salt is their signature product, along with their flavor-infused gourmet salts, most of which are now infused directly with Salt City Flake.
Syracha’cuse
Our story begins in 2014 when friends introduced us to gourmet hot sauces, we loved how the sauces complimented the foods we ate and that the emphasis was on local ingredients and flavor, not just heat, we were hooked, and in 2015 we went into the kitchen to develop our first few hot sauce recipes. It’s with these first hot sauces and love for our hometown that Syracha’cuse was born. We believe sourcing local and producing all-natural products are keys to thriving in the specialty food business, creating award-winning hot sauces is just part of our growing small business, which now includes specialty foods such as bbq sauces, wing sauces, jerkies, and seasonings.
Kutick’s Honey Farm
Family owned and operated since 1978, Kutik’s Honey Farm, located in Oxford, NY, began with two beehives our owner Chuck received as a Christmas present. The extraction and bottling operation began in 1979. Kutik’s has grown to be the largest apiary in New York State. At Kutik’s Honey Farm, we pride ourselves in offering pure, unadulterated, local NYS honey to our customers with honey straight from the maker- The Bees. Our honey is only heated enough to pump and strain, not to the temperatures commonly used in supermarket honey. The result is a full-bodied taste, preserving all the God-given and healthful properties of nature’s oldest sweetener.
Chocolate Pizza Company
Our owner, Ryan Novak, started working here when he was 15, mopping floors and washing dishes but dreaming of one day taking the company to new heights. In 2010, at age 21, that dream of owning the business became reality. Today, we’ve transformed a small town chocolate shop into an emerging national brand.
Our signature and trademarked Chocolate Pizza® leads a line-up of over 100 treats that are unique, delicious, impressive. For our trademarked Chocolate Pizza, we use the highest quality Swiss-style chocolate and blend it with homemade English toffee made on-site from a century-old local recipe before pouring it into pizza pans, topping with candies or nuts and serving in a custom pizza box.
Proudly family-owned and operated, we have a wonderful team of skilled professionals that create amazing confections. Whatever the occasion, business or pleasure, Chocolate Pizza Company is the perfect choice.
Lyndaker’s Maple Orchard
Lyndaker’s Maple Orchard is nestled on the edge of the Adirondack Park on the Soft Maple Reservoir in Lewis County, New York, where we produce some of New York’s Finest Pure Maple Syrup.
Established in 1926 by our Great Grandfather John Lyndaker, we are a 4th generation family operation maple producer. With all three generations working together at one time, they learned an age-old tradition of making maple syrup. Glenn and Nadeen Lyndaker, with their three children, took over the operation in 1997. Starting in 1926 with horse-drawn sleighs, using wooden sap buckets to collect sap, to the present-day collection with a tractor collecting sap and extensive tubing, gravity, and vacuum system. We still use some buckets in and around the sugar house.
The sugar house (or boiling shed) has seen many changes, from dirt floor and boiling sap in copper pans to cement floors and stainless steel pans with an air-forced wood-fired evaporator. The wooden holding tanks have been replaced with steel also. We have gone from tapping 300 to almost 3000 taps.
Taking pride in making our exceptional tasting maple syrup doesn’t stop there. We take great care of our woods and have practiced good forestry management for sustainability that helps keeps our sugarbush healthy and productive for the future.
Primo & Mary’s Salsa
At SalsaCuse Salsa, we appreciate fine foods made with quality, wholesome, fresh and healthy ingredients. We demand high standards for our products. Our children love our delicious salsas, and we know you will too!
Canales
A family tradition that originated from the hills of Morolo, Italy, and the famous recipes of Anna “Ma” Canale…the Italian cuisine of Canale’s Restaurant.
For over 50 years, the Canale Family has provided the Oswego, NY community with their homemade menu items and family dining atmosphere. Now you can take home and enjoy a taste of the old country and a family tradition.
Hot Crispy Oil
It was March 2020 when COVID-19 shook the world. A 43-year-old family restaurant in Upstate New York closed its doors for what seemed at that time to only be temporary. Fast forward a couple of months and this closure was becoming more apparent to be permanent in nature and thus Hot Crispy Oil was born. What started as a recipe for friends and family created in a shuttered kitchen, began taking on a life of its own. From a passion to a thriving business.
In a short few months, the growth was exponential on a daily basis. We began hiring fellow people in the restaurant industry laid off from COVID-19. We grew from local, to regional, to national and are now laying the groundwork for global distribution.
The only thing that hasn’t changed is the time, quality, and love that we put into the product. Small batch, hand-made from the best ingredients on the market. This is our commitment now and forever.
Let us share the love of Hot Crispy Oil with you, your friends, and your family!
Wing-A-Lings Dry Rubs & Seasonings
Our special seasoning makes all the difference in the world. Our custom spice blends deliver consistently higher quality for better-tasting food. No Artificial Colors or additives & all-natural fresh ingredients are what we pride ourselves on. Low Salt, the reason it tastes so much better is that you are tasting the organic flavors, NOT SALT!
Angry Garlic
Angry Garlic is a Baldwinsville, NY restaurant who have created their own range of delicious garlic-based dressings and sauces. They pride themselves on supporting local businesses and source their garlic from local farms.
Tugg Hill Artisan Roasters
Scott and Vanessa Gilbert are a husband and wife partnership with a team dedicated to purveying specialty coffees worldwide and roasting them in small batches allowing an appreciation for unique fresh flavors and aromatics.
Paul Delima Coffee
In 1902, a young woman named Ella Barber deLima visited her husband’s family in Brazil on their coffee plantation. Intrigued by the artistry and beauty of coffee, she returned home to Syracuse, New York where she began experimenting with roasting coffee in her kitchen. She and her son Paul would make daily deliveries of their coffee to local stores. Paul deLima continues to grow as one of the nation’s premier specialty coffee roasters and our commitment to quality instilled by mother and son continues to run strong in our efforts.
Finger Lakes Harvest
We set out to craft a simple healthy product made from locally grown ingredients, creating a business model that emphasized the agricultural strengths of our region. We discovered along the way that the relationships with our growers and their relationship with the amazing glacial soils of the Finger Lakes is what completes this circle of sustainable economy. Our apple cider vinegar is made from organic apples grown in the Finger Lakes and contains ‘the mother’, a protein that contains enzymes and beneficial bacteria known to aid in creating and maintaining a healthy gut microbiome. All of our fruits used in production are sourced from local growers, aside from our citrus, which is sourced from friends in Florida.
Nav’s Popcorn
From Sweet to spicey, fruity to savory popcorn Navs has every flavor you could want. With 30 standards and plenary of seasonal specials the only question is “What do you wanna try next?”
Nat’s Nuts
Nat’s Nuts were first roasted in a college dorm at Roberts Wesleyan College. Our customers were family, and friends from school and church. They began as a fundraiser for a mission trip to Guatemala with Fuego Coffee Roasters. We traveled to Huehuetenango, Guatemala to open a coffee shop that would employ Guatemalan orphans and young mothers.
New Hope Mills
Discover the rich, authentic flavor of classic buttermilk pancakes with New Hope Mills’ Best-Selling Buttermilk Pancake Mix.
Far from ordinary, our buttermilk pancakes are a cut above the rest, and we’re confident you’ll agree.