Organic Food Behind "Something Good" Campaign

For months they've been teasing Westfielders, promising "something good coming soon" all the while operating in secrecy behind closed doors on Quimby Street.

What would it be? A store, a restaurant, some sort of top secret CIA front, the marketing campaign sent gossip flying from Tamaques to Wychwood. The secrecy has been dropped and the something has come to the once vacant storefront – with only time to tell if residents think it is something good.

Alan's Orchard opened last week as a small-scale version of a Whole Foods or a year round farmers market. Designed as a market for farms within a 150-mile radius of Westfield owner Alan Weinberg and his partner, Mike Goldblatt are hoping to reinvent food as a local organic concept.

"I wanted to have real food and know where it came from and that it was fresh," Weinberg said.

The store features a table of fresh seasonal produce dominating the store, with a display of cold items, including Jersey made chicken sausage and buffalo meat on one side. The coolers also feature a throwback to the days when the country liked Ike and left it to the Beaver – glass bottled organic milk. Another display has Jersey made jams, along with bags of beans and other legumes for sale. Displays next to the country include a variety of organic cheeses and whole wheat breads.

Weinberg takes pride in the fresh frozen yogurt he is selling. The yogurt is a bit different than traditional frozen yogurt consumers are used to getting. For one, there is no sugar added, for another there is no flavor added. Weinberg is selling traditional frozen yogurt.

"Most make it with powder and water," he said. "It's tart and tastes like real yogurt. People seem to like it. It's not a flavor, it's yogurt."

Weinberg hopes that the yogurt business becomes a booming part of his brand with teens and parents lining Quimby Street for a cup or cone. He said he providing various toppings for the yogurt including fresh strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. In a twist, Weinberg plays up that the fruits used for yogurt toppings are not the syrup that is common to many of the frozen yogurt chains.

A refugee from the world of public policy, Weinberg teamed up with Goldblatt thinking it is time to promote local homegrown organic food in a time when many consumers are questioning the additives in the nation's food supply.

Goldblatt said that many customers with roots in New York will remember recognize many of the farms where the store gets it produce.

"A lot of the vendors also serve the Union Square market in New York," Goldblatt said.

Weinberg said he calls many vendors in the morning to place and order and is told how long it will take to pick the order before being able to get it from farm to market. He said this is one place where he is hoping to stand out from others.

A Westfield resident, Weinberg said he believes that the town is a great spot to open a store of this type. He said that many of the residents he speaks to are interested in farm fresh organic locally grown food and want to be able to know where the food came from. He said customers are happy to know that he and Goldblatt have visited many of the farms where the food is grown and have gotten to know the owners.

Going forward, Weinberg said he has other programs in mind for the store, including bringing in several of the farmers to meet with customers and providing some cooking classes or other informational programming on organic locally grown food.

Weinberg said that while he is excited about finally opening the doors and looks forward to the store catching on in Westfield and possibly other communities, he acknowledged there is one logistical area that he is still looking to overcome that separates him from the larger stores and non-organic markets.

"Everything comes from a tree with no stickers," he said.