outdoors
TROUT, CONTINUED FROM 33
Originally opened on Montgomery Street in Waynesville, the Sunburst Market recently set up shop in downtown, as seen with their new location on Main Street.
sionate as he was in 1948. “He’s so fired up; he’s super excited about what we’re doing and where we’re going,” Sally said. “Every time he comes down to visit here, he’ll say, ‘Now, let me tell you what you need to be doing different.’”
Smoky Mountain News
Oct. 30-Nov. 5, 2013
FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN
34
But it hasn’t all been smiles and success for Sunburst. The establishment has gone through its shares of calamities. Over the course of the last decade, the company has weathered a series of droughts and floods. With too little water, the fish die. With too much water, the buildings get destroyed and fish escape. In 2004, Hurricane Frances and Ivan, some 10 days apart, descended onto Haywood County, hitting Sunburst with many physical and financial blows. “Frances and Ivan covered this entire property with water,” Sally said. “You can only control the weather so much. We’ve gotten better at that, but droughts and floods can kill thousands of our fish.” In 2006, the unthinkable happened — the business burned to the ground. An arsonist robbed and set fire to Sunburst, stealing thousands of dollars of valuable caviar in the process. The real loss, though, was decades of hard work, sacrifice and investment. To this day, the arsonist has yet to be apprehended. This setback didn’t deter those at Sunburst. In fact, in many ways only made them stronger. “When I came down here the day after it burned up, I was furious. It was an evil act for someone to come here and burn my business down,” Sally said. “You will not stop us. Nothing will stop us.”
FINDING A BALANCE And rebuilt they have. Since its inception, Sunburst has maintained a high standard of quality alongside a keen sense of sustainability. They hold tight to the notion of not destroying one’s backyard. To them, it’s about making sure preserving the landscape is just as much a priority as the trout itself. Simply put, quality of life equals a quality product. “We compost everything and don’t waste any water,” Sally said of the more than 12,000 gallons of water per minute that flow through the facility. “It gets cleaned up and put back in the river. We take care of the land and the properties as if our lives depended on it. You’ve got to keep everything clean, and that ultimately impacts the flavor.” Besides feeding the fish non-hormone food and making sure the oxygen levels are high enough in the water, Sunburst is constantly making strides to find new and innovative ways to make sure the trout is just as tasty as it is sustainable to the local ecology. Plans are already in motion is be able to take all of the meat from the fish and turn it into other avenues of food products for everyone to enjoy, regardless of their economic situations. This translates into the next phase for Sunburst, one that will see them push further and farther into new technologies and facilities. “Building it to what it is today, the fact
Want to know more? The Sunburst Market is located at 142 N. Main St. in Waynesville. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 1 to 7 p.m. Sunday. Besides their own products, the market also carries a wide variety of other local, organic foods and beverages, with feedback and suggestions always welcome. 828.452.3848 or www.sunbursttrout.com.
that my grandfather took his experiment, this project, this hobby of his and made it into this is why I don’t ever want to let this come to an end,” Ben said.
THE NEXT CHAPTER With a much-needed addition of space for the processing facility in recent years, Sunburst began looking around for options to expand. It had planned on keeping any new enterprises within reach of the N.C. 215 location, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. Between expensive properties and locations that didn’t offer enough room, the family finally found what it was looking for — a 12,000-square-foot building in the Waynesville Industrial Park. “We still need to and will grow the fish in Bethel,” Sally said. “But, the processing will now take place in the city.” With their new location in their crosshairs, the final piece of the puzzle came when Sunburst received word that it had gotten a $250,000 working capital grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Add that to a matching loan from Home Town Bank and the company is ready to fire on all cylinders. “It’s amazing how people from around the community have come together to support us,” Sally said. “It’s a huge vote of confidence, and we don’t take that lightly.” Standing in the proposed facility at the industrial park, Sally is excited to see what the future holds. Sunburst is already in talks with Haywood Community College to offer internships for students looking to major in entre-
preneurship, fish/wildlife biology and an array of other fields. With processing moving to Waynesville, the Bethel building will soon return to hatching eggs. “We’d also like to offer tours so people around here can see in one day what it takes to turn an egg into food,” she said. The company is also looking to host tastings, tours, workshops, classes and build a laboratory kitchen on the new site where Sunburst Chef Charles Hudson can continue to experiment and improve the product line. “It’s such a great feeling to get an order from a chef in New York City and say, ‘OK, they’re swimming now, and we’ll have them to you and on your plate by tomorrow,’” Wes said. “Even cooler is to say to a chef in Asheville, ‘They’re swimming now, and we’ll have it to you in five hours and on your plate tonight.’”
OPEN FOR BUSINESS Adding to these endeavors is the recent opening of the Sunburst Market on Main Street in downtown Waynesville. Though it started two years ago on Montgomery Street in the city, the new location opens itself up to more foot traffic, curious customers and loyal consumers. Behind the counter at the market is Sally’s daughter, Katie Hughes — the final family addition to the business. “All of the stars kind of aligned at the right time for me,” she said. “I think that what I bring to the party didn’t fit until now. Everyone in our family brings something different to the table. I love where the store is
From the pond to the cooler The time from pond to cooler for trout fillets is 55 minutes. Below is the exact process, as explained by Sunburst Trout Farm: ■ 8 a.m. — Capture trout from water. Small numbers are netted by hand (never more than 1,000 pounds) put into ice slurry to start the cooling process, and taken to the processing plant only steps away. ■ 8:20 a.m. — Trout quietly cool until they are still, and then transported into the splitting pan where they are prepared by a machine designed and built by Sunburst. They are now ready for the Swiss built filleter. ■ 8:30 a.m. — Once the trout pass through the filleter, the meticulous work of trimming is done by hand. ■ 8:40 a.m. — Following a thorough wash, the fillets are moved to the sorting, grading station. It is here that the fillets are selected by size, color and uniformity and the few fillets that are deemed to be inferior are culled. If the fillet is to have the pin bones removed, they then are moved to the station, where this task is done by a U.S. built machine. Each fillet is then examined, and any pin bones missed are removed by hand. ■ 8:55 a.m. — On to the weighing station where the fillets are bagged for each customer and immediately put into the 10 degree cooling room. The secret is to finish what the ice has started and get the trout to 36 degrees as fast as possible.
going and think it has much potential moving up.” Manager of the market since its opening, Katie, like her older brothers, worked for Sunburst as a teenager. She went her own way, eventually finding herself alongside her family helping the business survive and thrive with each new challenge. So, what is it about her family and its lifelong passion for Sunburst? “It’s good old-fashioned stubbornness. I don’t know, it’s in our bloodline,” she said. “Quitting never really seemed like an option. It wasn’t closing the doors on your job; it would be closing the doors on all we’ve grown up knowing.” Those sentiments Katie Hughes are something echoed by Wes. Sunburst is more than a business — it’s part of who the family is. And, like any good family, you stick together through thick and thin. “Our stubbornness is passed down from generation to generation. It’s resilience. You’re looking at a group of people that refuses to fail. Most of it is hard work, and the product sells itself,” he said. “We’ve seen it all, from theft to fire, droughts to floods, struggling sales and needing more customers. Now, the only problem is having enough inventory and meeting demand, and that’s a pretty great problem to have.”