FROM THE FOODIE

From the Foodie

The past 12+ months have been a true roller-coaster for many reasons. COVID 19 has changed our personal and business way of life. How we socialized, work, shop, and communicate has now been defined as “the new norm” , but that hasn’t been the only change. Across the country and the world, millions have inundated the streets demanding justice for George Floyd with the protest against police brutality, demanding justice for Black Americans. 2020 gave way for support in other forms other than physical protest with the support of blackowned businesses locally and nationwide. As a foodie, our support went further than just supporting blackowned eateries and black chefs. Love of Food went reaching out for Black-owned food brands that can be supported online or in your local grocery stores.

According to the 15 Percent Pledge, Black people make up 15% of the U.S. population; however, more than 40% of Black-owned businesses have shut down due to the pandemic. Which has been our main reason for providing our readers with this guide for Atlanta that provided a list of black-owned eateries that had survived the pandemic and options to “buy black” .

That pandemic also inspired the founders of Black Restaurant Week to bring their campaign to New York City in addition to Atlanta, California, Houston, and the Carolinas. Coordinators of Black Restaurant Week say that contributing restaurants in these areas where Black Restaurant Week is scheduled has seen a revenue boost of 20%. The goal of Black Restaurant Week is to create awareness and sustainability for Black-owned businesses.

So here we are again providing additional options to “buy black” . We did some of the research for you to make it easier to support black-owned businesses by providing a few Black-owned food brands that you can support starting with Barlow Foods in Atlanta.

As you venture into this issue, we like to encourage you to experience the full spectrum on your desktop. However, if you haven’t tried it on your handheld, you can visit us from the browser on an iPhone or tablet. You are not required to download an app, Our publication does well on touchscreens and adapts to your screen size, so it’s easily readable on mobile devices.

Our publication is totally free. There are no paywalls to get in your way. We’re ad-supported and welcome new sponsors and advertisers. And while we as content providers take pride in creating this publication, we also hope that this magazine will become a favorite of yours. So, enjoy the magazine, and please make an effort to support not only these amazing Black-owned food brands but our advertisers as well.

Until our next edition, stay blessed and be a blessing to someone.

Deirdra

T I F F A N I N E A L

B A R L O W ' S F O O D S

Buford Highway Farmers Market 5600 Buford Hwy NE, Doraville, GA 30340 Store Hours Mon-Sun 8am-10pm

Candler Park Market 1642 McLendon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30307 Store Hours Mon-Sun 9am-9pm

Floral Park Market 775 Trabert Ave NW, Atlanta, GA 30318 Store Hours Mon-Fri 9am-6pm Sat 10am-4pm Sun 11am-4pm

Hodgepodge Coffee House 720 Moreland Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30316 Store Hours Mon-Sat 7am-7pm Sun 8am-7pm

Kelly's Market 308 E. Howard Ave. , Decatur, GA 30030 Store Hours Sun-Thurs 8am-8pm Fri-Sat 8am10pm

Provisions on Main 3107A Main Street, Duluth, GA 30096 Store Hours Thurs-Fri 11am-6pm Sat 12pm-6pm arlow's Foods is a packaged in Atlanta Georgia. Barlow's and assorted breakfast stap B foods company located creates pancake mixes les. Their mixes are made with organic unbleached flour and whole ingredients. Barlow's is a woman-owned business founded on the belief that great moments begin with food. The company was named after the founders’ grandfather Arthur "Barlow" Harris. It is his passion for all things agriculture and their vision for food made from whole ingredients, that Barlow's Foods was born. Tiffani, the founder has had a love for food since childhood. Creating recipes, cooking, and of course eating. You could and can always find Tiffani in the kitchen. With a knack for recreating recipes from taste and pairing ingredients. Her passion for food has grown over the years. A desire for a packaged food solution that embraced real, simple, and whole ingredients led to the idea of creating a pancake mix. She mixed and packed and shipped samples of this pancake mix to friends, family, and neighbors. Once satisfied with the feedback received from trying samples, and confident in her recipe she was ready to move forward…but she didn’t have a name for the mix. Wanting a name that encompassed taste and family tradition. Tiffani was brainstorming late at night and came across a photo of her maternal grandfather, Arthur ‘Barlow’ Harris…and Barlow’s Foods was born.

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F E A T U R E

CHIT CHAT TALK WITH TIFFANI NEAL

LOF:

Tell us the history behind Barlow's Foods Tiffaini:

I started working on Barlow’s Foods in 2017 I had an idea to create a food product. I’ve always loved food and cooking and creating different dishes from whole ingredients. I decided to move forward with a pancake mix after a friend loved my pancakes. Pancakes are pretty straightforward and something that the majority of people love. But what would we call it? My grandfather was a farmer and Veteran, he worked very hard for many years. I was sitting at my desk looking at a photo of him and thought that it only made sense to name the company Barlow’s. Barlow’s is about great food made from quality whole ingredients and the continuation of the family legacy. LOF:

In our current day, i.e. covid how do you compete/maintain stability with other brands in your food market? TIFFANI:

Covid has tested us all, our heart goes out to all impacted. With Covid-19, majority of us were restricted to our homes. Which meant more time in the kitchen for many who typically wouldn’t cook. We saw an uptick in online sales and repeat purchase orders. It’s been an interesting time.

LOF:

What distinguishes your brand from others in the market? Tiffani:

Barlow’s is dedicated to whole quality ingredients we are better for your brand. The flour in our original pancake mix is organic, unbleached, and unenriched. If you eat wheat flour this is the best type for you. Our flour is free of chemicals and bleach that are found in most white processed flours. In addition to that, we use Himalayan salt and pure cane sugar both purer versions of the typical salts and sugars found in many mainstream brands.

There are only a total of 4 ingredients in our original pancake mix. Our taste is a huge differentiator historically better for you means that the taste is not that great, well we’ve put an end to that. Our pancakes taste great and fresh. The consistency is light soft and fluffy you can eat stacks of our pancakes and they will not leave you feeling full or heavy. We’re of course local to Atlanta, woman and blackowned. I think we’ve also done a fantastic job differentiating ourselves from a marketing and packaging perspective. LOF:

Where can we find Barlow's Food? are you in local supermarkets? Tiffani:

Barlow’s Foods is available in retail locations.

The pancake mix can be found in a variety of retail locations to name a few we are currently in Buford Highway Farmers Market, Candler

Park Market, and Provisions on Main (Duluth).

The full list of stores can be found online at

BarlowsFoods.com. Those interested in purchasing can also find us online at www.BarlowsFoods.com. LOF:

What is the staple breakfast meal from the

Barlow family? Tiffani:

Barlow is my maternal grandfather, we didn’t have a staple breakfast meal growing up.

Although Barlow or “papa” as we called him loved a hot cup of coffee and a stack of pancakes. LOF:

As a family-owned/black-owned food manufacturer, what has been your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it? Tiffani:

We continue to face and overcome challenges.

One of our biggest challenges and one of the incidents that slowed us down initially was the packaging. Getting the right packaging with a supplier that we were able to also build a relationship with. In addition, I would say financing is always a huge factor, that’s ongoing. You have to get creative, build relationships, teams be aware of what the needs are, and communicate them. LOF:

Any plans to branch out with other products? Tiffani:

Yes, we have some amazing in-house syrups that are currently available when we participate in local markets. We also have a gluten-free option to our original pancake mix that will be available online soon. Sign up to our email list to stay up to date on product launches and news.

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