Back in the mid-90’s NBN ended ten years of working in natural foods retail to hit the road. No nothing romantic, we’re not talking Kerouac, here. He became a traveling salesman. 
Yes NBN was looking for love in the form of sales commissions all over the San Francisco Bay area working for what was then California’s leading specialty food distributor.
Five days a week and sometimes on Saturday yours truly would ply the highways and byways in his trusty old Honda, loaded with samples, a Telxon machine for ordering and an open heart, selling gourmet, specialty and ethnic foods to a variety of mildly crabby to downright nasty grocery managers.
It wasn’t always easy and at times a living grocery hell. But NBN learned a lot, got tons of samples to enjoy and realized that he absolutely preferd the natural and organic side of the retail street.
Yet to this day certain specialty brands from NBN’s days as a modern Willy Loman make him smile. Fini Balsamic Vinegar, Maseca Corn Flour, Ghiradelli Hot Cocoa, Juanita’s Hominy, and those great mustards from the folks at Beaverton Foods.
Rose Biggi founded the company in 1929 by grinding horseradish in the cellar of her farmhouse outside of Portland, Oregon and selling it to local grocers. Today Beaverton, is still family owned and operated by her son Gene Biggi, is the largest specialty condiment manufacturer in the U.S. It makes products under the Beaver, Ingelhoffer, Napa Valley and Tulelake brands, as well as custom manufacturing.
Late last summer Beaverton launched two organic mustards under the Inglehoffer brand, a 10.25 ounce Organic Honey Mustard, and a 10 ounce Organic Stone Ground Mustard. Both with a suggested retail price of $4.99.
And while we love their mustard we have to admit when it comes to horseradish we’re more like Rose Biggi, herself. We don’t buy it at the store we make our own.
