Another round of the Foodie Diaries! Ramping up for Christmas, we think these hampers of delight are ideal for your Foodie friends. Actually anyone who eats (so everyone), but we know the hardcore Foodie would simply love to have the first bite of some dreamy foods that are just making their way into the Hong Kong market. We’ve collected the inspiring stories of the founders, seeking to dig a little, and find out why they do what they do. Today we chat with a few team members from a company making some delicious products that look to bring some true American fare to Hong Kong: Appalachian Country Store!
Appalachian Country Store comes fresh from the United States of America, and are proudly and unabashedly drawing on the centuries of culture and history to provide some products to Hong Kong that we had never seen before. Dating back to colonial times in America, country stores have been the place to buy fresh, local food products, handcrafted gifts, furniture and many other specialty items needed to run a farm and household. These food products are known for their unique taste, health benefits and purity of ingredients. Appalachian Country Store are passionate about sharing these various products throughout the world.
Tell us what first inspired you towards the vision of what Appalachian Country Store now is?
We spent our summers swimming and fishing at a cabin nestled in the mountains of North Carolina in an area known as Lost Cove Creek – it was, and is, magical. There was a country store in the closest town to our cabin – walking down the dirt road to the country store, with its shelved stocked with jars of pickled vegetables, honey, preserves and myriad of hand crafted items, enjoying a cold drink and a handmade snack is one of our fondest memories.
That sounds like the perfect summer. Is the kind of authenticity that makes your products unique?
All of our products have a long history and tradition reflecting the lively culture of the Appalachian region.
So what is the Appalachian, and what kind of products would we expect to come out of business specialising in that region’s products?
Appalachian Country Store carries on this tradition. All of our vegetables and fruits are grown by small family farmers in the cleanest air, nourished by the rich soil and pure waters of the Appalachian region. They are then picked at their peak and preserved using traditional recipes with the freshest ingredients. This can be anything from pickled okra to apple butter; honey to peanuts.
In addition to our food products, Appalachian Country Store offers both wine and spirits. Moonshine is the liquor most associated with the Appalachian region – during Prohibition, when the production and consumption of liquor was banned, an underground industry of individuals distilling liquor in the Appalachian mountains, under the light of the moon boomed. This unique handcrafted spirit is now offered by Appalachian Country Store.
Is that where the name comes from?! We never knew. How enlightening. So is the process still the same; do you require your distilleries to operate at night?
The moonshiners among us have the late shift of course – distilling from dusk to dawn, while the farmers who bring us the delicious vegetables and produce are on from dawn to dusk.
That is en exceedingly efficient schedule. How do the workers start their day?
Appalachian farmers start there day with a biscuit slathered in wildflower honey or apple butter; the Appalachian moonshiners start their’s with a strong shot of Lost Cove Creek Moonshine.
