Later this month, we are excited to launch the first eight items in what will become our larger Gourmet-to-Go food brand of prepared, ready-to-eat, and take-and-bake foods made locally for our grab-and-go case. Our Gourmet-to-Go collection brings together Southern comfort, elevated flavor, and homemade quality through chef-prepared meals and specialty food products made exclusively for DASH Home + Kitchen. If you're feeding your family, hosting guests, or simply craving something comforting and delicious, our Gourmet-to-Go meals and Every Day Lunchboxes make gathering around the table easy.
The idea came from something we saw as both retailers and residents of Hickory. There was a real need for prepared food that was local, chef-inspired, timely and family-oriented. We wanted to create meals and sides that could move easily from our kitchen to your kitchen table, your office lunch, a weekend at the lake, or a busy weeknight.
To bring that idea to life, we teamed with Chef Jason Trivette to create time-tested, family-oriented dishes with the flavor, comfort, and quality people recognized with other brands we carry.
When Mark and I moved to Hickory, we quickly realized that while our community has a strong family-owned grocer and a growing food culture, there was still a gap in the grab-and-go category. Too often, prepared foods available to retailers come from larger companies, produced other states, frozen, shipped, and then placed on a shelf long after they were made. Even when the brand is recognizable, the product wasn't making a connect to our town.
Through my work on the board of the Hickory Farmers Market, I became even more aware of the abundance of locally grown produce, meats, and artisan food products available right here in our community. Many of these farmers and producers are literally just steps from our retail location on Union Square. That changed the way we thought about food at DASH.
The result is that we no longer have to rely on our current food producer nearly 200 miles away simply because it comes from a recognizable brand. Instead, we can offer a fresher product made locally, supporting farmers, growers, makers, and producers within roughly a 50-mile radius of our store and to me that made a difference.
It means better flavor, shorter lead times, and stronger relationships with local producers. It means better control over ingredients, quality, production, labeling, and margins. It means we can respond more quickly to what our customers want and what is seasonally available from the farmers and makers around us. It's about creating a local food brand that rooted in our community.
Each label will proudly carry the words “Handmade in Hickory." We are proud to build something that starts right here on Union Square and carries the name of our hometown on it. For a complete list of items please see our website at: DASH Gourmet-to-Go – DASH Home + Kitchen
As the Gourmet-to-Go line grows, we also look forward to sharing it with other gourmet shops, specialty food stores, and local retailers in the area who are looking for high-quality, locally made prepared foods. For wholesale or retail partnership inquiries, please reach out to Holly Woodward at holly@dashhomeandkitchen.com.
