YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
Evans Food Co.’s garlic chimichurri is suited to complement grilled meats and is used at some of the best restaurants in the world, its owner says. Paring the bright flavor of parsley with strong garlic has made the Argentinean-inspired sauce a hit the world over. Adventurous Ozarkers can get a taste of this gourmet product made in their own backyard at Disney World and Universal Studios but may find it in local markets in the near future.
SBJ: What got you interested in manufacturing sauces and spices?
Chris Evans: I went to school for hotel and restaurant administration, and that’s when I got into restaurants. I was a culinary manager for Red Lobster, TGI Fridays and other bigger chains, but I’d always wanted to own my own business. My family has lots of entrepreneurs in it, I just never had an avenue. I saw an opportunity to buy Hopsing, which makes Asian sauces and Springfield style cashew sauce, in 2018. In manufacturing food items, I could still utilize my skills in the restaurant industry, but more on the manufacturing side now. So, it was easy for me to pick it up and run with it.
SBJ: What’s the reach of your company outside of the Ozarks?
Evans: Disney World and Universal Studios are the big ones for Greek Island Spice, the company that manufactures our garlic chimichurri. In addition, we’re in 300 Walmarts, about 80 different Hy-Vees and about 80 different Schnucks stores. We also have a route that we distribute within about a 200-mile radius of Springfield that we personally stock the shelves. So, you can find products from our company throughout the Midwest and also in Orlando.
SBJ: What are some of the other products you manufacture in the Ozarks?
Evans: Our biggest customer is Epcot. Like in Disney World, Epcot has all the different world flavors, like African, Egyptian, Greek and so on. So, that’s where most of our products go. There’s Yemeni’s zhoug, we sell al hummus. We have a mango chutney, Ethiopian berbere, tandoori, chermoula, dhania, and other flavors like those. It’s a lot of sauces specific to each area of the world. So, for example, Yemenis, Ethiopian, and lots of different African-type flavors, but we also sell more familiar flavors like Greek hummus.
SBJ: Where is Evans Food going from here?
Evans: We have about 50 different products that we’re selling to Disney World, but I would love to make sure that these gourmet products can also get into the Ozarks. So, we might look to distribute through Springfield Grocer, Performance Food Group, or US Foods, and try bringing these gourmet products to the Ozarks. We also plan to do more co-packing and private labeling of these products. If there’s a restaurant that wants to use our chimichurri or other sauces they could order it as a private label item. It would be our sauce, but they would have their brand name on it. Our immediate future goals center around expansion of the distribution of all the products that we currently have, not necessarily expanding our product lines.
Taking shape on 3.5 acres just east of State Highway H/Glenstone Avenue in the area of Valley Water Mill Park are the Fulbright Heights Apartments – three 23,000-square-foot buildings with 24 units each for a total of 72 one- and two-bedroom apartments.
