Montana’s Mission Mountain Market helps companies get Montana label

For Bud and Jean Clem, owners of Western Trails Cowboy Foods in
Bozeman, contracting with Montana’s Mission Mountain Market in Ronan meant that
they could finally put a "Made in Montana" on their Rustler’s Bean Sauce, a flavoring
for baked beans and barbecue sauce.

By DEBORAH NASH
MSU-Bozeman

Achieving the "Made in Montana" label had long been a dream of theirs, said the
Clems, long-time Montana residents. They created the sauce recipe here and have sold it primarily in Montana
for 10 years. However, because sauce preparation required cooking by commercial equipment not available in
Montana, it didn’t qualify for the label.

That has changed for the Clems and other Montana businesses since Montana’s Mission Mountain Market
opened about a year ago.
From garlic to grains, sauces to syrups, Kitchen Manager Lora Poirier and the MMMM help specialty food
manufacturers introduce foods into the marketplace, translate recipes into the quantities and processes
needed for sales and FDA approval.

Early on, the Montana Manufacturing and Extension Center and University Technical Assistance Program at
Montana State University had performed a cost analysis for the market to help it know how to price for its
services.
When a representative of MMEC stopped by to see how the analysis was working, she found both Clems in
the MMMM kitchen, alternating between stirring a huge pot of bean sauce and talking over adjustments to the
cooking process with Poirier.

The certified commercial kitchen and food lab complement other resources at this food processing
business incubator and cooperative marketing center. The facility is operated through Lake County Economic
Development Cooperative. It’s Web site is htp://www.mt-missionmtnmrkt.com
Clients have come from as far away as Colstrip in Eastern Montana for custom processing, packaging and
labeling, said Poirier.

"With health and food safety regulations, you really cannot process foods for resale in your own kitchen"
and setting up a commercial kitchen is both difficult and costly, Poirier said.
In addition to kitchen use, the market helps clients with food labeling, bar-coding and sanitation standards.
The food lab’s staff can measure moisture content and do nutritional analyses, and it has an agreement with
Washington State University for other food safety testing.

Poirier operated a commercial kitchen in Idaho for 20 years before coming to MMMM. She also has
attended extensive training in regulations and estimates that she spends half of her time with regulatory issues
the other half with clients.
"Lora does such a good job," said Jean Clem. "She knows so much about food safety and regulations."
Having a handle on costs has been important for the market, Poirier said.

"The analysis is a great tool for developing our co-packing fees. We can explore changes in revenue flow
and baseline costs. In use, it’s been pretty realistic," said Jan Tusick, the cooperative development specialist at
MMMM. The Clems said they found the market’s cost of services to prepare 40 cases of their Cowboy Foods
sauce "very reasonable."

Paddy Fleming, MMEC field engineer for northwestern Montana, added a component to the model that
allows the market’s customers to estimate external costs like materials, shipping, distribution, and desired
profit margin to help determine the final pricing of their product.
For more information about the Market, call (406) 676-0676. For more information about Western Trails
Cowboy Foods, check its Web site at: http://www.cowboyfoods.com

Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises
.

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2002/07/21/build/business/18-cowboyfoods.inc