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There are two principal distribution models for transporting consumer packaged goods (CPGs) from manufacturers into stores: direct store delivery and centralized distribution. 

It’s important for brands to make an informed decision. Each brand or product will have its own needs and special requirements, so there isn’t necessarily a clear-cut answer. And yet, employing the right method could accelerate growth, improve profit margins, and grant access to new stores.

There are pros and cons to each model, but what are the differences and how do CPG brands decide between them?

Get comfortable, because we’re about to tell you everything you need to know. Let’s start with definitions.

What is DSD?

 Direct store delivery (DSD) does exactly what it says. It’s the distribution method whereby products are delivered straight from the supplier (or their partner distributor) to the store. It bypasses the retailer’s own warehouse or distribution center.

DSD has evolved from the competitive landscape of grocery retail, where stores needed to minimize inventory carrying costs. 

In this model, stores take a much more passive role in the logistics of getting products onto shelves. 

Transportation and storage is usually outsourced by manufacturers to third-party distributors, who often specialize in certain products.

What is a Distribution Center/Centralized Distribution?

The terms distribution center (DC) and centralized distribution can be used interchangeably. They both refer to the logistical model in which CPGs are distributed to retailers’ own warehouses, before being taken to stores.

As soon as the product is received into the retailer’s distribution center, the retailer takes over and is responsible for that product reaching supermarket shelves. 

The retailer may, of course, outsource their centralized distribution network, but it will only require one distributor, rather than several CPG distributors. 

DSD vs DC: the pros and cons of each

Now that you know the differences between the two models, let’s investigate the benefits that each brings to the table. 

Certain products will be better suited to a particular distribution method. So although you may like the sound of one model, it may be more beneficial to your business to opt for the other. 

Direct Store Delivery

This model is typically more popular and valuable with food and beverage CPG brands. There are a few good reasons behind this. 

Fresher products for longer periods

As we’ve already discovered, the DSD model bypasses the retailer’s distribution center. The ‘direct’ nature of the model minimizes the time that products spend in the supply chain. 

With less time sitting in warehouses or on trucks, products can have a longer shelf life. This gives more time for the product to be purchased before reaching the expiration date, so that fewer products are lost to waste. 

Groceries, fresh eggs, and dairy are all products that would benefit from minimal time in the supply chain. 

Minimal product damage

You can’t guarantee that retailers’ own distribution centers will be fully equipped to store and transport products with specialized requirements. For instance, fresh flowers will require a different level of care than canned drinks.

DSD allows CPG brands to carefully select distributors who specialize in their products. They’ll have all the necessary equipment and training to handle products properly.  

Flexible and responsive

The best-case scenario for any CPG brand is that their product flies off the shelves. To be ‘sold out’ is the dream, right?

Well, not necessarily. Of course, you want your sales to rocket, but out-of-stock items can frustrate retailers and customers alike.

You don’t want your customers to be let down when they go to the store to buy your product(s) and find that it’s not there. This forces them to try competitors’ products — meaning you’re losing out on sales. 

Out-of-stock scenarios are reportedly 2 to 4% less frequent when retailers use DSD over DC. 

Products that are in high demand and will doubtlessly sell work well with the DSD model. Bottled water, toilet paper, and bread are always in high daily demand. 

Additional services

DSD distributors often offer more services than delivery and storage. Some will take care of shelf inventory management, meaning that they’ll unpack and stock the products on the retailer’s behalf. 

Some will handle the in-store forecasting, calculating how many products will be required by when — avoiding those dreaded out-of-stock situations. 

Price and promotion execution, store ordering and in-store merchandising are all examples of services that distributors may offer. It’s always worth asking what they can do for you. 

Reach more retailers

Not all retailers will have their own centralized distribution networks. Local, smaller, or indie retailers may rely on DSD to stock their shelves. 

Inner-city retailers may particularly benefit from DSD, where they might not have much space to hold inventory within stores. In other words, there is no ‘checking in the back’ when products go out of stock. 

By getting your products into these niche retailers, you’ll be able to target consumers who would really be interested in trying your product(s). For instance, if you landed a plant-based product in a vegan store in LA, you’ll likely see better traction than you would in a large supermarket on the outskirts of California.

Benefits retailers

The benefits for retailers have come up a few times already as we’ve explored DSD, but why does that matter for CPGs?

Retailers are the ones facilitating the end customer transaction. Retailers are also a type of customer to you because it’s up to them whether or not your product makes it onto their shelves — now and later. 

If you can take some of the workload off the retailer by using DSD, thereby improving their profit margins, they’ll appreciate it. 

Distribution Center

DC could be a good option for non-perishable foods or CPG products other than food. 

Larger order quantities

When using the DC model, you may be able to offload more products at once. If the retailer believes in your product, they may order in bulk. Large orders result in a good injection of cash into a CPG business. 

But on the other hand, economies of scale come into play here. If a retailer orders in bulk, the unit prices will no doubt come down, meaning a smaller profit per item for you.

It’s not all bad though. If the retailer is able to make some savings, they can pass those onto the consumer. This may help your brand to attract or reach more customers and that’s key for the growth of your market share. 

Retailers may prefer DC

Some retailers may prefer to stick to their own DC. This allows them to control their own shelf stocking and storage.

They may also prefer to manage fewer relationships with distributors by using their own centralized distribution network. 

However, they may only need to work with a handful of larger distributors to get their stores fully stocked. 

Higher risk of damage

With DC, the goods will be transported twice. This creates a higher risk of items becoming damaged in transit. 

Fragile products may therefore not bode well in a centralized warehouse. Potato chips or bread are good examples to use here. If the packets aren’t stored properly, the products could get damaged. Crushed chips and squashed bread are not a good look for brands.

These scenarios could cost you customer loyalty at no fault of your own. 

Finding the right distributor

Now that you know the differences between the models, you can decide which best suits your brand or products.

If you’re on the lookout for a distributor who can help you to take care of business, check out Buffalo Market. 

We’re the leading distributor of purpose-driven food and beverage brands — and, what’s more, we’re poised to change the future of food distribution with our Direct Store Delivery model.

Have you ever wondered about the processes that your milk goes through to take it from the cow to your coffee cup? 

You may have seen the term ‘pasteurization’ on the back of your milk carton — a term many of us average Joe’s are unfamiliar with. Milk pasteurization is a government-regulated process to protect consumers, making sure that the milk is safe for us to drink. 

But what does pasteurization actually mean? What happens to milk once it’s pasteurized? And why is it pasteurized? 

Strap yourself in for an udderly interesting article that will tell you all you need to know about milk pasteurization. 

What is milk pasteurization?

The pasteurization process was invented around 150 years ago by a French Scientist called Louis Pasteur, while he was looking for ways to minimize the harmful bacteria in our food.

Pasteur realized that heating milk to a high temperature, then cooling it quickly before packaging it was a good way to keep it fresher for longer. That’s because the heating process kills the pathogens and bad bacteria present in the unpasteurized milk.

Fast forward to the present day and age and we’re still using this form of heat treatment to make milk safe to drink in dairy industries all around the world. 

How does milk pasteurization work?

In the pasteurization process, the chilled, raw milk is heated as it moves between hot stainless steel plates. This type of equipment is called a heat exchanger.

While it’s been shown that it’s sufficiently safe to heat raw milk to 145 °F for 30 minutes, or 161°F for 15 seconds, it can sometimes be heated at even higher temperatures to ensure that it’s safe to drink. 

The most common pasteurization method is the continuous high-temperature short-time (HTST) method, where it’s heated to 161°F for 15 seconds or above, then cooled quickly back down to its original temperature of 39° F.

For peace of mind, there are plenty of fail-safe controls on modern-day pasteurizers to ensure that milk is properly heated to the correct temperature for the correct duration. If one of the monitors were to detect a problem, an automatic flow diversion valve would stop the milk from moving into the next stage of processing. 

Where some milk or cream has higher contents of fat and sugar, the heating system would use higher temperatures and sometimes longer holding times to be certain that the milk has been safely pasteurized.

One of the ways that the dairy industry saves energy during this pasteurization process is by using the heat given off by the already heated milk to warm up the incoming batch of cold raw milk. The cold milk then helps to cool the heated pasteurized milk back down. This ‘regeneration’ process helps them to use heating and refrigeration energy more efficiently and brings costs down.

What about raw milk?

Some have questioned whether or not raw milk is better for you than pasteurized milk. Terms like ‘processing’ and ‘pasteurization’ can be understandably confusing for those who look for ‘unprocessed’ foods in other aspects of their diet. 

However, when it comes to milk, the pasteurization process is a must. Raw milk can contain dangerous bacteria – which are then removed through pasteurization. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the pasteurization process does not significantly alter the nutritional content of milk. If anything, milk pasteurization gives you all the health benefits of drinking milk, without the high health risks of drinking raw milk. You’ll still receive potassium, calcium, vitamin B12, niacin, phosphorus, riboflavin, and proteins from drinking pasteurized milk. Plus, after it’s been pasteurized, Vitamin D and Vitamin A are usually used to fortify the milk, to further increase its nutritional value. 

The mineral content remains unchanged when milk is pasteurized, though there is one slight change in the vitamin content. You can find a very small percentage of vitamin C in raw milk, but it’s not considered a ‘good source’ of vitamin C as it really is so small. This vitamin doesn’t survive the pasteurization process, but you’d be better off getting this vitamin from citrus fruits and vegetables anyway. 

Another myth about raw milk is that it’s a good source of ‘good’ bacteria, such as probiotics. However, because of the high risk of harmful bacteria that are almost guaranteed to be found in raw milk, you wouldn’t be doing your health a favor. The CDC would instead recommend that you get beneficial bacteria and probiotics from foods that don’t pose such a high risk to your wellbeing, such as yogurt and kefir.

Milk us for all we’re worth 

Hopefully, you’re now more familiar with the milk pasteurization process. 

If you’d like to dig into some more of our interesting articles, check out the Buffalo Market blog! As the leading distributors of mission-driven food and beverage brands, we’re clued up on the latest health and climate-friendly food trends. 

You can find out what the best tortilla is at Costco, get to know the best thing to drink to help with inflammation, learn all about cactus water and its health benefits, or even find out how to cut your food waste by understanding more about food expiration dates.

Greek yogurt has earned a reputation as the healthy snack that complements a variety of naturally sweet goods, as well as featuring plenty of its own inherent health benefits should you eat it on its own. Greek yogurt really is something of a clean slate for anyone wanting a creamy bass for their fruit salad or mixed seeds, and its consistency is so thick that it can even be used as the icing of muffins or the glue between layers of a sponge cake. For an extra bit of sweetness, all you’d to need to do is stir in a small drizzle of honey and you can satisfy your cravings for something sugary, without overloading your calory count or damaging your teeth. Thanks to its high protein content, Greek yogurt is also a favorite of gymgoers who want to maximize their muscle mass gains without ingesting any processed sugars – and there have been links to Greek yoghurt and improved mental health, too, thanks to its healthy bacteria which aids digestion and keeps your dopamine levels stable.

But just how different is Greek yoghurt from any other kind of yogurt? In a nutshell, Greek yogurt is loaded with much more milk than regular yogurt and involves a unique straining process that gives Greek yogurt its distinctive thickness and relatively solid consistency. But before we get into more detail on that, let’s take a look at regular yogurt first.

How is yogurt made?

Regular yogurt is quite acidic in nature and often tastes slightly sour, which is why it is so often flavored with fruit and other sweeteners, but even so it tastes somewhat sweeter than Greek yogurt. The process of making regular yogurt is relatively straightforward, starting with a vat of milk which is first heated to 180 degrees Fahrenheit to kill any of the excess bacteria, mold, or spores that may be lurking in there. The ‘good’ bacteria that constitutes so much of yogurt’s probiotic content is added separately at a later stage, when the milk is warm enough to encourage bacterial reproduction. Heating the milk like this also allows for a thicker product at the end, as the protein structure of the milk is modified by the introduction of heat.

The milk is then cooled to roughly 115 degrees Fahrenheit, now that much of the unwanted bacteria has been eliminated. This is when the ‘good’ bacteria is introduced, namely the Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus bacterium, which is mixed into the rest of the milk with a large mechanical whisk. The milk mixture is then poured out and left to incubate for up to 12 hours in a consistent lukewarm temperature, as this allows for bacteria production to thrive and leaves a deliciously thick and creamy yogurt.

How is Greek yogurt made?

The first thing to know about Greek yoghurt is that it doesn’t actually need to have been made in Greece. In the country that bears its name, “Greek yoghurt” is in fact called straggisto, which simply means ‘strained yogurt’. This gives you some indication as to how it’s made. The only reason the name ‘Greek yoghurt’ stuck is because the Athens-founded company Fage was the first to print “Greek” on its products. So the major difference between Greek yogurt and regular yogurt is the process by which it is manufactured, as the former has much of its whey and liquid content removed, making it much thicker than the latter.

As a result of the extensive straining involved, thereby reducing the total volume, Greek yogurt production requires much more milk to produce a yield of the same size as regular yogurt. Not only that, but achieving the optimum consistency of Greek yogurt is a very time-consuming process as it has to be strained through enormous cloth bags as many as three times. Due to the higher costs of production, due to the extra milk required, Greek yogurt is typically more expensive than ordinary yogurt. Acting as a go-between, some stores may offer Greek-style yogurt, which is simply ordinary yogurt that has been given thickening agents to mimic the consistency of genuine Greek yogurt.

Greek yogurt special deal

There are numerous benefits to be enjoyed by eating Greek yogurt, thanks to its low calory count and its lack of sugar, as traditional Greek yogurt is typically unsweetened to give it a pleasant, neutral taste that can easily be accessorized with berries or crushed biscuits. Not only that, but Greek yogurt is a strong source of calcium (thanks to its high milk content), zinc, potassium, and vitamins B6 and B12, which promote brain health and functionality, and can even reduce the effects of depression. Moreover, Greek yogurt is something of a lowkey superfood thanks to its high levels of protein, with just a three-quarter cup of the stuff giving you 17 grams of protein. That’s even more than two large eggs, which offer just 10 grams of protein.

If this has put you in the mood to try a wide range of classic and naturally flavored Greek yogurts, then you’re very much in luck. At Buffalo Market right now, we are offering six different varieties of Nounós Greek yogurt at a discount of more than 50%. Available in array of seasonal flavors – including peach, mixed berry, coconut and vanilla, and strawberry – now is the best time to enjoy some fantastically creamy, delicately sweet yogurts that work just as well as breakfast items or a low-fat snack. And better yet, every one of these Nounós yogurts is hormone- and antibiotic-free, made exclusively with non-GMO ingredients and full of natural colors and flavors.

Our inventory of over 2,600 items is updated daily, featuring a high turnover of top-tier organic produce that we put on sale the moment it comes into season. Why not check out the hundreds of deals we have on offer right now to see how easy it easy to make the move to a more colorful, more sustainable lifestyle, and enjoy the benefits of fresh organic food.

Unlike many other fads that come and go with the tide, being environmentally conscious is one trend that will never go out of style. If anything, this evergreen lifestyle choice will only become more and more prescient in the years ahead and can be implemented across every level of day-to-day life: whether it’s reducing consumption of resources, consuming more plant-based meats to cut back on land clearance needed to rear cattle (actuallythe single best thing an individual can do to positively impact the climate, according to new research), or simply recycling materials, there are so many things which can mitigate the effects of climate change. As our population continues expanding well beyond the seven-billion mark – and at a rate of growth never seen before at any other point in world history – there’s no time like the present to reduce your carbon footprint.

As such, there has been an increasing drive for large corporations to offset the emissions generated across their business practice to slow the effects of climate change and ensure their products don’t cost the earth. Burning fossil fuels as an energy source is one of the most damaging forms of pollution, with carbon dioxide accounting for nearly three-quarters of all human-created greenhouse gas emissions. The detrimental impact of these emissions has catastrophic implications for the environment, leading to higher sea levels and unnaturally modified weather patterns. One of the strange paradoxes of global warming is the potential for unseasonal cold snaps and, in a Day After Tomorrow worst-case scenario, a climate akin to the ice age.

As such, many large corporations – and entire countries – are resolving to amend their ways and keep the planet safe for generations to come. Two of the goals set by these countries are to be either carbon neutral or carbon negative, which are the kinds of phrases you have heard before but aren’t entirely sure what they mean…

What does carbon neutral mean?

Every activity involving power usage or any internal combustion – from turning the lights on in your living room to cutting the grass with a ride-on lawnmower – contributes to your carbon footprint. Individually, you can choose to reduce that carbon footprint. Still, even if you cut down on half of your usual energy usage, the cumulative impact of this would be a drop in the ocean compared to the damage affected by multinational companies. After all, half the carbon emissions of a family of five will be much less than half of the pollutants generated by a company such as Amazon or General Motors, which both promise to be carbon neutral by 2030.

In a nutshell, if a company or a country goes ‘carbon neutral,’ it means they will have removed the equivalent volume of carbon emissions they have produced from the atmosphere. This neutrality is achieved by balancing what carbon emissions are created and what carbon emissions are removed. The way that companies accomplish this is by investing in carbon offsets, which fund projects all over the world committed to restoring trees lost to deforestation or repairing damaged wetlands.

In fact, anyone can buy into carbon offsets and do their bit to sponsor renewed tree growth, but a larger-scale investment that is more directly catered toward global companies would be the carbon credits scheme. This essentially permits corporations to continue emitting carbon dioxide, from the exhaust pipes of their delivery trucks or the chimneys of their factories, in exchange for their support of renewable energy projects or any other greenhouse gas reduction programs. Generally, one carbon credit ‘buys’ one metric ton of carbon dioxide emissions.

Often used interchangeably with ‘carbon neutral’ is the phrase ‘net-zero emissions,’ which is reasonable enough, but it still helps to know the specific difference between these two. Carbon neutrality relates to the balancing out of carbon dioxide produced against carbon dioxide removed – or turned into clean oxygen by photosynthesis –. In contrast, net-zero emissions encompass all greenhouse gas emissions and are, therefore, a much more ambitious commitment for large companies.

What does carbon negative mean?

As the name suggests, carbon negativity is taking a further step to reverse the impact of carbon emissions. This means that companies pledge to remove more carbon from the environment than they put into the atmosphere. It is usually characterized by extensive investment in carbon-reduction plans such as funding solar power research or tree-planting initiatives. The ‘negative’ here is the minus amount that is left from the carbon removed from the atmosphere: companies will achieve a neutral figure when they remove their own carbon emissions, but the minus – or ‘negative’ – figure is when they go below the point of neutrality to remove even more of their carbon emissions. As it happens, then, this negative is very, very positive!

The expense involved in sponsoring so many carbon-reduction schemes means that not every company can afford to commit to carbon-negative programs. Yet, the biggest polluters are often the most profitable business entities, so the two balance one another out. Essentially, the companies that should cut back on their worldwide carbon emissions are usually the ones who can afford to do so. Meanwhile, some companies choose to exercise a flair for corporate jargon by referring to carbon-negative schemes as “climate-positive” initiatives, which is more confusing than anything else.

Achieving carbon neutrality

You can reduce your carbon footprint in many ways, such as utilizing more sustainable energy sources – solar, wind, and geothermal heating – and riding to work on a bicycle instead of sitting in a traffic jam as you drive into the office. You can also purchase individual carbon credits, most commonly extended to individuals for use on flights, as the airline industry produces so much pollution worldwide. Did you know that a single return flight to New York from Chicago and back again accounts for 630 lbs of carbon dioxide per passenger? That’s close to a third of a metric ton in emissions from just one 1,500-mile journey (the average distance commercially sourced food will travel from producer to consumer in the US.)

Another way to substantially minimize your carbon footprint is by sourcing your ingredients and foodstuffs from small-scale, independent suppliers. This not only supports the local economy, with every cent going nowhere else but to the farmer – no pesky intermediary in sight – but also means that food has far shorter distances to travel from producer to supplier. 

Buffalo Market and the future of food distribution

As the leading food distributor of mission-driven brands, we firmly believe in the importance of reducing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

Buffalo Market uses cutting-edge technology to maximize route efficiency and extend product shelf life, reducing carbon emissions for our vehicles and minimizing food waste. 

If you’re a CPG company or retailer that wants to join our mission, reach out to our team today to learn more about getting Buffalo Market’s legendary direct store delivery (DSD) distribution!

After the initial flare of color and revitalization of the spring months, the world really bursts into a parade of heat and brightness across the summer. Those longer evenings in April and May have now well and truly extended into the kinds of nights where afternoon barbeques linger until 10 pm and you’ll barely have needed to have put on a sweater. Among the hard sunshine of the days and the cool warmth of the twilight, the summer months also provide a plethora of sweet fruits and crisp vegetables to be enjoyed after a dip in the lake or a midday laze by the pool.

Summer brings no shortage of encouragement to step outside and catch some rays but it also proffers enough exciting new ingredients to help you enjoy a more varied diet and serve up more vibrant dishes. With so much to look forward to, here are some of the Buffalo Market favorites due to come into season from the end of June.

Garlic bulbs

The small package that carries a big kick of flavor, this little white vegetable is not the herb or spice that many wrongly believe it to be, but it’s certainly well known as a tangy garnish for just about any meal. Grated into curries or fried at the bottom of a deep-dish pan for making pasta sauce, garlic does a lot more than just scare away vampires. Low in calories but high in vitamins C and B6, garlic is a natural stimulant for the body’s immune system and has been known to reduce the effects of colds and other mild illnesses. A daily garlic supplement has been said to reduce the number of colds across a 12-week period by more than 60%, as compared to using a placebo, with the average length of cold symptoms being reduced by 70%.

Eggplant

Recognized as an aubergine in the UK and most parts of western Europe, the shiny purple ingredient that can be grilled or stuffed and roasted is not the vegetable you would suppose it to be, but actually a berry by botanical definition. Rich in fiber and antioxidants, this spongy-feeling plant has a texture similar to that of tender beef or chicken and, in thick slices or diced into small cubes, can be used as a meat substitute. Eggplant also contains a good dose of lutein and the rather alien-sounding zeaxanthin, which both play their part in maintaining good eye health by protecting against the breakdown of the center of your retina, the macular, which can cause suffer severe vision degeneration.

Zucchini

Available for purchase at most points of the year, zucchini (or courgette, as it’s known to our European neighbors) tastes best from May through to the end of the summer in late September. A member of the squash family, zucchini is also know as summer squash to help it stand out among its many similar relatives; and though cooked like a vegetable is actually classified as a fruit. No matter how you serve them – as a substitute for lasagna sheets or grilled to enjoy as a sandwich filling – they’re high in antioxidants and carotenoids, the property that gives many fruits their bright colors (carrots, for example). These two products are known to assist in preventing some kinds of cancer, such as prostate cancer, and have numerous benefits for your skin, eyes, and heart.

On sale at the moment with Buffalo Market, we are offering a 20 lbs crate of yellow squash for just $21, allowing you to try for yourself the many ways squash can be served and enjoyed. A strong source of vitamins A, B, and C, you can eat this vibrant yellow fruit by grilling it, steaming it, or baking it in the oven – or even eaten raw as a addition to your salads and sandwiches.

Sweetcorn

A staple of summer barbeques, grilled corn on the cob is a simple and delicious addition to any meal, with a sweet, juicy flavor well worth the 10 minutes you’ll spend digging bits of it out of your teeth. Whether it’s gnawed on the cob or consumed as individual kernels, corn has plenty of health benefits: high in fiber and rich in folate, it can assist in preventing the risk of strokes and heart disease, as well as aid the production of healthy red blood cells. It also has a good helping of iron, as well as vitamins C and B, which variously contribute to the effective breaking-down of food into useable energy, keep your nervous system functioning correctly, and can even combat fatigue. However, vitamin C is heat-sensitive and its potency can be diminished when cooked, so the healthiest way to prepare corn is by steaming it.  

Rhubarb

One of the key markers of wisdom said to be knowing that tomatoes are fruit, but not to be put in the fruit salad – the same applies to rhubarb, albeit the other way around. A vegetable that is commonly served with other fruits, rhubarb has roots similar to those of fennel or celery, but a more tender, layered texture like those of leeks. Just about every part of rhubarb, from its slender stems to the dreamy sunset-pink hue, make it one of the most gorgeous products at any farmers’ market – but that beauty can be deadly.

The large elephant-shaped ears that bloom at the head of the rhubarb are actually poisonous, as eating them can cause your throat to close up. This is thanks to the natural elements of oxalyic acid inside them, which is used to make stain removers and metal polish. Best avoided, so stick with the pretty pink stems and you’ll be fine.

If you can’t wait for the summer to enjoy some of these organic delights, then at least the spring is here to liven up your larder and keep your kitchen stocked with crisp, juicy fruits and vegetables. When it comes to what’s in season in spring, there is plenty of variety to be found at Buffalo Market: with an inventory encompassing more than 2,600 items, you’re bound to find whatever it is you need, and at the best possible prices. Supplied by local, independent farmers across California, our organic produce is delivered straight to your door and follows the farm-to-fork principle to cut down on carbon emissions and transport journeys.

We also stock restaurants as well as homes, providing wholesale food cases to give you the best produce at the most palatable prices. However you hope to diversify your meal plan or experiment with new and exotic ingredients, Buffalo Market is the best place to start. If you want to enjoy some juicy organic tomatoes, you can get your hands on an entire 11 lbs case for just $20 – if you’re wondering what to cook with fennel, there is plenty to be done with our organic fennel, which can be yours for just $12 a case. There is so much more for you to choose from, so take a look through our online store and see what deals you can savor today.   

Sweet and tangy, strawberries are the bright red fruits that contain a big burst of flavor in one bite-sized package. Delicious in jams or nestled on the top of a cake, they are also heaped with antioxidants and contain plenty of other health benefits, making them a great way to maintain your physical wellbeing while offering a natural pick-me-up when your energy levels drop.

If you suddenly find yourself craving something sweet, instead of grabbing a candy bar from your nearest gas station, head to a supermarket and pick up a punnet of fresh strawberries. The natural sugars in these sweet little fruits will be absorbed more slowly than processed sugars, meaning you won’t have an energy spike shortly followed by a sugar crash.

That’s just one of the benefits of eating strawberries, anyway, and if you’re looking for ways to get more strawberries in your diet, the possibilities are just about endless. Besides eating them just as they are, raw and ready to pop into your mouth, you’ll find them in full-fat yogurt and strawberry jam. Or, for a deliciously sweet-and-savory snack, why not just mash them up to mix them into cream cheese and spread across bagels?

Strawberries strengthen your immune system

Loaded with vitamin C and antioxidants, strawberries help protect your body’s cells from free radicals, which are deleterious molecules released when the body breaks down food, and can heighten the risk of heart disease and cancer. A single cup of raw fresh strawberries contains 140% of the required daily amount of vitamin C, containing no traces of fat and just 45 calories.

Strawberries are good for your heart

Containing notable quantities of potassium and fiber, strawberries help to regulate your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, thus reducing the risk of heart disease. The major benefit of potassium is the way it serves as a barrier from the detrimental effects of sodium, which can build up from excessive consumption of salty foods such as potato chips and instant noodles.

Because strawberries are responsible for reduced levels of inflammation and LDL (low-density lipoprotein, a negative variant of cholesterol), they’re the most heart-healthy fruits you can buy. An added bonus of the fiber found in strawberries is its aiding of digestive health and how it can help you lose weight, which in itself is very good for a healthy heart.

They whiten your teeth and protect your gums

Not just a delicious, low-calorie snack, strawberries also keep your gums healthy to prevent tooth loss and painful exposed nerve endings. Other dental benefits offered by strawberries include cleaner teeth, courtesy of the tooth-whitening substance they contain called mallic acid. You can enjoy the benefits of this as DIY tooth-cleaning kit by crushing a strawberry and mixing it with ½ teaspoon of baking soda to enhance the whiteness of your teeth.

Dip your toothbrush into this mixture and then gently coat your teeth, allowing the baking soda-strawberry compound to settle for five minutes before brushing with ordinary toothpaste. In that time, the mallic acid will have worn away some of the stain-producing bacteria which can settle on your enamel and, when scrubbed off, helps you achieve a brighter shade of white.

Make sure you scrub all of it off your teeth, however – and use some floss to remove any strawberry seeds – as excessive exposure to baking soda can have unwanted side effects. This cheap and easy beauty method should not be practiced more often than once every seven days, as you may experience premature deterioration of your tooth enamel. To stay on the safe side, try this one at home about once every fortnight so you don’t put the health and strength of your teeth at risk.    

Besides whiter teeth, added beauty benefits of eating strawberries include the diminished appearance of fine lines in your skin, thanks to the traces of ellagic acid – which reduce skin cell inflammation – found in strawberries and the collagen-producing qualities of vitamin C. This vitamin also helps your body absorb iron, whose blood clotting properties accelerate the healing of cuts.

Strawberries improve your eyesight

Another benefit of the antioxidants found in strawberries is their capacity to prevent cataracts, the build-up of cloudy patches over the lens of your eyes, which can eventually cause blindness. The protein in your lenses can also be damaged by ultraviolet rays, but a form of protection can be found in vitamin C as they fortify the cornea and retina against the free radicals found in direct sunlight.

Vitamin C has also been known to soothe swollen eyes and prevent vision defects, dryness, and an eye disease known as macular degeneration, which can cause severe deterioration of vision in over-60s.

Strawberries aid pre-natal development

For women attempting to conceive a child or are already pregnant, one of your recommended B-vitamins is folate, as it helps prevent birth defects – and an easy way to up your folic intake is by eating strawberries. With a 21mg per serving dosage, they’re a flavorsome way to protect your child as well as satisfy a sweet tooth.

For those of you in the family way, check out our blog post on the best foods for pregnancy to learn what other foods you need in your diet, to support the healthy development of your child and maintain your own overall wellbeing.  

Keeping your skin healthy, looking after your immune system, and all while keep you energised with their natural sweetness, strawberries really are an incredible little fruit. If you’re looking for colour ways to get more into your diet, you can easily add them to a fruity smoothie. If you take a look at the banana-based smoothie from our suggestions of what to have for lunch at home, some added strawberries would definitely make a positive improvement. Don’t just take our word for it and try some yourself!

The creator of Cherrish cherry juice, Dan Haggart, is an athlete. He and his sons follow a regular health and fitness regimen and run frequent marathons. It was at a marathon that the Haggarts first observed some fellow runners drinking a curiously dark red liquid. Intrigued, the family approached them to find out what it was—tart cherry juice.

This extremely sour-tasting liquid intrigued the Haggart men and set them off on a journey towards producing a delicious, commercially viable health product: Cherrish cherry juice. 

What is tart cherry juice?

Tart cherry juice is the deep red juice of Montmorecy cherries. Unlike black and other types of cherries you might find at the store, tart cherries contain less sugar and carbohydrates, which makes them taste, well, tart. 

The reduced sweetness unlocks all of the natural health benefits of cherries without the undesired effects of high sugar content. 

What are the health benefits of tart cherries?

Cherries aren’t particularly rich in vitamins (though they do provide a fair amount of calcium and potassium). They are rich, however, in a phytochemical called anthocyanin. Anthocyanin is responsible for the color of dark red, blue, purple, and black fruits and vegetables, and it’s the secret ingredient in tart cherries that makes them a powerhouse for health.

Anthocyanin (from the Greek anthos, meaning “flower,” and kydneos, meaning “blue”) is a water-soluble pigment found in all kinds of edible plants, including flowers like hibiscus and lavender, fruits like cherries and currants, and vegetables such as red cabbage and ube yams. 

Dark fruits like cherries have especially high concentrations of anthocyanin, which some studies have shown to provide a wide range of health benefits:

More research is needed to verify some of the other possible benefits of tart cherry juice, such as the effectiveness of antioxidants and other potential cancer-fighting properties, but the early studies on anthocyanin show a lot of promise.

What is Cherrish cherry juice?

When the Haggarts first tried tart cherry juice, they were astonished by the results. Adding the juice to their daily routine almost immediately reduced muscle inflammation. The family has an extensive background in the food industry and saw an opportunity to bring a product to market.

The trouble was, though, that tart cherry juice is simply too sour to be universally palatable. It took months of experimentation, but eventually, they found that by adding a small amount of sweeter Washington Bing cherries, the beverage became not just tolerable—but delicious.

Cherrish is made from 100% Montomorecy and Bing cherries. All of the cherries used in making the juice are sourced from two family farms: Rowley and Hawkins, in Washington State. 

Cherrish’s offering includes three different flavors of bottled tart cherry juice, as well as a pouch of concentrate:

Cherrish Cherry Original – 12 oz

The juice that started it all! Nothing but Montmorecy and Bing cherry juice. 

Cherrish Cherry Pomegranate – 12 oz

All of the same benefits as the original, with the added natural flavor of pomegranate for a bright-tasting twist.

Cherrish Cherry Blueberry – 12 oz

Natural blueberry rounds out the flavor of this cherry blend.

It might come as a surprise, but lox wasn’t invented in America. Neither were bagels. Yet it was Jewish New Yorkers who first put them together, creating the sublime combination we know and love today.

So where do they come from? Lox originated in Scandinavia, where fishermen in Sweden perfected the art of preserving salmon in saltwater brine sometime in the 19th century. Bagels are even older – they were allegedly first spotted on the silk route in China, before being refined in Italy in the 14^th century. But the story of how they came to be enjoyed together has many interesting facets, taking in a church edict from the 12th Century, the 1930s fad for Eggs Benedict, and the unique rules of Jewish dietary law.

One version has it that, thanks to a Church ban on Jewish bakeries in 12th Century Poland, it came to pass that Jews were only allowed to work with bread that had been boiled. Hence the bagel (the first references to “bagel” in written Yiddish appear around 1610). Amd, having become massively popular among Jews in Eastern Europe, it came with them to America n the 19th and 20th Centuries. 

And why lox, or salmon? There are several reasons. Firstly, fish is considered to be pareve, so it can be eaten in both a dairy or a meat meal. And secondly, while meat has many requirements regarding slaughtering and preparation for it to be classed as kosher, it was far easier to to buy whole kosher fish, even from non-Jewish stores. Also, the preservation technique required for lox minimized the need for refrigeration, an essential quality in early 20th century NYC. 

How all this came together is explained partly due to the 1930s demand for eggs benedict – two halves of an English muffin topped with ham or bacon, poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce – a dish that fast became a brunch sensation. Obviously, Jewish people were unable to eat it, as it contained both pork and involved the mixing of dairy and meat (a violation of kashrut, Jewish dietary law). 

So, the Jewish community in NYC developed the bagel with lox and schmear as a kosher alternative. According to Jewish culinary historian Gil Marks, this was unique to Jews in New York; Jewish communities in Poland had traditionally spread schmaltz on their bagels, or eaten them with cholent or other various soups and as a dinner roll. 

The dish was considered an ideal substitution – still delicious, with plenty of protein and a similar creaminess (replacing salmon for ham, cream cheese for hollandaise sauce and sliced bagel halves for sliced English muffins). And it remains as loved now as it was then – it’s one of the most popular things to eat in New York, and by Jewish Americans anywhere.

Today, there are five key ingredients; the lox and a bagel (obviously), cream cheese, sliced red onion, and a generous spoonful of capers. The cream cheese is spread on the bagel first, with the lox added on top, followed by the onion and the capers. As for the bagel itself, it need not be plain – sesame seed, poppy seed, or wholemeal are all fine (but don’t ask for a sweet bagel – that way lies ruin.)

It is perfect lazy weekend brunch dish – healthy, wholesome, and super easy and quick to make. So beloved is it that it even has its own national holiday – February 9^th.

We’ve got everything you need (red onion, capers, salmon, cream cheese, bagels) to whip up some bagels and lox this weekend, so add these to your cart and treat yourself to one of the world’s best brunches!