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Nature's Farm
Hermann and Sheryl Grauer launched Nature's Farm in 1987 with the intent of providing gourmet, natural products while promoting ecological stability. With the opening of subsidiary company Nature's Pasta in 1993, the Grauers focused on creating unique, gourmet pasta with the freshest of Canadian and local ingredients. Nature's Pasta's commitment to sustainability while using local produce has earned them this year's Good Food Manitoba Award for Producer of the Year from Ciao! magazine.
Nature's Pasta uses an old family recipe from Germany, where Hermann's parents ran a pasta shop. The secret recipe includes producing the pasta in small batches using the best of local ingredients, a strict air-drying process and top-quality Canadian durum wheat. The Grauers also use their own Vita-Eggs, which are chock-full of vitamins due to the 100% multi-grain, antibiotic-free feeding process.
Intially available only in Manitoba, word-of-mouth spread and soon the up-start company was fielding orders from renowned restaurants and gourmet grocers across North America. Hermann also maintains a close relationship with top chefs in the city. These chefs give him feedback on current trends, while he bounces ideas off them that he has picked up during his travels. These brainstorms have resulted in favourites such as lemon pepper, saffron and spelt. While producing top-quality local products, the Grauers think green, using corn-based packaging that can be recycled, as well as choosing ecologically-friendly transportation. The company recently introduced an organic pasta line and in the fall will debut seasonal pastas, with ingredients straight from the Manitoba harvest.
