La Quercia meats comes from Italy…no wait…Iowa
On their website, La Quercia states,
“Great food is more than great taste. It is healthful, nutritious, and pleasurable. Great food satisfies the senses and the body, the emotions and the mind. It is part of a responsible food system that sustains you, the producers, and the craftspeople, restaurants, and stores who support their communities and the environment.”
I don’t know about you, but that pretty much sums up how I feel about food. La Quercia means oak in Italian. Oak is the state tree of Iowa and a traditional symbol of Parma, Italy; which was their home for three and a half years. They take pride in their sustainable practices, suppliers, and the animals that they produce. Everything from the type of grass they planted to the energy efficient materials used in construction were designed to reduce their carbon footprint. They use all organic spices, and all of their meat comes from a 200 mile radius; a complete list and bio of each supplier is listed on their website. Their packaging is made from locally corn or other biologically sourced sugars as well.
They have been given awards by Slow Food Nation, Good Food Merchants Guild, and The Butchers Guild; and featured in countless articles in publications such as The Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Bonappetit, and Saveur.
Their products are grouped by varietal, or breed of pig, which each have distinct genetic and farming contributions. They highlight the importance and specialty of each varietal by identifying the flavor profile, breeding, special qualities, grower, name of the cut, ingredients, aging time, size, formats available, user recommendations, and beverage pairings. For example, the Acorn Tamworth Spallacia is, “sweet and nutty, with spectacular richness”; special qualities include, “these hogs spend their last four months foraging an Ozark Mountain hillside where acorns and hickory nuts make up an estimated 65–70% of their diet. Before this, they were pasture-raised on the same farm.”
They show each step of the process and reveal nutritional information for each varietal. On the website their meats are presented whole and sliced for optimal transparency. They sit on white marbled surface, staying consistent with the quality and Italian themes. Packages of their meats come in clean white sleeves with their red and brown logo. They have a modern, yet traditional Italian feel to them. The die cuts revel the beautiful meats and make your mouth water!
Check them out here
Callie Cavanaugh is an IXDMA graduate student at CU Boulder and lead designer at Radici Design, a design studio that builds artisan brands.
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