As the Pacific Northwest’s Local Forager, discovering new products and producers is certainly fun and a huge part of my job. But sometimes it’s even more fun to “re-discover” an old favorite. Fran’s Chocolates isn’t just a classic local product. It’s a local – and national – treasure, too.

Fran Bigelow opened her original Seattle store, Fran’s Patisserie & Chocolate Specialties, in 1982, focusing on freshly baked pastries and cakes. Her move toward confections began gradually; if you were lucky enough to be one of the early customers, you were often treated to a free chocolate truffle while waiting in line to purchase baked goods. Yum!

Today, Fran’s Chocolates are known and loved far beyond the Pacific Northwest. She’s been featured on the Food Network and in newspapers around the country. When President Barack Obama was on the campaign trail four years ago, he discovered her legendary Smoked Salt Caramels and went bonkers for them. Now, special visitors to the White House receive a box of the salted caramels stamped with the Presidential Seal as a parting gift – half in milk chocolate (The President’s favorite) and half in dark chocolate (First Lady Michelle’s preference). And of course, you can find Fran’s Chocolates in Whole Foods Market stores throughout the US.

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Whole Foods Market Local Forager Denise Breyley travels around the beautiful Pacific Northwest meeting the amazing farmers, ranchers and producers who supply our tables with fresh, locally grown food.

Fermentation isn’t just for wine and beer anymore. Naturally fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi have become all the rage in restaurants and on dinner tables around the US.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we’re lucky to have one of the best producers of fermented veggies around: Seattle-based Firefly Kitchens. Owners Julie O’Brien and Richard Climenhage use ingredients sourced from local farms to make sauerkraut, kimchi and other assorted fermented vegetables. They’ve only been in business since 2010, but they’re already successful. How successful? They won the prestigious Good Food awards for their Yin Yang carrots in 2011 and their Cortido Sauerkraut in 2012!

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Whole Foods Market Local Forager Denise Breyley travels around the beautiful Pacific Northwest meeting the amazing farmers, ranchers and producers who supply our tables with fresh, locally grown food.

Up here in the Pacific Northwest, our growing season can feel pretty brief. With the rain, wind and short, dark days, we’re used to saying goodbye fresh veggies in the late fall and early spring.

But we’re working to make that growing season a bit longer for one of our latest Local Producer Loan recipients, Willie Greens Organic Farm. Based in Monroe, Washington, Willie Greens has been growing a wide variety of organically certified vegetables since 1987. The owner, Jeff Miller, is a former chef committed to providing customers with only the freshest, organic and seasonally grown produce available.

With his loan, Jeff was able to construct greenhouses on his farm to extend the growing season later into the winter and allow him to get started earlier in the spring. Each greenhouse is 30 feet by 240 feet, or 7200 square feet. Construction began in October of 2011 and will culminate with five new greenhouses for a variety of produce.

I met Jeff through my work as the Local Forager for the Pacific Northwest region. In this role, I travel through Oregon, Washington and British Columbia to meet the amazing farmers, ranchers and producers who supply our tables with fresh, locally grown food and see how I can bring their products to customers in our stores. You can read more about producers like Jeff and Willie Greens on my blog, The Local Forager.

And if you live in Washington or Oregon you can buy Willie Greens’ produce at Whole Foods Market stores in your state – even when the weather outside isn’t great for growing.