News

Fast casual eatery partnering with local cheese provider

March 21, 2013

MAD Greens Inspired Eats, a Denver-based restaurant group, will make the switch from a national cheese purveyor to Colorado-based Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy, a producer of handcrafted raw and pasteurized cheeses, made in a variety of styles. MAD Greens, known for its salads, soups and sandwiches featuring high-quality ingredients, will serve Haystack Mountain's chevre (goat cheese) exclusively in its 11 locations along Colorado's Front Range, said MAD Greens Founder and CEO Marley Hodgson.

"By making the switch from a California producer to Haystack Mountain, we sustain a small, local creamery and lower our carbon footprint significantly," Hodgson said. "Most importantly, Haystack chevre is of the highest quality and tastes great. We're pleased to support such an excellent producer who's right in our backyard."

Hodgson anticipates purchasing at least 10,000-12,000 pounds of goat cheese annually from Haystack Mountain to use in its best-selling Crazy Ivan salad, the Marilyn Monroe panini and the chain's "locals-only" Alferd Packer salad, featuring only locally grown ingredients such as Palisade peaches, Olathe corn, and local green beans and lettuce.

"At a time when so many casual foodservice operations are focused more on the bottom line than ingredient quality, it's a joy for us to work with a company like MAD Greens," said John Scaggs, Haystack's director of Sales & Marketing. "We've had a culinary crush on them since they opened their first location and are looking forward to growing together."

Read more about sustainability.