I love to find
products made in Michigan and support local companies. I'd like to share some
of my favorite and most recent products that I've found.
I noticed Third Coast Keys while making some extra keys at a Gilbert's True Value Hardware in Dewitt, Michigan.
Third Coast sells
keys that are in the shape of the state of Michigan. I think the keys are
adorable and offer a fun alternative for those that add identifiers to keys so
they can distinguish keys from each other.
This spring, while
visiting some of our family and friends at the Vermontville Maple SyrupFestival, my mom and also went to the Arts and Craft Show to purchase products
from some of our favorite companies, we also found a new product line by MickeyT's.
Mickey T's is a
company that I've never seen before this year. Mickey T's is located in
Davisburg, Michigan. They have many flavors of rubs, spices and garlics
with fresh ingredients, no salt, no MSG or preservatives in any of their
products. Flavors offered are Chicken, Beef, Fish, Rib, Vegetable, Wild Game,
Louisiana, Thailand, Mexico, Jamaica, India, Italy, and France. On their Salt Free Rub website you can order
products, check the show schedule to see where they will be next, and find
recipes.
SP Fine Bath and
Body is one of our favorites. We love the vegan, eco-friend products which are
chemical free, and come in great scents. SP sells bath & body, laundry
products, bug spray, sunscreen, hand sanitizer as well as products for dogs.
There are many scent selections including Cool Water, Drakkar, Cucumber Melon,
Lovespell, Vanilla, Clean Cotton, Coconut Lime Verbena, and many others. My
favorite products are the lotion bar and the body lotion, liquid soap (body wash) and body spray
combo. The scents are strong at first, but fade quite quickly.
Who doesn't love dip
mixes? Pam's Panty sells the best mixes for dips, salsas, no bake cheesecakes,
and more. The extensive product line with so many flavors is outstanding. My
favorites are Spinach Surprise, Definitely Dill, Funfetti, Mellie's Mexi Mix,
and Caramel Nutter Butter. They always offer great deals at shows and if you
sign up for their email newsletter, you'll periodically receive offers.
Michigan Pure Maple Syrup
One of the items
that you can find anywhere when you go to the Vermontville Syrup Festival is
pure Maple Syrup. If you are looking for
Maple Syrup outside of the Vermontville Syrup Festival, check out BennedictFamily Farms located in Vermontville, Michigan.
Benedict Family
Farm: 517-230-5083
We came across Lush
Nuts while shopping at October Moon in Old Town, Lansing.
I tried the coconut
lavender, which was very good. The lavender was very mild and coconut was not
overly sweet. It was a great combination. As I looked further into the LushNuts company, I found that the it was started by Bisera Urdarevik who created
the product while studying culinary arts in Chicago at Kendall College. In
2011, Bisera launched Lush Gourmet Foods, a specialty nut wholesale business in
Kalamazoo.
If you've read the Meandering Michigan post for The General Store in Hastings, Michigan, you are probably familiar with Jenna Kator and Grand Rapids Popcorn.
I am very impressed
with the vegan purses designed by Michigan State Graduate, Jenna
Kator. Each of her purses are named after a Michigan City. Jenna's
line include a variety of sizes of purses, wallets, and wristlets. Jenna is
also a supporter of Philanthropy through the Handbags
of Hope program. 100% of the proceeds for the Philanthropy Tawas Point Handbag goes to Handbags
of Hope.
I love the Hasting's Candle Company Candles. They have
more scents that I can list. You'll find traditional candle scents you'd come
to expect as well as fun scents like Monkey Butt, Blueberry Cobbler,
Sun-Ripened Tomato, and Sweet Potato and Brown Sugar. The candles are produced
by the Hastings Pewter Company. I've
found Hasting's Candles in Lake Odessa at ConsignmentsBy Sherry as well as in Hastings at The Hanger.
On my way to a
seminar at University of Phoenix in Southfield,Michigan, I stopped in Beyond Juicery +Eatery, a Michigan based company offering fresh juices, smoothies,
sandwiches and other treats. To my surprise, found many Michigan Made products
featured, including YumBitz, Detroit
cookie company that gives back, as well as Living Zen and Carlo's products.
YumBitz come in
three flavors and they are very tasty,
not overly sweet … but that's not why you'll buy these cookies. For every
purchase, 10% of the proceeds go to a community organization to help combat
child hunger in the metro Detroit area. Monica Marks-Martin, co-founder and
owner, is on mission to combat hunger by
giving back money to help support local Detroit food banks.
I'm not sure the
extent of the Living Zen Organics product line, but I've tried the Flax
Crackers and the Garlic Chipotle Pumpkin Seeds. Both of these snacks are
great. I've seen that they sell Kale
Chips, which are available at Whole Foods. The company website lists all the
places their products are available.
Carlo's Grain Free
products include three flavors of granola, original, dark chocolate cherry, and
key lime macadamia. The full list of where you can purchase their granola is on
their company website.
Carlo Vivio, owner,
also describes his journey with struggling with his weight which led him to
create these healthy, portable snacks. His goal was to create a granola without
grain, dairy, refined sugars, corn, hydrogenated oils, preservatives, peanuts,
or soy that tastes great too … he succeeded!
His product was
recently featured on a segment on a local Detroit news sharing great
weight-loss snacks: http://www.clickondetroit.com/live-in-the-d/live-in-the-d-weight-loss-snacks-to-try?searchType=ALL&compId=316565310
Recently, I came
across a list of Michigan companies online. Visit Buy Michigan Now,
http://kww.net/buymichigannow/guide-full.php
for more information.
More to come from the mind of ...
