Stemilt took a page out of its mission statement by delighting its team members through a special meet-and-greet event with its spokeschef, Ethan Stowell, an award-winning chef based in Seattle. The event was held last week at the company’s Fresh Center headquarters and is part of an ongoing partnership between Stowell and Stemilt to deepen the farm-to-table connection.
Stowell prepared a winter salad starring the company’s signature apple variety, Pinata, and served it to Stemilt team members throughout the afternoon. The salad incorporated Belgium endive, frisee, goat cheese, walnuts and the sweet-tart Pinata, with a simple vinaigrette dressing.
Chef Ethan Stowell
“Bringing chef Ethan to Stemilt was a fun treat for our team members, who work together every day to produce World Famous Fruit and uphold our mission of cultivating people and delighting consumers,” said Brianna Shales, Stemilt communications manager. “It was exciting to share Pinata apples, a variety that everyone at Stemilt is familiar with, in a new way. And chef Ethan was a big hit with our team.”
Stowell is self-taught with more than 20 years of experience and 14 restaurants that span Seattle. He’s made a mark on everything from the menu at Seattle Mariner games to charitable causes that support nutrition, women’s rights and leadership and the homeless.
Along with sharing his Pinata salad, Stowell took a tour of Stemilt and witnessed apple packing for the first time. Pinata was the chosen variety and he was impressed with the freshness, quality and care that went into packing each box.
“It’s always interesting to see how the ingredients I’m using in my restaurants are produced,” said Stowell. “I was amazed at the precision technology used to pack apples and the extreme care that the smiling Stemilt team takes to ensure only the best apples make it to the market.”
Stemilt kept its social audience engaged with chef Ethan’s visit throughout the event via Instagram Stories, Facebook posts, and a Facebook Live session. During the Facebook Live event, Stowell shared his Stemilt experience and talked more about the reason behind featuring a healthy salad during the midst of the winter season.
“Salads are a fun departure from typical winter meals, and these particular greens have a crisp, refreshing bite that matches perfectly with the juicy and slightly tropical Pinata apple,” said Stowell.
Stemilt and Stowell have more in the works this year to share the farm-to-table experience and the stories that make their family-run businesses unique with consumers.
“We’re thrilled to have chef Ethan as our culinary partner this year. He’s as humble and hard-working as they come and a great fit to represent our expanding brands and proprietary varieties,” said Shales.
