FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 10, 2011
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Bill Clary
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Tumbleweed gets all of its chicken from Kentucky Proud producers

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Less than a decade ago, Kentucky Proud had just a few dozen members, and Tumbleweed Restaurants was struggling through hard times. Today, both the official Kentucky farm marketing program and the Louisville-based Tex-Mex restaurant chain are thriving. They also are partners in a project that’s putting Kentucky Proud foods on the plates of Tumbleweed diners while putting dollars in the pockets of Kentucky farmers.

“All of our chicken is Kentucky Proud,” said Ben Wadler, director of purchasing for Tumbleweed. “It’s worked out well for us.”

Tumbleweed purchased $2.6 million worth of Kentucky Proud chicken this year through September, Wadler said. The Tumbleweed chicken comes from more than 160 western Kentucky producers.

“The Tumbleweed chicken deal is the biggest Kentucky Proud success story to date in terms of farm impact,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “I’m grateful to Tumbleweed for pursuing a project that benefits Kentucky farmers, and I’m pleased that the Kentucky Department of Agriculture was able to facilitate this partnership.”

Guests at any Tumbleweed restaurant – not just those in Kentucky – will find the familiar blue, green, and red Kentucky Proud logo beside all the chicken dishes on the menu. About 35 percent of all Tumbleweed guests buy a Kentucky Proud chicken dish, Wadler said.

Wadler said that, about three years ago, a salesman told him, “You’re really missing the boat. You can buy Kentucky Proud chicken and other Kentucky Proud foods, and they will come up with funding to help you pay for it.”

That interested Mike Higgins, chief operating officer and operating partner of Tumbleweed. “Mike Higgins has been in Kentucky most of his life, and he was very clear that we needed to find a way to make this work,” Wadler said.

Roger Snell, retail liaison for Kentucky Proud, worked over a span of a year to connect Tumbleweed with Pilgrim’s Pride in Mayfield and a further processor to get Kentucky-produced chicken for Tumbleweed’s chicken dishes.

Tumbleweed was awarded a Kentucky Proud grant for $90,000 for 18 months. Tumbleweed pays a premium for the Kentucky Proud chicken, so the grant helps defray the added cost, Wadler said.

He said the chain has matched the grant more than twice over in spending on advertising and printing menus with the Kentucky Proud chicken dishes marked with the program logo.

Custom Food Solutions, the company’s manufacturing arm, uses the chicken that Tumbleweed doesn’t use, Wadler said. He said Custom Food Solutions also makes sauces and salsas for Kentucky Proud producers.

Wadler said Tumbleweed is willing to buy more products from Kentucky Proud producers.

Kentucky Proud has more than 2,800 member producers, processors, restaurants, retailers, school districts, farmers’ markets, Kentucky state parks, and Kentucky Farm Bureau roadside markets. Kentucky Proud generated more than $200 million of retail sales of Kentucky farm products just through member retailers in 2010.