Those local to the Woodstock or Rhinebeck areas will no doubt know Sunflower Market as a go-to for healthy, local, and organic food in the Hudson Valley. Since 1978, sourcing from the region’s many farms and producers has been central to the mission of the family-owned and -operated market.
With such a diversity of products available in-store however, it can be easy to overlook some of the hidden gems that line Sunflower’s shelves. To help you discover a few of them on your next visit, we’ve rounded up five local brands that you should definitely keep an eye out for below.
Tongore Brook Farms
Tongore Brook Farm in Stone Ridge is a small, family-owned and -operated specialty crop greenhouse farm running on solar and geothermal energy. A working hay and barley farm in the late 18th century, it was reborn as a greenhouse farm in 2012 and today grows an array of microgreens that make for a bright addition to salads, sandwiches, stir-fries, and more.
Look for the farm’s mixes at Sunflower, including sweet and tender Hemp & Pea Shoots, pleasantly sharp Rainbow Radish, and Salad Booster, which is a blend of sweet pea, spicy radish, and crisp sunflower shoots.
Mountain Products Smokehouse
Tom Gray started smoking cheese and bacon for the specialty cheese shop he opened in 1980 and the family hasn’t stopped since. Today, Lagrangeville-based Mountain Products Smokehouse is known for smoking a diverse range of meat and poultry products, from bacon to sliced turkey. The company sources its meat mainly from distributors in Pennsylvania, where animals are humanely raised, then smokes it the old-fashioned way, with natural smoke from real wood fires.
At Sunflower, you can find Mountain Products Smokehouse’s bacon, zesty sausages like andouille and chorizo, sliced smoked turkey and chicken, and more.
R & G Cheese Makers
R&G Cheese Makers founder Sean O’Connor trained at Old Chatham Sheepherding Company before branching out to create his own cheesemaking business, which is based in Troy. Today, R&G has a full line of artisan cheeses, in both cow and goat's milk sourced from local farms, as well as yogurt.
Sunflower stocks a wide variety of cheeses from R&G, including burrata, fresh and smoked mozzarella, three kinds of chevres, and goats milk-based camembert-style cheeses including, Trufflebert, which is infused with a layer of black truffles, Pollenbert, which features fennel pollen, and Eclipse, a striking ash-ripened variety.
Woods & Meadow
Woods & Meadow is a Red Hook-based CBD apothecary company that crafts a variety of bath and body products that combine CBD with nourishing oils. At Sunflower, you can find its CBD bath bombs in heady, soothing scents like eucalyptus, lavender, and rosehip, as well as CBD roll-ons with amethyst and rose quartz crystals.
Majestic Firewood
Yes, even the firewood at Sunflower is local! Gardiner-based Majestic Firewood specializes in kiln-dried firewood, red cedar firestarters, and accessories for your fire needs. Pick up a bundle of firewood on your next grocery run and you’re sure to be prepared for any late-night s’mores sessions that might pop up this spring and summer.
