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Gayle Fisher, from Left, Kate Siberell, Jody Olson and Susan Joy clink their glasses together while tasting a non-alcoholic concoction made by Alyssa Crawford at Crawford Distillery Thursday in Havre.
Gayle Fisher, executive director of the Central Montana Tourism Region, takes notes while speaking with Cody Miles of High Horizon Gardens Thursday in Havre.
Kate Siberell takes a photo of lettuce as Cody Miles explains his growing process Thursday, May 16, 2019 at High Horizon Gardens near Havre, Mont.
Cody Miles grips a support beam inside his greenhouse while meeting with representatives of the Taste Our Place program Thursday, May 16, 2019 at High Horizon Gardens near Havre, Mont.
Jody Olson, from left, Gayle Fisher and Susan Joy laugh while talking with Cody Miles Thursday, May 16, 2019 at High Horizon Gardens near Havre, Mont.
Gayle Miles tastes a piece of fresh butter lettuce Thursday, May 16, 2019 at High Horizon Gardens near Havre, Mont.
Cody Miles takes representatives of the Taste Our Place program to his basement Thursday, May 16, 2019 at High Horizon Gardens near Havre, Mont.
Gayle Fisher takes a photo of a laughing Alyssa Crawford during a visit to Crawford Distillery Thursday, May 16, 2019 in Havre, Mont.
Representatives from the Montana Department of Commerce toured four local businesses Thursday as the state works to get a new "Taste Our Place" program launched across Montana.
Susan Joy and Kate Siberell, both of the Montana Department of Commerce, along with Gayle Fisher of the Central Montana Tourism Region and Jody Olson of the Havre Chamber of Commerce spent their day driving from location to location talking about the unique qualities of the first four Havre businesses to join Taste Our Place.
The group visited The Infinity Bake Shoppe, High Horizon Gardens, Crawford Distillery and Andy's Supper Club, each of which qualifies as a Taste Our Place member.
The Taste Our Place program falls underneath the long-running "Made in Montana" program, which recognizes locally made products and promotes building and buying within the Treasure State. What makes the new program unique, however, is that it is run in conjunction with the Montana Department of Agriculture.
Made in Montana marketing coordinator Kate Siberell said the program has been in the works for multiple years, but officially launched in September 2018. She said the program is attempting to help smaller businesses and communities capitalize on a recent spike in tourism dollars being spent in the state.
"The Taste Our Place program is just trying to take advantage of that desire to help our communities in general and also to celebrate the local food that Montana has because we really do have so much," she said. "We're such a strong agricultural state, and we're trying to celebrate that."
Siberell added that not all businesses will qualify for a membership to the program because Taste Our Place is seeking people who go above and beyond in their efforts to use locally sourced ingredients.
Taste Our Place is focused on businesses "who've made a commitment to using local ingredients and sourcing their ingredients in a local way," she added. "We're here to celebrate what they're doing and to give them any support that we can"
"It's about more than just using Montana wheat in your pizza crust," Siberell said.
The four local businesses visited by the group Thursday are some of the early members of the program, but Siberell said she and other representatives from the Department of Commerce will be traveling the state in the coming months trying to get more businesses on board. She added that the program has relied heavily on local and regional tourism partners to help identify its first crop of members, but she hopes more businesses will begin to reach out to the program once Taste Our Place hits the public eye.
"We hope, of course, that once that (Taste Our Place) logo is out there in the world that people will just start calling us and be excited to sign up," she said.
Once officially recognized as members of the programs, the four Havre businesses will be able to display the Taste Our Place logo in their shops and on their products, indicating a commitment to Montana-sourced food.
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