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Site-Seeker Inc. in the NewsDate: May 16, 2007 Tassleberry Gourmet Foods Wins MV Edge Business Plan of the Year Steven H. Greenberg and Marone (Ron) Acee, of Tassleberry Farm in Westmoreland, NY, are pleased to announce their new Tassleberry Gourmet Foods venture has been named winner of the 2007 Mohawk Valley Business Plan contest administered by the Mohawk Valley Economic Development Growth Enterprises (EDGE) Corporation. Tassleberry Gourmet Foods will receive more than $20,000 in cash and professional services as a result, which will be used to purchase new production equipment, hire additional personnel, and utilize Site-Seeker, Inc., the premier Internet marketing services provider in Central New York, to publicize their entry into the gourmet foods marketplace. Site-Seeker contributed valuable assistance in preparing the winning plan, and will partner with Tassleberry to ensure the development and implementation of a successful Internet marketing strategy. The purpose of the winning Business Plan is to evolve a third generation family farm that sells strawberries into a unique business that produces vinegars, marinades, salad dressings, dips, and other high end food products from strawberries grown at Tassleberry Farm. According to James Castilla, Vice President of Economic Development for MV EDGE, “The innovation of the Tassleberry Gourmet Foods business plan, to develop a new and inventive product line to diversify a long-time area business, was among the reasons it was given the edge over the other three finalists in the business plan contest. Having its roots in agriculture – one of our region’s oldest industries – combined with the forward thinking of the proprietors utilizing e-commerce as a marketing tool along with the fact the products are already in production, helped Tassleberry win the contest.” Tassleberry Gourmet Foods products are rare in that they don’t contain merely an ‘infusion’ of strawberry flavoring; rather, Tassleberry uses the whole berries unlike any other gourmet food companies. They pick the strawberries, pack them, store them, pour off vinegar, and use leftover berries for marinade and other products; therefore, nothing is wasted. Their ingredients are so tasty they have even developed vegetable dips with the Culinary Institute of America. Says Steve Greenberg of Tassleberry, “My business partner’s mother, Margaret Acee, is a terrific cook and has been making strawberry vinegar from an old family recipe for many years. More and more people kept asking for the vinegar, and it seemed both natural and smart to expand the business to include a wider variety of products.” Adds Mr. Greenberg, “We want to use the power of the Internet as our primary sales tool now and in the future. We chose Site-Seeker as our partner because they are large enough to provide a solid infrastructure and experienced personnel, but small enough to provide personalized service. Site-Seeker is redesigning our existing website to enable customers to view, select, and order our products online quickly and easily. We’re confident they can help us raise our business to a whole new level in a cost-effective manner with the strategy they have customized for us. In fact, we expect to sell more than 1700 cases of products in 2007.” Says Eddie Bluff, Vice President of Sales at Site-Seeker, “Tassleberry will utilize our full complement of Internet marketing services including website design and development, pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization, web analytics, and website testing. Our goal is to make sure Tassleberry Gourmet Foods appears first on the list when potential customers use search engines like Google or Yahoo to locate the types of food products made by Tassleberry. Site-Seeker is thrilled to be in on the ground floor of this exciting new endeavor, and we look forward to a long and profitable relationship with Tassleberry.” About Tassleberry Farm About Site-Seeker
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