Regional delicacies -- online shopping

RegionalBest.com, a new e-commerce shopping concept featuring local foods from across the country, launches today nationwide.

Developed by two entrepreneurial businesswomen who have a passion for great food, and who care about what their families eat, RegionalBest.com offers foods that span 16 categories.

Included are foods such as artisan cheese and salami from Utah, crab cakes from Maryland, wild American shrimp from North Carolina, wild blueberry jam from Maine, grass fed lamb from Idaho, grass fed beef from Montana, and a bounty of holiday gift giving ideas from coast to coast. There are dozens of foods, all raised, caught or produced by local artisans, farmers, fishermen, ranchers, beekeepers, and other small specialty food companies.

"We searched, tasted, and interviewed consumers, food professionals and potential merchants to find the right foods and artisans for our site," explains Marsha Cade, RegionalBest.com co-founder, based in suburban Philadelphia. "Superb quality and great taste were our top criteria, plus we support sustainable and eco-friendly, farming and food production practices."

The site offers new foods and old favorites, some all-natural, some organic. Many of the website's merchants started by selling their foods at local farmer's markets, and are now ready to reach a broader audience. RegionalBest.com provides the resources and means for their expansion.
RegionalBest.com also tells the merchant's "story" -- how they got started, the special care they put into growing or making their products, the awards they've won, and other interesting tidbits about them and their products.

Here are examples of what you'll find:
· Utah's Beehive Cheese Company's, Tim Welsh and Pat Ford, left the fast-paced world of software and real estate to seek a simpler way of life as artisan cheesemakers. Their award winning, and labor intensive, Barely Buzzed cheese is hand-rubbed with a blend of lavender and espresso coffee.
· Lava Lake Lamb is raised with care by experienced shepherds. Located just southeast of Sun Valley, Idaho, the Lava Lake Ranch is dedicated to the proposition that what we eat matters. The ranch produces all natural, grass-fed lamb that is raised sustainably, humanely, and without antibiotics or growth hormones, and is never placed in feedlots.
· Gregg Charbonneau and Barth Anderson of Massachusetts' Barrington Coffee Roasting Company are coffee fanatics. They believe that directly supporting quality-driven producers is the ideal manner in which to promote sound, responsible growing practices, economic sustainability -- and ultimately, the best coffee.
"Our merchants are the heart of RegionalBest.com," explains Caragh Whalen, Cade's co-founding partner, who is based in suburban Boston. "Their commitment and dedication is amazing, and their stories are unique and compelling. We will continue to offer new products, stories, and blog postings to captivate our visitors. In fact, we're already creating a great community among our providers -- merchants are recommending other merchants to join the site which is very exciting!"