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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, June 28, 2013 | 4 Oakville's Jenny Longo puts food to the test by David Lea Oakville Beaver Staff 20% off Everything in the Store... Limited Time Offer. Despite working with food every day, Oakville resident Jenny Longo doesn't hesitate to roll up her sleeves and cook when she gets home. Longo, the daughter of the family-run grocery chain's founder Joseph Longo, said cooking helps her relax. The mother of three is director of Longo's private brands, which means she travels the world discovering products that can be brought to Longo's stores. "We work really closely with our buyers. Through trends or something I will discover in travel or they will discover, we'll say, `We really want to put our name on it.' Because our private label is also our family name, we really scrutinize what we put our name on and who we choose to partner with," said Longo. "I'll spend a lot of my time on Celebrating 10 years Jenny Longo, director of Longo's Brand Products, stands alongside some of those products at the grand opening of Longo's third store in Oakville. photo by Hannah Yoon ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog) Turn Your Dreams...into Reality Also Save up to 75% on all floor models* 905.820.4111 www.sterlinghouse.ca Design Consultation Available 2575 Dundas St., W., Mississauga (Between Winston Churchilll & Erin Mills Parkway) We also offer custom made furniture WITHOUT the custom made price. *Cannot be combined with any other offers or promotions. See store for details. the road checking out vendor locations and making sure my quality control manager approves the facility. We deal with a lot of local, family-run businesses that parallel well with us. We develop a product together and then we put our name on it." Such products include Longo's Organic Milk, which Longo said is delivered from client farms located closest to the individual stores. For example, the organic milk sold at the new Longo's, which opened at 469 Cornwall Rd. on June 26, comes from a farm in Guelph. Longo said she is also proud of a product she nicknames her "NASA food" that will be arriving on Longo's shelves shortly. "You know how you and your spouse are both working and you're tired and you get home and you don't want to cook, but you don't want to eat fast food... We've created this product that is fully cooked and you just have to take it home and reheat it," she said. "We have a half-chicken, ribs, buried beef cubes... they are in a marinade that is fantastic. It is something totally different because right now you can get a take-out kitchen hot item or raw chicken. This is cold, but cooked so all you have to do is heat it, so it's kind of a new, innovative way of eating. I call it my NASA food," she said, noting it's similar technology. Longo said it can be difficult to determine what products will succeed. She said Longo's looks at trends taking place in other markets and listens to its customers and staff who offer suggestions. As bringing a product to Longo's inevitably involves a lot of tasting and eating -- Longo said that by the time the product actually arrives at the store, she has cooked it quite a bit for her family. While her life is a busy one, Longo said it's definitely not routine, as every day offers something different. She noted she recently returned from Italy and Spain where she was investigating potential products and will soon be heading to New York to do the same. As part of Longo's senior leadership team, Longo also finds herself involved in the company's strategic planning and works with the Longo's Family Foundation, which helps numerous local charities. Her interest in food has led her to focus support on the Peel Victim Services Celebrity Chef Challenge, serving as a board member. "We're so fortunate and we want to give back because there are a lot of people who are not as fortunate as us," she said. When not working, Longo likes to spend time with her family, but said she never really leaves food out of the equation. She said she sometimes attends restaurants and tastes a dish so she can see if she can replicate a better version of it at home. And Longo rarely writes down her recipes, so members of her family have learned not to ask for the same dish twice.