Author: artefact_admin

A chocolate eclair Milkshake? Here’s your definitive ranking of the top Table Talk Pie milkshakes made at company’s Worcester shop (Mass Live)

Whether you’re trying to beef up for the football team, recover from a tonsillectomy, or find maximum indulgence in a cup, there’s a milkshake waiting for you at the Table Talk Pie Store in Worcester.

Manager Caitlin Enck finds herself fielding the same question over and over again: “Does the Table Talk Pie Store sell anything besides — pie?”

The answer is: not really.

It’s a better business model than you think. American psychologist Barry Schwartz built his entire career on the finding that offering consumers fewer choices makes them happier. The Table Talk Pie Store is an excellent example of this.

Full Story

Plant Openings & Expansions: November 2019 (Food Engineering)

Tippmann Innovation will begin work on a 1.4 million-cu.-ft. freezer expansion for Mattingly Cold Storage in Zanesville, Ohio, with completion set for spring 2020.

Phillips Foods Inc. is expanding its seafood manufacturing plant in Baltimore, Md., by 15,000 sq. ft. to produce soup.

Tippmann Innovation and Table Talk Pies celebrated the opening of a new cold storage warehouse in Worcester, Mass.

CP Kelco is expanding its gellan gum production capabilities at its facility in Okmulgee, Okla.

Cargill in its joint venture with Puris invested $75 million to double its pea protein production at its 200,000-sq.-ft. facility in Dawson, Minn.

Kroger and Ocado will build a 350,000-sq.-ft. fulfillment center in Dallas, Texas, which should be operational in 2022.

McCain Foods plans to invest $9 million to expand capacity at its Florenceville, New Brunswick (Canada), french fry facility.

Resonate Foods plans to invest $2.7 million in greenhouses, drying buildings and processing equipment for hemp in Lyon County, Ky.

Full article

Arthur Ray Perkins and Norman Perkins

Arthur Ray Perkins and his father—Norman Perkins—were long time employees of Table Talk Pies and members of the Table Talk family in the 1950’s-1970’s. Thank you to their family for sharing this photo and their memories!

With a secret spice blend created by two Worcester favorites, Wormtown Brewery and Table Talk Pies pumpkin pie ale is back for fall (Mass Live)

What happens when you dump 30 8-inch pumpkin pies, more than 100 pounds of pumpkin puree and a secret spice recipe into a 30-barrel batch of beer? You get the most Worcester ale ever.

With summer in the rearview mirror, Worcester companies Table Talk Pies and Wormtown Brewery have once again teamed up to release the Table Talk Pumpkin Pie Ale.

Full story

PRESS RELEASE: Table Talk Pies Hosts Ribbon Cutting for New Facility – Armory Street Cold Storage in South Worcester Industrial Park

Worcester (September 12, 2019)— Just recently finished,  “Armory Street Cold Storage,” a new cold storage facility, will be opening Thursday the 12th of September with a private, invite-only ribbon cutting ceremony at 65 Armory Street, Worcester at 4 p.m.   Armory Street Cold Storage is a separate company but is part of  the Table Talk Pies, Inc. family of companies. The new freezer sits adjacent to Table Talk’s 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on Southgate Street.

Table Talk Pies will now have dedicated cold storage space and will be able to store a large portion of their finished goods at this location, enabling the company to streamline their distribution process.  Armory Street Cold Storage is roughly 30,000 square feet of cold storage space, consisting of slightly over 3,100 pallet positions, and six shipping and receiving docks.

“When my grandfather and his partner were making pies at night and delivering them by horse drawn carriage in the morning, I do not think they ever could have imagined this,” said Table Talk President Harry Kokkinis.  “Having this dedicated capacity is an important milestone for our company’s future that would not be possible without our partners—Chacherone Properties, Tippman Innovation, H&M Bay and of course the City of Worcester—particularly Councilor Saria Rivera, Mayor Petty, City Manager Ed Augustus, and Peter Dunn of the Business and Community Development Division.”

The new state-of-the-art freezer will utilize cutting edge technology. Operators can monitor, track, and make changes to the temperature—0 degrees or lower—in real-time through sensors in the warehouse that communicate directly to their mobile devices. They will also have access to safety information and know immediately if an incident occurs in the warehouse.

The brand-new building was constructed by the developer of the project, Chacherone Properties, with Fort Wayne, Indiana-based cold storage builder Tippman Innovation as the general contractor. A key aspect of this project is that it is designed to maximize energy efficiency. The freezer will be managed by H&M Bay, a national leader in LTL transportation logistics and cold storage.

“With the second new building in South Worcester, Table Talk Pies has made a significant contribution and commitment to Worcester and the South Worcester community,” said Jim Chacherone, founder & principle of Chacherone Properties, LLC.  “We are proud to be a part of this expansion and look forward to supporting Table Talk Pies in the years to come.”

“Harry Kokkinis and Jim Chacherone have been great partners,” said Rob Adams, partner of Tippmann Innovation.  “We also had great support from all of the local Worcester contractors that were involved in this project. We are happy to be part of building the state-of-the-art freezer that will support the manufacturing arm of Table Talk Pies.”

“H&M Bay looks forward to solidifying our relationship with Table Talk Pies and we’re excited about our role in Armory Street Cold Storage,” said Walt Messick, III, COO of H&M Bay, Inc.

Table Talk Pies

Founded in 1924, Table Talk Pies is one of the leading full line producers of pies, providing its customers with a wide range of sizes and formats. Headquartered in Worcester, Massachusetts, the skilled bakers bake over 200 million snack pies a year, in addition to the 8” and 10” dessert pies. Always a favorite of every New Englander, pies are now distributed from coast to coast. Table Talk Pies can be found in your local grocery store, convenience store,  or mass merchandiser.

September 2019

Table Talk, along with partners —Chacherone Properties, Tippman Innovation, H&M Bay, and the City of Worcester–celebrate the opening of Armory Street Cold Storage. 9/12/2019

Take a Bite out of Iconic Worcester Food (Pulse)

by Maria Connors

It’s no secret that Worcester is a burgeoning food hub, with an endless list of options for dining on every scale. Included in this myriad are a variety of successful businesses native to the city, all of which have seen their products thrive both locally and outside of their hometown. This month we’ve chosen to highlight four local businesses that have come to be staples in the stomachs of Worcester residents, each with a distinctly different path to success.

Table Talk Pies
If you’re on the hunt for a dessert that can serve one person or a whole table, you may want to pay a visit to Table Talk Pies. Table Talk Pies have graced people’s pantries and tabletops since 1924, when two Greek immigrants who worked in a small bakery started the company. It was the grandfather of Harry
Kokkinis, the current president of Table Talk, who worked with his business partner to bake pies during the night and deliver them during the day until their business finally took off. Table Talk Pies hit some bumps in the road along the way, when the company was sold in 1965. It was run into the ground and officially closed in the mid-1980s. Kokkinis describes how his father finally bought back the building in 1986. He purchased the name and some new equipment and slowly but steadily began to rebuild their family’s company. Kokkinis himself took over the business in 2003, and credits new technology in food science with helping the company continue to succeed. By freezing their pies, Table Talk can ship their product all over the country. Most recently,
Kokkinis discloses excitedly, he found out their pies were sold at a 7/11 in Hawaii. Despite the far distances Table Talk Pies travel,
Kokkinis credits the city of Worcester as a pillar of the company’s success. He claims the city is a “great place to do business”, and that the two things that make their company great are a commitment to quality and “great employees that help achieve that quality.” In 2018, alone the company sold over 200 million 4-inch pies, their best-selling product being their apple pie closely followed by blueberry.
Kokkinis’ favorite? Of the smaller pies, he recommends their lemon pie, but if you’re looking for a pie to share with the table, pumpkin is the way to go.

Full Story

Worcester’s Table Talk Pies wins 8 first-place ribbons at 2019 APC National Pie Championships

Masslive.com by: Michael Bonner April 19, 2019  

In a state that’s celebrated a World Series and a Super Bowl within the last year, Worcester-based Table Talk Pies continued the winning tradition at the 2019 APC Nation Pie Championships earlier this month.

The commercial pie producer took first place in eight divisions over three categories at the national pie championships in Orlando, Florida. Hundreds of pies were judged by 200 judges during the two-day competition.

In the Family Category, Table Talk’s won blue ribbons in the cherry and nut flavors with the Cherry Almond Crunch Table Talk Pie and Pecan Table Talk Pie respectively. read more