Illinois Food Vendors Featured At Department Of Agriculture Tent

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Continuing a tradition of featuring Illinois food vendors in its tent, The Illinois Department of Agriculture has lined up 25 different vendors to discuss their products and hand out free samples at the Department of Agriculture Tent, near the Gate 2/Heartland area at the 2009 Illinois State Fair.

The vendors rotate on different days throughout the fair, Larry Aldag, a marketing representative for the Illinois Department of Agriculture, said. The set-up gives these vendors the opportunity to get their names out to potential customers and, hopefully, a chance to get their items into some local grocery stores.

"It's a great opportunity for the vendors to introduce themselves with consumers," Aldag said. "The goal is for them to get their product into stores on a regular basis."

Vendors cover a wide variety of foods and services, including a bed and breakfast, chili and chili products, different kinds of cheese, and locally-made bar-b-que sauces.

One of the new vendors this year, Java & Co. from Henry, IL, specializes in making different food items out of coffee. Included are five different varieties of syrup, breakfast bars and meat rubs. Jaime Knoll, who along with Brian Knoll is a founder of the company, was grateful for the chance to reach out and interact with potential consumers.

"It's an awesome opportunity to get out in front of the consumers," she said. "It's a great chance to get to talk one-on-one with the consumer and let them know what our company is all about."

The displays are open daily from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. For more information on the Illinois State Fair, please visit our website at www.illinoisstatefair.info. For more releases, audio, video and more, please visit http://www.illinois.gov/ioci/iisfair.cfm.