The History of the Central Farm Markets and

the Secrets of Salami at Meat Crafters

Speakers: Mitch Berliner

and Debra Moser

Sunday, December 8

2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Mitch Berliner and his wife Debra Moser have been instrumental in bringing the best fresh foods to the area with their three outstanding farm markets in the Washington area and their superb locally made charcuterie. Mitch will speak about the Central Farm Markets, and Debra will speak about MeatCrafters.

Mitch, Debra, and Stanley Feder founded MeatCrafters just two years ago. Meat-Crafters is the only USDA Approved facility in the Metro DC area to obtain the license to craft top quality sausages, salamis and other charcuterie. The products are sold through farmers markets and other retailers in the area and around the country. MeatCrafters also works with local farmers to custom make value added products for them. Soon MeatCrafters will launch their Skinny Salamis nationally. Learn about the process of curing meats and have a taste at the same time. www.centralfarmmarkets. com and www.meatcrafters.com

 Mitch Berliner has been a trailblazer and entrepreneur in the food industry for over forty-five years. He has been in the forefront of Washingtonians who have been instrumental in making this area a world-class food market. Today seasonal farm markets and freshly made food-to-go are familiar to most people, but Mitch helped introduce both and started the gourmet-to-go concept fresh out of college in 1971. Expanding into natural and super premium ice creams in 1974, Mitch founded Berliner Foods, introducing people in the mid-

Atlantic to some of their favorite treats: Häagen-Dazs®, Ben & Jerry’s, Dove Bars®, and numerous other high quality and organic frozen products. After Edy’s acquired the business in 1985, Mitch opened Berliner Specialty Distributors and introduced an array of organic and specialty foods. Mitch was a founding partner of Louisiana Express restaurant in Bethesda and has consulted for other restaurants in Washington. He also worked with Costco to develop a mail order fulfillment program for specialty ice creams.

Mitch has served on the Board of Directors of the Jean-Louis Palladin Foundation and he served on the fundraising committees of Share Our Strength, The Washington Capital Area Food Bank in addition to being a member in the Montgomery County Food Council, American Institute of Wine and Food, and Slow Foods. In 2007, Mitch was inducted into the Maryland Food Industry Hall of Fame for his foresight and contribution to the food industry and his longstanding involvement with numerous charitable and civic organizations. He has now gone back to his roots of bringing the best fresh foods to the area with three outstanding farm markets in the Washington area and Meat-Crafters. 

Debra Moser has guided businesses in marketing and strategic positioning. She is the cofounder of MeatCrafters and owner of Central Farm Markets, which was founded in 2008 by Debra and Mitch. On their website, you’ll find their “mission is to provide a professionally managed community venue where customers can purchase high quality, locally grown fresh and prepared food, and to support agricultural innovation, green practices and sustainability.”

She was a co-founder of EDI Consulting, a strategic planning and international business development firm, helping business around the globe with strategic planning and marketing initiatives. She has served as adjunct professor for the Carey School of Business at Johns Hopkins University, MBA Program and as a Capstone Judge there and at The George Washington School of Business for their senior competitions.

Debra combined her passion of art and business and assumed the position of Executive Director of The Metropolitan Center for the Visual Arts in 2004, where she lead a talented team in building a new comprehensive art center in Montgomery County bringing exciting exhibitions, classes and new artists to the area. In 2008 Debra earned a professional certification in pastry from L’Academie de Cuisine.

Currently, Debra splits her time  between MeatCrafters, an artisan meat company producing naturally cured sausages, salamis which she co-founded with her husband and as partner in Central Farm Markets, a community based farm market serving thousands of people each year in the Washington area. She serves on the boards of the Chesapeake Alliance of Sustainable Agriculture – Future Harvest and the American University Entrepreneurship Program. Debra combines her love of photography with her passion for food traveling the world photographing the diversity of people, places, food and chefs.