
DATE: Wednesday, November 12, 1997          TAG: 9711120729

SECTION: FLAVOR                  PAGE: F1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ANN WRIGHT, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:  124 lines

PURELY AMERICAN NORFOLK BUSINESS SHIPS GOURMET FOOD MIXES ACROSS THE COUNTRY IT CELEBRATES.

``WE CELEBRATE America,'' says Ray Leard, president and founder of Purely American. ``Sometimes I start with a story to tell and have to create a recipe that fits. For some of the other products, it's the reverse.'' The result is tasty, easy-to-make mixes, packaged and designed to celebrate America's past.

If a good idea accompanied by hard work is a recipe for success, it's no wonder that Purely American is doing so well. The little specialty foods business on W. 35th Street in Norfolk manufactures and ships 60 bean soup, chili, pasta, quickbread and dessert mixes to more than 4,000 gourmet and specialty food shops in all 50 states. Locally, Purely American products are available at Taste Unlimited, Gene Walters and Heavenly Ham. Such prestigious food emporiums as Sutton Place Gourmet in the D.C. area and Dean & DeLuca in New York City carry them as well.

As the weather cools and the gift season approaches, the tempo picks up at Purely American. On a typical November day, a dozen ``food crafters'' weigh out traditional and heirloom beans, whole grains and and several shapes of multicolored pastas. Others add small packets of precisely measured spices. Wrappers hand-tie the cellophane bags with twine, attaching recipe and story about a famous American person, place, food or tradition. Some of the company's best sellers include a miniature bottle of hot sauce or flavored oil.

``They make a perfect gift because they are all hand-crafted and retail for around five dollars,'' Leard says.

``Who's getting the phone? It's rung four times,'' Leard calls out over the pleasant hum of activity. Someone grabs the receiver and an order pad. This isn't a business with a lot of job specialization, and there is no obvious hierarchy. Leard hustles alongside everyone else.

``We define ourselves as the Ben & Jerry's of the bean and pasta business,'' says Leard with a laugh, but behind the joking comparison is a commitment to do good while doing business.

Just as the Vermont ice cream company earmarks some of its proceeds for rain forest preservation, Leard has organized an internal program called Share America, designed to help organizations preserve America's special places.

``Our Georgia Wildlands Peach Basket Stew, for instance, was designed in cooperation with the Wilderness Society to raise money to preserve the southern Appalachians. We sell enough of our Chesapeake Crab Cakes mix to donate $1,000 each year to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Our line of Picnic In The Park pasta salads helps preserve some of America's oldest and most unique city parks.''

``Purely America is designed to celebrate America's positives, the way things used to be in pre-McDonald's America.''

The concept was inspired by Leard's feeling that the American experience is unique. ``Americans continue to be the ultimate pioneers, always wanting to discover the next frontier. We're a traveling, moving, discovering, adventuresome people.''

Those words could also describe Leard, who celebrated America's bicentennial with a cross-country bicycle ride. He's still the ultimate tourist, intent on seeking what's unique and wonderful to every locale.

And regional cooking is his passion.

``I have more than 500 cookbooks, and I often draw on them when creating a new product,'' says Leard.

Leard's lively concoctions exhibit his enthusiasm for food.

He describes Purely American's Christmas at Grandma's Cranberry Bean Soup Mix as ``Christmas dinner in a bowl.'' Leftover turkey and cranberry sauce plus fresh celery, onions and carrots simmers with a mixture of beans and barley. A small bottle of Boglandish Cranberry Hot Sauce, tied to the package, is the final dash of excitement on a holiday gift.

Healthful, nutritious food has interested Leard for a long time. While working toward an MBA in marketing at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, he started an on-campus food co-op that grew to 150 members. ``My dream after grad school was to start a healthy fast-food restaurant.''

Leard first perceived the market for regional foods after he came to Norfolk in 1984 to open The Salad Gourmet at Waterside. It was there that Leard started to package his award-winning French Market 18 Bean Soup. Within three years, Leard became so intrigued with the sideline that he sold the restaurant in order to develop his concept of selling the historic foods of America.

``For a year I worked out of the house in West Ghent. That was 10 years ago, and the business has increased ten-fold since then.''

Plans include a mail-order catalog, exporting and, of course, more fund-raising.

``My ultimate goal is to make the cover of Inc. magazine.''

To accomplish this dream, Leard says that he needs to find the kind of anchor management people who, as at Ben & Jerry's, have a vision of actively participating in creating a unique company.

``Purely American could easily grow three to five times our present size,'' Leard says.

Each soup mix is designed to serve eight to 12 hungry people. The freshness of the spices and the interesting variety of beans, grains and pastas make each soup a culinary adventure.

All the mixes have directions for making with meat or poultry, but several have vegetarian options, such as substituting tofu for meat in chili recipes.

``I love going to food shows and offering samples,'' says Leard. ``Guys who wouldn't dream of touching tofu tell me how good our West Texas Tofu Chili is. I really enjoy telling them it was made with tofu.'' MEMO: Ann Wright is a free-lance writer in Virginia Beach. ILLUSTRATION: NHAT MEYER COLOR PHOTOS/The Virginian-Pilot

ABOVE: Saratoga Springs Rainbow Pasta Salad Mix...

RIGHT: Ray Leard's company...

Photo

NHAT MEYER/The Virginian-Pilot

Ray Leard packages Chisholm Trail Chuckwagon Stew Mix for sale at

specialty food stores.

Graphic

LEARD ON LEGUMES

Always pick over beans to check for small stones. We do that here

because it's easy in mechanical harvesting to scoop up bean-sized

foreign objects.

Soak beans overnight to rehydrate them. To reduce gas, drain the