Gracious Foods Launches Original Creamy Gracious Grits

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct. 1, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — On September 20, 2015, Gracious Foods introduced its first product, Original Creamy Gracious Grits®, to southeastern grocery shoppers. Original Creamy Gracious Grits® is now in the dairy section of almost 700 of Southeastern Grocers’ Winn Dixie, BI-LO, and Harveys stores located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Bill Cissel, owner of Gracious Foods, hopes to eventually have Gracious Grits® in 3,000 stores.

359281 2Original Creamy Gracious Grits® are fully cooked and microwaveable in minutes. The recipe, inspired by Bill’s mother, Judy, has been served in Bill’s restaurants for over 20 years. Bill’s wife, Jamie, suggested that it would be a good, fast, convenient, and versatile product for today’s busy homemakers. According to Cissel, “My mom made the best grits. It takes a long time to make good grits. Today’s moms and dads don’t have that time. Gracious Grits® will make anyone Southern in Seconds™”.

Bill Cissel has been in the food and restaurant industry since 1977. He has owned restaurants in Jacksonville Beach, Florida since 1988. Cissel worked on Original Creamy Gracious Grits® for five years. According to Cissel, “Being a restaurant owner gave me credibility which allowed me into experimental kitchens so I could develop the product.” A chef-born product, Original Creamy Gracious Grits® was test-marketed in seafood stores and small groceries. Sales data was used to scale up production. Once scaled, Bill and Jamie searched for a supplier. The search led them to Darifair, a Jacksonville based company which has a twenty-five year reputation for being the premier provider of high quality dairy products.

Gracious Foods is currently developing additional varieties of Gracious Grits®. Recipes and information about Gracious Grits® can be found at http://graciousgrits.com/ and on Pinterest and Facebook.

About Gracious Foods, LLC: Gracious Foods, LLC was incorporated in the spring of 2011 to develop and produce restaurant-quality food products for grocery store sales. The family owned and operated company is located in Jacksonville, Florida. For more information about Gracious Foods, LLC and Gracious Grits, visit http://graciousgrits.com.