Photo: Fowler’s Milling Co. near Chardon is packed with baking mixes, kitchen utensils and cookware. (Credit: Ken Drenten)

By Ken Drenten

Do you have an item on your grocery list that you can find only at a specific grocery store or market?

I’m not talking about a staple item, but more of a fun food or once-in-a-while snacky indulgence. For me, it’s a certain kind of granola that’s lower in sugar for diabetics. I can find it at Countryside Bulk Foods on Route 40 west of Zanesville and at the Ashery Country Store near Mt. Hope, so it’s not something I bring home very often.

When my family makes our occasional trips to Amish Country in Ohio, we always make a list of special food items we’re craving. We’ll come home with items like diet birch beer from Ashery Country Store, apple butter from Cooper’s Mill (available at Cooper’s Country Market in Bucyrus and at Rittberger’s North Market in Zanesville), Streb’s meat snacks from Streb’s General Store in Berlin, baby Swiss cheese from Pearl Valley Cheese in Fresno, freshly-ground coffee from one of several retailers, and so on.

If you’re like me, much of the fun comes from finding new treats at places I’ve discovered. I’m always looking for good-tasting (and sometimes healthy) food items that are good bargains at smaller Ohio-owned businesses.

What about you? Is there a certain kind of coffee, hot sauce, cheese, barbeque sauce, baking need or spice that you can only find at certain places? Where do you go to find it? Let us know in the comments.

And be sure to visit Dusty Tires (https://dusty-tires.com), where we’ve gathered more than 50 specialized grocery stores, markets and bulk food stores that may have just what you’re looking for.

Listings in Dusty Tires range from massive destinations like North Market in Columbus, Jungle Jim’s in the Cincinnati area and the Arcade in Cleveland to small, family-owned markets scattered across the state.

Ken Drenten is creator and manager of Dusty-Tires.com, a travel blog for out-of-the-ordinary places in Ohio.

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