Kurt Beecher Dammeier

A fourth-generation Puget Sound native, Kurt Beecher Dammeier entered the Seattle food scene with the purchase of Pasta & Co, an iconic Seattle gourmet shop for over thirty years. Since that time, he's opened a number of Seattle food concepts under the Sugar Mountain umbrella, including Beecher's Handmade Cheese, Bennett's, Liam's, and Maximus / Minimus, where he serves as CEO and head chef of these businesses. His most recent addition to the Sugar Mountain family is two lines of premium meats: Mishima Reserve, a luxury Wagyu beef brand, and Beecher's Whey Fed Pork. With each endeavor, Kurt's goal is to demonstrate how quality ingredients make for delicious meals without the use of industrial additives like food colorings, flavor enhancers, or preservatives.

Beyond his retail endeavors, Kurt effects change in people's eating habits through his 2007 cookbook, Pure Flavor, and the Beecher's Pure Food Kids Foundation (501c3), founded in 2004. Each year, the Foundation's Pure Food Kids Workshop empowers more than 11,000 fourth and fifth grade students in the Seattle Metro area and in New York City to make healthy food choices for life. The program's mission is to spark curiosity in kids about what they eat, empower them to make healthier choices through label reading, and inspire them with the opportunity to cook and eat a wholesome, delicious meal right in the classroom.