Fremont's Essential Foods celebrates its tenth year in business this month.

Its key product, the "Essential Sandwich," made its debut in one natural food store in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in June 1988, and is now found in stores throughout Puget Sound, owner Jeff Fairhall said. He is proud that Essential Foods helped fuel the trend toward organically grown food by featuring high-quality, organic ingredients. In ten years, the company has used over 5 million pounds of organic ingredients.

"Our commitment is still about responsible stewardship of the environment by preparing affordable, high-quality natural foods," said Fairhall.

Essential Foods began as a one-man show, with Fairhall, a native Seattleite, making the sandwiches in restaurant kitchens during the early morning hours so he could deliver them on his bicycle to natural foods stores before lunch. The original sandwich kept selling out, so Fairhall expanded his operation after the first week. Now the sandwich is offered at more than 250 grocery stores, hospitals, and cafeterias.