EDITORS’ PICKS FOR INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS

From Soap to Chocolate

Best known for its popular natural soap, family-owned Dr. Bronner’s, a certified B Corporation, has introduced a line of certified USDA Organic, Fair Trade, vegan, kosher and Non-GMO Verified chocolate. Featuring chunky bites and smooth rich fillings, the line is made with 70% dark chocolate from cocoa beans grown using regenerative organic practices, and sweetened with lower-glycemic coconut sugar. Magic All-One Chocolate is on track to become Regenerative Organic Certified in 2022, by which the company seeks to demonstrate that chocolate can help mitigate climate change and support small-scale farmers globally. Available at retail in Salted Dark Chocolate, Roasted Whole Hazelnuts, Crunchy Hazelnut Butter, Salted Whole Almonds, Salted Almond Butter and Smooth Coconut Praline varieties, the line retails for $5.49 per approximately 3-ounce bar with a 20-month shelf life from the date of manufacture. What’s more, the outer wrapper of Magic All-One Chocolate is made from 100% recycled paper, with a minimum of 80% post-consumer recycled fiber. http://www.drbronner.com

Seafood Made Simple

Bristol Seafood has augmented its retail range with the Bristol Seafood Singles pack for the frozen case. The convenient product features quality seafood, along with chef-crafted compound butter and spices, packed in perforated, easy-peel singles with a QR code connecting the consumer to recipes and sustainability information. Bristol’s line offers center-cut Atlantic salmon portions, with additional SKUs including lemon and pesto butter or ginger and garlic butter. Seafood Singles is produced at Bristol’s facility in Portland, Maine, and shipped frozen. The 20-ounce packs have a suggested retail price range of $14.99-$16.99 each. Among the company’s other retail products are IQF bags of scallops, shrimp, and U.S.-produced line-caught haddock and cod; the My Fish Dish value-added skin pack line in frozen and slack-and-sell; and the recently launched Grab & Go offering. https://bristolseafood.com/

Specialized Smoothies

Seal the Seasons, the first national brand to sell locally grown frozen produce, has now launched a line of Farmer Blends smoothies. The offerings, initially launched in the Carolinas, mix the best locally grown fruits with organically grown tropicals like mango, banana and pineapple. Long a staple for those seeking fast and nutritious options, smoothies have gained in popularity as a result of consumers’ increased awareness of where their food comes from, as well as their desire to stay healthy amid the pandemic. The Farmer Blends line retails for a suggested $9.99 per 32-ounce bag. A Certified B Corporation, Seal the Seasons currently has 65-plus unique local SKUs available, supporting more than 70 farms and operating more than 12 freezing and packing sites across the United States. All of the company’s products are locally grown and locally sold. https://sealtheseasons.com/

Disney for Dogs

Developed by longtime contract manufacturer Phelps Pet Products, Table Scraps is a line of dog treats in packaging adorned with such beloved Disney characters as Pluto, Stitch (of “Lilo and Stitch”), Winnie the Pooh, and Simba (of “The Lion King”). The line also features quality clean-label recipes, four of them meat-first — Sweet Hawaiian Bacon, Roast Beef, Smoked Salmon and Hot Diggity Dog — as well as two USDA Organic Certified varieties, Organic Chicken Tender and Organic Honey Roasted Turkey, and two 100% plant-based options, Vegan Surf-N-Turf and Meatless Meatloaf. Table Scraps retails for a suggested $6.99 per 5-ounce resealable package. www.phelpspet.com; www.tablescrapstreat.com

Pizza Goes Brazilian

Brazi Bites, a Latin-inspired, naturally gluten-free and better-for-you food maker, has now launched Pizza’nadas, an extension of its Empanadas line. Pizza’nadas consist of the same Brazilian cheese bread (pão de queijo) base, made from such clean ingredients as tapioca flour, eggs, cheese and milk, which is then stuffed with fresh mozzarella, uncured pepperoni and tomato sauce for an authentic pizza flavor. The item goes straight from the freezer to an oven or air fryer for a quick snack, appetizer or light meal that’s ready in minutes. Brazi Bites Pizza’nadas have a suggested retail price of $5.99 per 10-ounce pouch. The brand also recently launched a line of single-serve gluten-free Homestyle Breakfast Sandwiches, available at select Target locations. https://brazibites.com/

All Mixed Up

Creator of a vegan version of Australia’s popular chicken salt that was featured on “Shark Tank,” Jada Brands has now introduced a Plant-Based Lightly Seasoned Porkless Mix and a Plant-Based Mediterranean Chick’n Mix, both of which make it easy for home cooks to create their own clean-ingredient meat-free meals. When combined with water and oil, the 100% vegan, soy-free products can be shaped into items like breakfast sausages or meatballs, and then cooked. The Porkless Mix offers the subtly sweet and savory taste of pork, while the Mediterranean Chick’n Mix contains spices like garlic and onion, and is suitable for salads, gyros and falafel. Made from high-quality, functional ingredients like textured wheat protein, pea protein and pea fiber, the dry shelf-stable mixes feature 21 grams of plant-based protein per serving, and are rich in vitamin B12 as well as low in calories — just 125 per serving — and free of preservatives, sugar and cholesterol. A 5.9-ounce box of either mix retails for a suggested $8.99, and foodservice packaging is also available. https://www.jadabrands.com/

Pudding on the Go

Developed by an international team of research and development experts at parent company MOM Group, GoGo squeeZ AlmondBlend Pudding is the latest innovation from the brand of portable snack pouches. The nondairy vegan almond-based line features 5 grams of plant-based protein and 30% less sugar compared with dairy puddings; is a good source of calcium (140 milligrams, or 10% Daily Value); and contains no preservatives or gluten. Available in four varieties — chocolate, banana, cocoa-hazelnut and vanilla — GoGo squeeZ AlmondBlend Pudding has 110 calories per serving. A pack of four 3-ounce BPA-free, shelf-stable pouches of any flavor retail for a suggested $3.79. https://www.gogosqueez.com/; https://www.momgroup.com/

Tea With Purpose

Social impact beverage brand Purpose Tea showcases purple tea, a recently discovered supertea, in various “hint of sweet” and “unsweetened” flavors: Purple Reign, Mint To Be, Watermelon Mint, Blood Orange, Coconut Lime and Simply Purple. Each variety is made from organic purple tea; contains clean, simple ingredients providing antioxidant benefits; and boasts no more than 70 calories per bottle. Providing up to 50% more antioxidant activity than green or black tea leaves, purple tea is grown in Kenya and derived from the common tea leaf, Camellia sinensis. The suggested retail price for a 16-ounce bottle of any flavor is $2.79. Funding raised through the purchase of each Purpose Tea bottle supports Kenyan women tea pickers by providing training and education, scholarships for children, and access to land. https://purposetea.com/