Gourmet News • December 2022

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Product Lines Geared to A ppeal to Men Help Make Gift Shopping for Them Easier

BY A.J. FLICK

Justified or not, there is a percep tion that men are hard to shop for, which has inspired creative prod uct lines geared toward men

“There are complete cat egories of gifts for women for all sorts of occasions,” said Greg Murray, co founder of the aptly named Manly Man Co , “anniver saries, holidays and it’s al most mandator y on Valentine’s Day to give flow ers if not other gifts as well “But we started thinking about it and yes, guys are really tough to shop for We

saw that there was no space in this category for men, ” he said Over at Walton Wood Farm, which specializes in personal care

products, the idea to create prod ucts for men arose naturally after the company produced “girlfriend gifts” that included light hearted stories on the label and whimsical names such as the Year From Hell Rescue Kit

“When we did that, we got a lot of traction,” said founder Leslie Bradford Scott “Both my daugh ters, who weren’t married then, said, ‘Please, make something for men It’s so hard to buy for men ’”

Mother and son Frann and Neil Edley founded Sugar Plum Foods and grew it from a cart selling chocolate covered popcorn and

F&B Industry Must Embrace Digital Transformation

While nobody knows how long inflation will continue or how long it will take economically to rebound, improvements within the food and beverage industry af fecting revenue and profit are too vital to ignore, according to Inter national Data Corporation’s new insight analysis sponsored by Aptean

“F&B organizations need to embrace digital transformation and accelerate their efforts to stay competitive no matter where global business environments may go, ” IDC concludes in its “Global Food and Beverage In dustr y Trends and Strategic In sights, 2022” report by Reid Paquin and Simon Ellis

BY A.J. FLICK

When you think of the word “ su perhero,” kelp doesn’t come to mind, does it? But that’s how Pat Schnettler, co founder of 12 Tides snacks, sees kelp: the “superhero of the ocean ”

Schnettler spent years in the seafood industry, from trawlers to fish farming in Mexico and shrimp farming in Indonesia

“In between, I saw a lot of neg ative parts of the world of the global seafood industry,” he said

“The way seafood is caught and produced in many cases, it’s not being produced in a positive way for the environment ”

His upbringing in a family of conser vationists didn’t prepare him for the pollution and destruc tion of coastlines that he saw the devastating results of over fishing and how microplastics in fected fish and sea salt

Then, four or five years ago, he was introduced to kelp farming

“I saw that as having a much

more positive impact with its in tersection with the oceans, ” he said

“Most people have never eaten kelp,” Schnettler said “Many people have never heard of kelp

“We wanted to introduce it as an ingredient, to make kelp more accessible to consumers We wanted to find something as a snack with a low price point ” Making it a snack made sense

“Global disruptions, such as geopolitical conflicts or natural/environmental events, continue to materially impact manufacturing supply chains, in creasing costs and delays and al tering investment priorities,” the authors write “At the same time, inflation is experiencing record highs, energy prices globally are rising, and the food & beverage (F&B) industr y has been con tending with continually shrink ing margins In addition, competition has never been

Americans Really Like to Eat Chicken, Kerr y Sur vey Says

What’s America eating? Appar ently, a lot of chicken, according to a consumer survey across nine food and beverage categories by Kerry

Of the nine categories chicken, functional and nutri tional beverages, salty snacks, non meat appetizers, sweet dairy, cooking sauces, refreshing bever ages, sweet snacks and meat based appetizers chicken had the most appeal, according to the report

The report asked consumers to rank the categories by which needs they met or didn’t meet and sometimes, what motivated

them or didn’t motivate them to try those categories

Chicken met the most needs and only had one drawback, ac cording to the report

Chicken satisfied cravings, tasted good, was a familiar food, met health/diet/lifestyle needs and was available either at home or on menus

What chicken didn’t do, con sumers said, was tiding them over until the next meal

Kerr y concluded that chicken was deliciously meeting con sumers ’ taste needs, leaving op portunities to satiate them and keep hunger at bay

Ah, sweet dair y Consumers ranked them as you would expect them to They ranked high as a treat, satisfied cravings, gave them something so they could relax and unwind, were great for spending time with friends and family and helped them relive nostalgic moments

Sweet dair y products weren’t readily available, didn’t fit with di etary or lifestyle needs and had no added health and functional ben efits

Kerr y said while sweet dair y delivers enjoyable moments, it’s missing the opportunity to pro vide benefits aligned with con

sumer lifestyles

One of the hottest CPG cate gories has been condiments, which includes cooking sauces In the Kerr y sur vey, consumers said cooking sauces gave them something that tastes good, is fa miliar, fulfills better quality food needs, gives them something new to tr y and lets them personalize food

However, they didn’t satisfy cravings, tide them over to the next meal, give them something to relax and unwind with or give them a treat or energize them

can’t believe that we ’ re already making plans for the Winter Fancy Food Show in Las Vegas Weren’t we just there? That doesn’t give us much time to lose the holiday pounds before we stuff our faces there, does it? Somehow, I’m sure we’ll all make it through But it’s kind of weird that the year is almost over, after the pandemic years that seemed to drag endlessly Sustainability and the environment were big issues in 2022 and will continue to be, of course We feature in this issue a talk with Pat Schnattler, who co founded 12 Tides kelp snacks Pat’s got an interesting story that I’ve been eager to present to you After years in the seafood industry, after seeing so much damage the industry h a

Who’d have thought

in kelp, I never thought I’d be writing something positive about it

As we were planning this issue, I was also thinking about what gifts to buy the men in my life I’m not an enthusiastic shopper I like knowing what I want, finding out where it is, getting it and getting out of there My sister loved to browse and shop around for good offers and it ticked her off when I did my shopping and found whatever it was I wanted just happened to be on sale Sorry, sis

But, really I’ve always found it difficult to shop for guys I started looking around and kept seeing gift collections designed to appeal to men and thought it would make a fun feature Yes, this is being published around the year end holidays, but since there are other occasions where men deserve gifts throughout the year birthdays, anniversaries, Father’s Day, etc this topic is evergreen

It was informative and fun to talk to folks at The Manly Man Co (gotta love that name), Walden Wood Farm, our good friend Jacob at Stonewall Kitchen and Sugar Plum Foods I stashed ideas in the back of my head for possible gifts for my friends I wonder which Yankee Candle scent can cover the smell of a cigar? I took some Damn, Man nuts to a dinner party and my guy friends raved about them (one was already a fan) My nephew would probably love some Gentleman Beard Wash and Balm And a Meat Card that I can order with a customized message? Don’t tempt me with a good time We hope you enjoy the article

It’s only natural that at the end of the year, we reflect on the trends we have seen This year end issue brings you articles on global and American trends and what’s happening in markets in the food and beverage industry

Here at Gourmet News, we also look forward to another year of bringing you news and features on the specialty food industry We hope to see you at an upcoming trade show, too (where did time go again?) Until then, take care and stay safe GN

AJ Flick • Senior Editor

Grocer y Industr y Changes Tactics to Navigate Fluctuating Inflation, Shopper Behavior

Price increases at the shelf may slow next year as a majority of consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers believe price points are “ more important” in today’s marketplace and fewer than 40 per cent of product makers say they plan to in crease their list price in the first half of 2023, according to a report by Advantage Sales, a division of Advantage Solutions

Based on more than 100 responses to a survey of selected Advantage Sales clients and customers, the sur vey found one fourth of manufacturers plan no price in creases and 37 percent are unsure if they’ll take a first half price hike

When list price bump ups occur, a ma jority of retailers (62 percent) say they are passing most of the increase to the shelf,

but still compressing their margins Ver y few (5 percent) say they’re raising retails higher than the increase to enhance their margins

“We’re seeing manufacturers and retail e r s c o n s i d e r i n g a n d i m p l e m e n t i n g n e w t a c t i c s t o c o m b a t t h e e ff e c t s o f i n f l a t i o n o n t h e i r c o s t s a n d o n s h o p p e r s ’ p r i c e s e n sitivity and the negative impact of contin u e d s u p p l y c h a i n c h a l l e n g e s , ” s a i d J i l l B l a n c h a rd , p re s i d e n t , c l i e n t s o l u t i o n s f o r A d v a n t a g e S o l u t i o n s “ I n s o m e a re a s , t h e y ’ re o n t h e s a m e p a g e a n d w o r k i n g t o g e t h e r f o r m u t u a l b e n e f i t B u t t h e re a re a re a s w h e re t h e i r i n d i v i d u a l g o a l s m a y b e a t o d d s w i t h t h o s e o f t h e i r b u s i n e s s p a rt n e r s ”

Manufacturers’ most cited strategies for

navigating inflationary costs in the first half of 2023 are investing in supply chain effi ciencies and enforcing existing payment terms

During the past six months, 6 in 10 sur veyed manufacturers have decreased their trade spending Eight in 10 are planning to reduce trade marketing funds to some de gree in the first half of 2023 and 7 in 10 will cut other marketing spending

To meet the needs of price conscious consumers, retailers are focusing primarily on price points; they report planning to ex pand private brand assortments, increase promotional offerings and consider longer term price reductions Manufacturers’ top strategy is marketing their products as trusted, high quality brands

Nearly 9 in 10 retailers say their assort ments will include more private brands over the next 12 months To compete, man ufacturers say they’ll lean into product in novation, marketing and new packaging architecture

If deflation occurs, most manufacturers will invest in their brands through market ing; half expect to drop savings to the bot tom line to improve their P&Ls Most retailers, though, would consider lowering their everyday price and increasing promo tions

Despite continued investments and op portunities in digital commerce, manufac turers and retailers expect most of their growth to come from brick and mortar sales GN

Forsea Foods to Expand Cultivated Seafood

To Mitigate Devastation of Overfishing

Forsea Foods, Ltd , a FoodTech start up in Israel, is the first company to use organoid technology for culturing seafood products With a goal of redressing the destruction of marine life due to overfishing, Forsea em barked on a mission to cultivate seafood initially eel meat without harming sea life The eel has become an endangered species, while the demand for its meat keeps increasing in markets such as Europe and Asia

Forsea has raised $5 2 million in a seed round led by Berlin based Target Global Also invested in the round were The Kitchen FoodTech Hub, PeakBridge VC, Zora Ven tures, FoodHack and Milk & Honey Ventures The new funding will initially go toward growing cultivated eel meat, high in de mand for kabayaki and sushi Tar get Global’s contribution to this round marks one of its first investments in the FoodTech industry

Founded a year ago with the support of The Kitchen FoodTech Hub, part of The Strauss Group, Forsea is dedicated to pre

serving the fish population by creating a vi able alternative to wild caught seafood and leaving the fragile marine ecosystem com pletely untouched

Forsea utilizes a non GMO organoid platform in which the eel meat is grown ex vivo as a three dimensional tissue structure in the same manner it would grow in a liv

ing It also dramatically reduces the amount of expensive growth factors re quired, making the final product more af fordable Iftach Nachman, co founder of Forsea, developed the organoid technology to solve the bottleneck of the eel meat in dustry

“We are eager to take part in Forsea’s quest to create sustainable, better for you seafood products that do not disrupt the biodiversity of the oceans, ” said Shmuel Chafets, executive chairman and founder of Target Global “Forsea is poised to make a dramatic impact on the seafood ecosystem Its pillar platform solves a bottleneck in the cultivated meat indus try by creating affordable, ethical, culti vated seafood products that can replace vulnerable fish species ”

other fish species

Forsea also will improve and expand its core technology to enable organoid growth in large scale bioreactors, while developing methods to increase production yield and profitability at a lower cost These include perfecting a continuous feeding strategy and nutritional support Recently Forsea ex panded its R&D team and activities to Re hovot, in the heart of Israel’s FoodTech valley

“Depletion of world fisheries is a major threat to our food security,” said Amir Zaid man, chief business officer of The Kitchen Hub “For this reason, we teamed up with Nir and the founding team and backed Forsea from its inception at The Kitchen We are proud to continue our support and to participate in the seed round of Forsea as it continues to attain its goals ”

ing fish

This technology bypasses the scaffolding stage and requires fewer bioreactors, a process that is much simpler and more cost effective than traditional cell cultur

Forsea will inaugurate its pilot plant during 2023 The plant will allow the company to create a preliminary design for a large scale alpha production system and launch the company ’ s first products The startup will invest the newly raised capital to accelerate R&D for both growing eel meat and developing the process for

“We can produce a product identical in flavor, texture, appearance, and nutritional values to real eel,” co founder Roee Nir said “Organoid platform allows us to de sign the fish fillet exactly as it grows in the fish, that is, in a three dimensional struc ture, without growing the fat and muscle tissues separately ” GN

E-Commerce Demand Brings Challenges Never Seen by Chocolate Industr y

The taste and flavor of chocolate matter more than anything else But the new nor mal of online buying has brought new chal lenges in the customer experience that the chocolate industr y never anticipated be fore, according to a new report from Re searchAndMarkets

B r a n d s n e e d t o m a k e s u r e t h a t t h i s f r a g i l e b a r o f c h o c o l a t e s re c e i v e d a t c u s t o m e r s ’ d o o r s t e p s i s i n t a c t , t h e r e p o r t s t a t e s R a p i d c h a n g e s i n c o n s u m e r b u y i n g b e h a v i o r h a v e b e e n re f l e c t e d i n t h e c h o c o

l a t e i n d u s t r y I f c u s t o m e r s w e re g o i n g t o t h e n e a r b y p h y s i c a l s t o re s a n d p i c k e d t h e i r f a v o r i t e c h o c o l a t e b e f o re , n o w t h e y o rd e r t h e c h o c o l a t e s f ro m a n y w h e re i n t h e w o r l d a n d re c e i v e t h e m o n t h e i r d o o r s t e p

“It doesn’t matter what premium quality cocoa you use in your chocolate and the top notch taste and texture you offer unless you deliver chocolate properly and intact,” the report states “It is proven that the de livery and shipping of chocolate also play an essential role in the customer experience

of chocolate brands ”

More than 48 million consumers like to eat chocolates more than other foods, ac cording to the report, which opens enor mous opportunities for chocolate brands to showcase and sell chocolates

Years ago, consumers had limited avail ability of chocolates as they can buy choco lates available only in their region But now, the world has shifted to online shopping, and customers started to order chocolates online from anywhere

“ E v e n t h o u g h t h e re a re h a n d c r a f t e d

a n d m a s s m a r k e t c h o c o l a t e b r a n d s , c u s t o m e r s w o n ’t a l w a y s e a t t h e s a m e c h o c o l a t e s , ” t h e re p o r t s t a t e s “ T h e y c h o o s e s p e c i f i c c h o c o l a t e f o r a p a r t i c u l a r m o m e n t o r o c c a s i o n

“If customers find chocolate has a great t a s t e a n d t e x t u re , c a n b e u s e d a s a s n a c k a n d i s g i f t a b l e , t h e y w i l l p re f e r i t A d d i t i o n a l l y, i f b r a n d s g i v e m o re a t t e n t i o n t o p ro p e r d e l i v e r y, s h i p p i n g a n d p a c k a g e s , m o re c u s t o m e r s w i l l c h o o s e t h o s e b r a n d s o v e r a n d o v e r t h a n o t h e r c h o c o l a t e s i n t h e m a r k e t ” G N

Meal kit company Green Chef and We Don’t Waste, a Denver based food recovery and hunger relief organization, have teamed up to support Denver area commu nity members facing food insecurity Green Chef is the first brand to sponsor all of the food and beverage items at one of We Don’t Waste’s mobile markets As with all We Don’t Waste mobile markets, the Green Chef sponsored market will be open monthly to whoever needs it, and with the help of local volunteers, approximately 200 families can pick from a variety of fresh pro duce, proteins and dairy items, at no cost

“We started the mobile markets in 2019 to better reach the Denver metro’s most un

derserved communities, and we ’ re grateful to our long time partners at Green Chef for providing all of the grocery items for one of those markets each month,” said Arlan Preblud, founder and executive director at We Don’t Waste “One in three Coloradans faces food insecurity, and as the price of groceries continues to increase, more and more families are impacted Through this partnership, we ’ re able to ensure people will receive the nourishing food their fam ilies need ”

“At Green Chef, we are committed to making fresh food and high quality ingre dients accessible to ever yone, ” said Jeff Yorzyk, senior director of sustainability at

Green Chef “We are thankful to We Don’t Waste for partnering in this Community Fresh Market effort to reach more Col oradans in need Our hope is that this farm ers market format not only provides food insecure families with fresh ingredi ents but also empowers them to make nourishing meals at home ”

Green Chef, which operates a production facility in Aurora and has a corporate office in Boulder, sends high quality ingredients and step by step instructions for customers to create meals in the comfort of their own homes

With a focus on helping to alleviate food insecurity, Green Chef has been a partner

of We Don’t Waste since 2015 The incor poration of Green Chef provided food items into the monthly market is an expan sion of this important partnership under the brand’s Beyond the Box social impact program and will provide an increased amount of food to residents in need through 2023

The We Don’t Waste mobile market with produce, proteins, dairy products and more from Green Chef will be hosted each month at one of several locations in the Denver metro area where We Don’t Waste regularly supports the community with mobile markets The partnership is an ex pansion of the seven year partnership GN

Foodser vice Operators Choose Frozen Foods

For

Their Menus to Meet Business Needs

New research finds that more than 90 per cent of foodser vice operators use frozen foods in their menus with the healthcare, convenience store and fast casual categories reporting the greatest increase in use since 2019 Operators report that frozen foods offer solutions to many of the operational challenges they face in light of the ongoing supply chain and labor market disruptions Commissioned by the American Frozen Food Institute and conducted by Tech nomic Inc , the second edition of the “Power of Frozen in Foodservice” research sought to understand operator attitudes and uses of frozen foods Technomic issued qualitative and quantitative surveys among

more than 350 operators from across 10 segments

“Operators face unique and pressing challenges in today’s new foodservice envi ronment and frozen foods are a beneficial resource to address these needs,” said Ali son Bodor, AFFI president and CEO “From ease of preparation to year round availability to reduced food waste, foodser vice operators are recognizing the perform ance advantage of frozen foods ”

Forty percent of foodser vice operators surveyed reported purchasing more frozen foods than they did in 2019, and more than 50 percent indicated they are using as much as before Overall frozen food use in

foodservice is high and a large majority of operators report purchasing frozen vegeta bles (83 percent of operators), potato prod ucts (78 percent) and fruits (76 percent)

The fastest growing frozen products that operators purchased were appetizers (75 percent of operators indicated increased purchases since 2019), seafood (55 per cent) and vegetables (53 percent)

The report also revealed that frozen foods are impactful in managing market challenges facing foodser vice operators Sur vey respondents reported operational efficiencies, supply chain and product availability, and labor as among the top is sues for their businesses

At the same time, operators identified year round availability, longer shelf life, product consistency and ease of prepara tion as some of the key benefits of frozen foods Eighty four percent of operators agreed that frozen foods also produce less waste, which can support sustainability and cost savings

“Costs and labor continue to be the largest challenges for foodservice operators and our research found that frozen foods are recognized as valuable solutions,” said Joe Pawlak, managing principal with Tech nomic “The high penetration of usage and recorded satisfaction indicate that frozen foods play a vital role in foodservice ”

California Table Grape Growers Offer Scholarships

college

There are three types of scholarships of fered for field workers and their families The first is a $14,500 scholarship for graduating sen

transfer to a California university or college The second is a $25,000 scholar ship for graduating seniors who will attend a four year California university or college The third type is a $25,000 scholarship of fered to graduating seniors who will attend

a four year California university or college and are interested in studying agriculture and building a career in the table grape in dustry

Three of each scholarship type are avail able The deadline to apply for all scholar ships is Friday, February 10, at 5 p m Since 1985, California table grape grow

ers have offered scholarships to graduating high school seniors from California’s table grape growing regions

For more information on the scholarship program, send an email to Scholarships@ grapesfromcalifornia com or visit www g r a p e s f ro m c a l i f o r n i a c o m / c o m m u n i t y o utreach GN

Quinn Snacks Achieves Partner HowGood’s Climate Friendly Label for Sustainable Snacks

Sustainable snack brand Quinn has achieved the Climate Friendly product at tribute from its partner HowGood, an in dependent research company with the world’s largest ingredient sustainability database Quinn will begin to roll out the first on pack Climate Friendly label on its snack products in 2023

Products that receive the Climate Friendly attribute have greenhouse gas emissions that are lower than 70 percent of all products assessed by HowGood The new on pack label allows consumers to easily identify products that are more sus tainable

Quinn seeks ingredients that support soil health and reduce carbon emissions, and share that information in its Ingredient Transparency Policy Through its partner ship with HowGood, Quinn is now able to further measure the impact of its ingredi ents and products, including its carbon footprint H o w G o o d ’ s a s s e s s m e n t f o r t h e C l i m a t e F r i e n d l y a t t r i b u t e t a k e s i

i n g s t a g e s o f t h e c a

food comes from and how it’s grown, you make food differently, you make it better

“Regenerative agriculture can drastically reduce emissions and make farms more re silient to the effects of climate change,” she said

“HowGood is a key and trusted partner for our team, facilitating our continued em phasis on regenerative agriculture practices and allowing us to maintain the ingredient transparency our customers look for from us, ” said Grace Dennis, sustainability and sourcing manager

HowGood’s methodology for calculating GHG emissions is developed in accordance with the GHG Protocol Data collection sources include the International Panel on Climate Change 2013 global warming po tential estimates where available and crop specific LCAs, along with other vetted sources

for CO2e across nearly every ingredient in the food system When greater supply sys tem transparency is available, those specifics are integrated into the final carbon footprint analysis

“The Climate Friendly attribute provides consumers with a clear indicator of how sustainable a product is with respect to car bon emissions It’s easy to understand and guides consumers toward more sustainable purchases,” said Christina Lampert, direc tor of growth and innovation at HowGood

“Labels like Quinn’s will empower shop pers to take a critical step in reducing their carbon footprint ”

Quinn snack products featuring the Cli mate Friendly attribute will be reassessed yearly to ensure the company and its prod ucts continue to meet the industry bench marks The new label will begin to appear on packaging in retail stores nationwide in early 2023 and it will be made available im mediately on product pages across Quinn’s website GN

b o

i d e n t i f i e s t h o s e w i t h s i g n i f i c a n t l y l o w e r e m i s s i o n s

“Transparency is a huge priority for us at Quinn Snacks,” said Kristy Lewis, Quinn founder “When you know where your

Once the data is collected and analyzed, HowGood conducts a proprietary process of mapping each ingredient to its source crop, animal or mineral Using global im port/export data, HowGood then maps each source crop to its corresponding geo graphic location to create a unique level of granularity that accounts for specific on the ground practices, impacts, and risks in each locale

Through this process, HowGood has de veloped industr y average impact profiles

Mexican f l av o r s

Continue to Spice Up New Products

BY A.J. FLICK

South of the border tastes continue to drive new product innovation, but I have to admit I never saw pumpkin spice tortillas coming I suppose it was inevitable, though Churro continues to be a popular trend, which I’m all for I’m waiting for CPGs to discover how great cinnamon is in savory Mexican dishes, not just churros

Mama Lupe’s has launched a Flavor Pack line of sweet and savor y flour tortillas in chocolate, churro, pumpkin spice, ranch, BBQ and Buffalo spice The tortillas landed on Walmart shelves in November

The Flavor Pack follows the recent launches of one of the industry’s first zero net carb flour tortillas and low carb whole wheat flour tortillas from Mama Lupe’s Mama Lupe’s suggests folding the choco late tortillas in a cup, baking it, filling it with ice cream and topping it with choco late sauce for a dessert The Buffalo spice tortilla with a protein and hot sauce makes a great fajita or quesadilla, they say Not sure what I’d do with a pumpkin spice tortilla

From Old El Paso, snackers can enjoy Fi esta Twists, corn twists in three flavors: Queso, Zesty Ranch and Cinnamon Churro This is Old El Paso’s entry into the

across social media, White will also make an exclusive appearance at a sampling event in January at a Northwest Arkansas Walmart location

“I grew up eating Old El Paso for taco night so it’s a dream come true to help them introduce the new Fiesta Twists,” White said

Following con sumer research and testing, Old El Paso chose the twist shape as it delivers on key snack principles of crispy and crunchy textures with flavor inspired by South western cuisine

snack category and chip aisle

To celebrate the launch, Old El Paso teamed up with Olympic legend and twist aficionado Shaun White In addition to generating awareness for the product

Let’s not forget the Mexican influence in spirits From the global spirits team Casa Lumbre and the Chihuahuan Desert comes Nocheluna Sotol, distilled from the sotol (Dasylirion) plant native to that less familiar region and offers something different than tequila and mezcal Sotol thrives in the unforgiving desert heat in dr y days and cool nights, leading to a liquid with a lay ered taste profile a smooth blend of wild herbs, dried stone fruit, caramel, honey, minerality and oak firewood made possible by the desert terroir and expert craft blenders

Nocheluna Sotol was born out of a part nership of a team of local experts and

Iván Saldaña

They leveraged traditional hand har vesting tech niques and utilized little to no heavy machiner y to bring sustainability to the forefront through respon sible plant cultivation just as Casa Lumbre once pioneered in Mezcal Nocheluna exclusively sources sotol from ranches that are environmentally super vised and managed by local authorities and in vests in growing the over all sotol populations through responsible plant cultivation in existing and new ranches These new sotol plantations will sur pass 850,000 plants this year

“Nocheluna Sotol re flects our dedication to promoting the diversity of Mexico to the world beyond tequila or mezcal and be yond our countr y ’ s most visited places,” Saldaña said “We are proud to craft with partners who have already done extraordi nar y work to raise the profile, awareness and education of this distillate category and extraordinary region ”

Musician, actor and designer Lenny Kravitz is a partner

“As an artist myself, I respect the journey and am inspired by every intricate step of how this team crafts Nocheluna Sotol I ap preciate how this spirit stays true to the tra ditional ways of making sotol, exemplifying a true understanding of this familial craft,” he said

Nocheluna Sotol is available in Mexico and in various cities in the United States at the suggested retail price of $79 99 (Texas,

California, New York, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois and New Mexico) with nationwide and select international expan sion and distribution by year end

Good Foods’ new Grab & Go Packs have a Mexican flair, too, with the launch of its Chunky Guacamole and Plant Based Queso Dip in single ser ve packaging (MSRP $3 99) The packs feature fresh dips paired with corn tortilla chips and are sold at select Sprouts Farmers Market locations and online

The Grab & Go products are available in single ser ve 2 5 ounce packs and made using high pressure processing technology for flavor and freshness Both varieties are Non GMO Project Verified, vegan, gluten free and contain 180 calories or fewer

The Grab & Go varieties address in creased consumer interest in convenient snacks, without sacrificing flavor and fresh ness, the company said According to a re cent study from Mintel, nearly 8 in 10 snackers prefer ready to eat snacks versus those requiring preparation

“Consumers are becoming more active as they get back to their busy routines and as a result are seeking easy snacking options that taste great and are better for them,” said Danyel O’Connor, executive vice pres ident of sales and marketing at Good Foods “We’re introducing these new Grab & Go snack packs to meet those needs and help them stay fueled throughout their day ”

Among other new products is an expansion of Dr Praeger’s Sensible Foods Perfect Chick’n line with Chick’n Tenders, General Tso’s Chick’n and Perfect Nashville Hot

champions: fourth generation master vinatero Don “Lalo” Eduardo Arrieta, renowned sotol educator Ricardo Pico, and chief innovation officer and partner

Chick’n, which are vegan, Non GMO Project Verified plant based pro tein

Among all plant pro tein buyers, Dr Praeger’s Perfect Chick’n Nuggets and Perfect General Tso’s Chick’n were the most preferred item compared to similar products from competing plant based frozen food brands The brand also ranked high est for nutrition out of all brands in the plant based space

The new line of Perfect Chick’n products is hitting shelves at retail ers nationwide including Publix, Shoprite, Giant Company, Key Foods, Meijer, Weg mans and Foodtown

Panera Bread has launched a suite of ele vated packaging for its line of grocery prod ucts, along with the several additions to its portfolio Panera offers a diverse range of grocery products, including bakery cafe fa vorites across categories including refriger ated soup, refrigerated mac and cheese, refrigerated dressing, artisan bread, sliced bread and bagels

Panera’s new packaging for its grocer y products features updated Panera brand el ements and a more prominent logo, the use of Panera’s iconic green to help shoppers identify and find the brand, as well as up dated photography that communicates the quality and craveability of the products The packaging, designed by LAM Design, and signature Panera products at grocer y are featured in the retail brand’s fall cam paign developed and executed by Advan tage United Commerce The campaign, “Pairs Well With,” was designed to place Panera grocer y items at the center of im portant family moments

Panera’s line of grocer y products has strategically expanded both nationally and in select regional markets over the past year to include Italian Wedding Soup, Chipotle Ranch Dressing and Wildflower Honey Mustard Dressing, Garlic Demi Baguette, Bagels (Plain, Ever ything and Cinnamon Swirl), English Muffins, Refrigerated Bowls (Chicken Caprese, Tuscan Style Chicken and Lemon Chicken Primavera), and Arti san Cheese Crisps (Parmesan, Everything and Tomato Basil)

“Our mission for Panera’s CPG business is to make craveable Panera prod ucts easily accessible wherever consumers shop for groceries,” said Zach Soolman, Panera’s VP and general manager of CPG “Our new look and feel and ex citing product innovations are sure to delight our consumers who can now stock chef crafted Panera favorites at home, ready to enjoy whenever they want, for any occasion ”

The end of year holidays always bring some festive bar flavors for the season

From Kentucky, Chicken Cock Whiskey has released Chicken Cock Chanticleer, a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey fin

ished in fine French Co gnac barrels Bottled in a P r o h i b i t i o n era replica a p o t h e c a r y style bottle at 112 proof (56 percent ABV), the second edition holi day release features a mash bill of 70 percent corn, 21 per cent rye and 9 percent malted barley

Chanticleer is sealed in a collectible com memorative tin, similar to what was used during Prohibition to smuggle Chicken Cock Whiskey over the border to American drinkers This special release celebrates the long time French American friendship dat ing back to the 1700s during the American Revolutionar y War Kentucky’s Bourbon County was named after the royal French family, the Bourbons Paris, Ky , where Chicken Cock was founded in 1856, was named after the famed French city Master distiller Gregg Snyder hand se lected each barrel to perfectly marry the fla vor of bourbon and cognac Only 32 barrels of Chanticleer were produced

Chicken Cock Chanticleer is available in limited quantities nationally online for the suggested retail price of $499 per 750ml bottle

San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing Company continues its long tradition of releasing its annual Christmas Ale, which is considered one of the craft beer industr y ’ s first hype beers and a ground breaking brew that de fined Anchor’s foundational role in the craft beer movement Each year, Anchor’s brew masters craft a new secret recipe and bottle the limited edition ale with a different fes tive hand drawn tree label

A portion of all sales benefit One Tree Planted, a non profit dedicated to global re forestation, planting millions of trees across 43 countries

The 48th annual Christmas Ale show cases notes of orange, honeysuckle, toasted malts and eucalyptus, according to Anchor Well structured with botanicals and pleas antly herbaceous hops, this r ye for ward brew finishes with a touch of spice like the

warming bitter sweet notes of Amaro, an Italian herbal liqueur often enjoyed as an after dinner digestif

The 7 2 percent ale pairs well with hearty winter fare such as roasted achiote chicken with mole or a sweet treat like chocolate bundt cake Recently retired brewmaster Tom Riley drove the creative direction for the spiced red rye ale as the grand finale to his 38 year tenure at the iconic brewery

This year ’ s hand drawn label fea tures a blue gum eucalyptus tree, a nod to Mar y Ellen Pleasant a 19th centur y San Fran cisco entrepreneur, financier, abolition ist and civil rights activist Pleasant, who is recognized as the “Mother of Civil Rights in California” for her impact during gold rush San Francisco, planted blue gum eucalyptus trees outside her Pacific Heights mansion shortly before her death in 1904 In 1974, the city of San Francisco designated the trees a Structure of Merit, recognizing them and their ac companying honorar y plaque as Mar y Ellen Pleasant Memorial Park

Available through January, Christmas Ale is offered in 12 ounce bottles; signature, gold foiled 50 7 ounce magnums; and on draught at bars and restaurants across the country

Another San Francisco company of a differ ent sort has entered the $260 billion bever age alcohol market The Ever y Co has launched what it says is the world’s first protein boosted hard juice in partnership with Pulp Culture and BioBrew from ZX Ventures, AB InBev’s global investment and innovation group

“With our growing portfolio of animal free proteins, we ’ ve demonstrated versatil ity across a range of applications including cold pressed juice, baked goods such as macarons and now the world’s first protein boosted hard juice,” said Arturo Elizondo, CEO and co founder of Every “This launch further proves Every Protein’s capacity to unlock never before seen or tasted innova tions It’s exciting to continue unveiling new categories for food and beverage brands delivering the bullseye of what today’s consumers want ”

Build by Pulp Culture+ is a h y p e r f u n c t i o n a l

Full Spectrum bev erage enhanced by probiotics, adapto gens, source veri fied super fruits and superfoods, and animal free Ever y Protein

Until now, protein addition was be yond reach for Pulp Culture’s for mulators, who pre viously struggled to identify a pro

tein that possessed the solubility, texture and neutral taste profile suitable for their premium live culture beverages

Ever y ’ s move into the booming better beverage space comes on the heels of a massive production milestone for its Every Protein, achieved in partnership with Bio

Brew Ever y and BioBrew operationalized their partnership in 2021, and in August saw the first major step up to large scale fermentation through the strategic alliance The milestone is a bellwether for Ever y ’ s mission to democratize protein delivery

“From day one, we set out to do two things: One, make animal free proteins ac cessible to everyone everywhere, and two, do it in a way that captures the imagination and taste buds of people with new kinds of foods that the world has never seen, ” Eli zondo said “These latest accomplishments in the commercial and scaling realms are proof that we ’ re making big strides on that journey ”

The Pulp X Every super beverage is avail able to national audiences online, with re tail rollout to follow

And now for a little better for you dessert Vegan chocolate brand Hu has launched its first chocolate range made with dairy in the United States In keeping with the brand’s clean label, premium positioning, this range is made with milk from grass fed cows

The range also avoids refined sugar, sugar alcohols, soy, gluten, palm oil, lecithins, emulsifiers and artificial sweeten ers Instead, these chocolate bars are for mulated with just four ingredients including coconut sugar, cacao, cocoa but ter and milk All of the ingredients are cer tified organic and the cocoa is Fairtrade

Hu was bought by Mondelēz in 2021 through the chocolate major’s SnackFu tures business unit, which has focused on building Mondelēz ’ s portfolio with better for you and indulgence brands At that point, Hu’s product range consisted of vegan chocolate

By adding a dair y based option, Mon delēz is looking to expand Hu’s consumer base while also staying true to the brand’s clean label positioning, with the use of milk from grass fed cows This means that the milk is from cows that are completely forage fed, and in Hu’s case, organic

The use of this milk is a bit of a rarity in the chocolate industr y, according to the company The only other chocolate brand highlighting the use of grass fed milk in the United States is Alter Eco, which promotes the sustainability credentials of using this type of milk as opposed to clean label GN

Consumer Thirst for Bottled Water Stronger

Than Ever, National Harris Poll Sur vey Finds

Almost 9 in 10 Americans (88 percent) say they have a positive opinion of bottled water as a beverage choice, according to a new national sur vey of more than 2,000 U S adults aged 18 and older conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of the International Bottled Water Association

More than 4 in 5 Americans (83 percent) say water (any type, from any source) is among their most preferred beverage, and bottled water (still and/or sparkling, unfla vored and/or flavored) is among their most preferred non alcoholic beverages at 65 percent, compared to coffee at 63 percent and soft drinks (regular and/or diet) at 58 percent

Just over 9 in 10 Americans (91 percent) say bottled water should be available wher ever other drinks are sold (unchanged from 2019 survey) Of the bottled water drinkers who have a packaging preference (83 per cent), more than 7 out of 10 (73 percent) prefer bottled water packaged in plastic bottles (16 percent said glass, 6 percent said metal cans and 4 percent said paper cartons or box)

If plain bottled water is not available, 70 percent of those who identify bottled water as among their most preferred beverages said they would choose another packaged drink: soda (22 percent), sparkling or sweetened or flavored bottled water (10 percent), sports drink (8 percent), tea (7 percent), coffee (6 percent), juice/fruit drinks (5 percent), functional water (5 per cent), bottled tea (4 percent) or energy drink (3 percent)

Among the remaining 30 percent, a third (10 percent) would drink from a water cooler, either using a refillable cup (5 per cent) or disposable cup (5 percent) Ten percent would drink filtered tap water, 6 percent would drink unfiltered tap water, while 4 percent would drink from a public water fountain (down from 7 percent in 2019)

Eighty eight percent of Americans say they have a positive opinion of bottled water (46 percent had “ very positive” and 42 percent saying “somewhat positive”) Only 12 percent of people say they had a

negative opinion of bottled water (10 per cent had “somewhat negative” and 2 per cent “ very negative”)

This positive sentiment is up in 2022 compared to the 2019 survey when 84 per cent had a positive opinion of bottled water (41 percent “ very positive” and 43 percent “somewhat positive”) And negative senti ment is down: 16 percent had a negative opinion (11 percent “somewhat” and 4 per cent “ very negative”) in 2019

Ninety six percent of Americans have purchased bottled water This aligns with news that bottled water continues to be America’s No 1 beverage, outselling soda (by volume) for the seventh year in a row in 2022, according to the Beverage Market ing Corporation

Seventy two per cent of Americans drink both bottled water and tap or fil tered water Nearly 1 in 5 (19 percent)

drink only bottled water, while 8 per cent drink only tap or filtered water One percent say they don’t drink water at all

Questions concerning consumer knowl edge about recycling, bottled water con tainers, and their impact on the environment found:

• “It’s important to recycle all recyclable consumer packaging ” 90 percent of Amer icans agree with this statement

• “Making products from recycled mate rial is better for the environment than using virgin (new) material ” 89 percent of Amer icans agree

• “Plastic is a valuable resource because it can be recycled over and over again ” 78 percent of Americans agree

• “I am more likely to buy a product packaged in recycled content over one that is not ” 72 percent of Americans agree with this statement

• “Plastic drink containers are more en

vironmentally friendly compared to all other packaging types (e g , aluminum, car tons, glass) ” 61 percent of Americans agree

When it comes to who should be prima rily responsible for recycling water bottles, nearly 2 in 3 Americans (64 percent) be lieve it should be consumers, 58 percent say companies that make or sell bottled water and 47 percent say the government (41 percent say local or state and 26 per cent say federal) (Numbers do not equal 100 because respondents were able to choose more than one answer )

“People are increasingly choosing bever

Americans say they at least sometimes drink bottled water while they travel, 84 percent of employed Americans drink it at work and 81 percent of all Americans drink it at home (a 5 percent increase from 76 percent in 2019), while 77 percent drink it at social events where other drinks are ser ved (up 7 percent from 70 percent in 2019) In addition, 74 percent drink bot tled water when shopping and on the go, 73 percent drink it at sports and entertain ment venues and 67 percent consume bot tled water at the gym or when exercising

Bottled water drinkers find many factors important when choosing a beverage, but taste (96 percent), quality (96 percent) and safety (90 percent) top the list Bottled water drinkers also say that features like ready to enjoy (79 percent), convenient packaging when on the go (81 percent) and re sealable containers (77 percent) are im portant to them when choosing a beverage Sixty five percent of bottled water drinkers say low calories are important when choos ing a beverage, while 68 percent say the lack of artificial sweeteners is important

ages with fewer calories, so they are shift ing away from less healthy packaged drinks and are choosing the healthiest option bottled water,” said Jill Culora, IBWA’s vice president of communications “People who make this switch are also helping the envi ronment because not only are bottled water containers 100 percent recyclable (includ ing the cap) but they also contain much less plastic than soda and other packaged beverages ”

Bottled water containers, on average, use 59 percent less PET plastic than other packaged beverages (9 89 grams vs 23 9 grams for 16 9 ounce containers) Soft drinks and other sugar y beverages need thicker plastic containers due to their car bonation and/or bottling processes According to the sur vey, 86 percent of

Bottled water containers are 100 percent recyclable even the caps And bottled water is the most recognized and recycled PET plastic container in curbside recycling systems In fact, bottled water containers make up approximately 49 percent (by count) of all PET plastic collected in curb side systems throughout the United States Soda bottles make up only 18 percent of the PET plastic collected in curbside pro grams, according to the National Associa tion for PET Container Resources’ 2018 Postconsumer PET Bottle Bale Composi tion Analysis

The 2022 survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of International Bottled Water Association from Sept 19 21 among 2,057 U S adults ages 18 and older, among whom 1,362 are bottled water drinkers (still or sparkling) The 2019 sur vey was con ducted online from Nov 12 14, 2019, among 2,071 U S adults ages 18 and older, among whom 1,344 are bottled water drinks (still or sparkling) GN

Press Coffee, Sprouts Farmers Market Announce

mitment from the Sprouts team to provid ing a quality experience for the customer makes it a perfect fit for Press and our ‘Quality Driven, Community Focused ef fort ’”

The new space will feature a

menu including spe cialty

cold brew coffee, shakers, hot and iced tea and nitro bold brew

“Growing up in Arizona, I have always been a Sprouts customer,” said Jason Kyle, co owner of Press Coffee “Seeing the com

The leadership and team at Press create welcoming spaces where the community can gather The new concept contributes to the love the team has for the community, establishing a place where neighbors come together and working alongside Sprouts, another community based business

“Choosing to partner with the Arizona based Press Coffee was an easy decision,”

Roasting, brewing and serving specialty coffee is the foundation of Press Coffee Rare and unique beans are sourced from coffee farmers worldwide and roasted at Press’s roastery in Phoenix

Sprouts, headquartered in Phoenix and one of the fastest growing specialty retail ers of fresh, natural and organic food in the country, is celebrating its 20th anniversary

this year providing fresh and nutritious food options to residents to cultivate a healthier lifestyle

This Press coffee bar at Sprouts will be open daily from 7 a m to 4 p m

In addition, the pilot location will offer a limited supply of the regular in store re tail items including whole and ground cof fee beans Press also offers monthly coffee bean subscriptions shipping locally and throughout the United States with sub scribers receiving the option to buy the quarterly Allocation release a high end limited supply specialty coffee, first GN

Phoenix based businesses Press Coffee and Sprouts Farmers Market have announced a pilot of the first locally owned Press Coffee location inside of a Sprouts store This Press location will act as a convenient stop on any person ’ s weekly shopping trip inside the Phoenix Sprouts store

workspace area and full drink

drip and

said Dave McGlinchey, chief strategy officer of Sprouts “Press and Sprouts have a shared mission of providing people fresh, quality, sustainable and ethically sourced specialty products ”

The drip bag coffee market is still in the nascent stage, with the majority of the play ers engaged in the business operating at small and medium levels, according to a re port from Straits Research “ T h i s s u b s e q u e n t l y g i v e s t h e g l o b a l market an oligopolistic nature,” according t o t h e re p o r t “ B e s i d e s , a s t h e s e p l a y e r s a re f o c u s i n g o n e x p a n d i n g t h e i r b u s i n e s s re a c h , t h e y a re e x p l o r i n g a n d a d o p t i n g n o v e l m o d e l s o f d i s t r i b u t i o n a n d s a l e s n e t w o r k s t h a t c a n s t re n g t h e n m i c ro e n t e r p r i s e s a n d e x p a n d e c o n o m i c o p p o rt u n i t i e s a c ro s s b o t h t h e d o m e s t i c a n d o v e r s e a s m a r k e t s

“To achieve the same, they are engaging and providing ser vices to its customers through online platforms in efforts to maintain a long term relationship with its current customers and further expand its customer base This approach for business expansion is anticipated to add to the growth of the online retail segment during the forecast period ”

The online segment has also seen signif icant growth in the demand for drip bag coffee in the last few years, the report states The online channel is bound to in crease during the forecast years, owing to the rising influence of digital media and marketing and the fact that it gives con

sumers plenty of options to choose from

However, the store based retail such as the hypermarkets, supermarkets, and other convenience stores will have the edge over online stores as one can walk down to a store rather than awaiting the arrival of an online delivery package, according to the report

The drip bag coffee market was growing at a rapid rate before January 2020 The de mand for drip bag coffee observed a surge in demand in the past few years as it is eas ier to pour, cheaper and convenient

C o n s u m e r s a c ro s s t h e g l o b e a re a d o p t i n g d r i p b a g c o ff e e d u e t o f l o u r i s h i n g e c o m m e rc e g l o b a l l y, t h e re p o rt s t a t e s T h e C O V I D 1 9 p a n d e m i c h a s e m e rg e d a s a d r a m a t i c p u b l i c h e a l t h c r i s i s w i t h s i g n i f i c a n t i m p a c t s o n e c o n o m i e s a ro u n d t h e w o r l d T h e s p re a d o f t h e v i r u s re p re s e n t s u n p re c e d e n t e d e c o n o m i c s h o c k , a s t h e g l o b a l d e m a n d a n d s u p p l y a re p r i m a r i l y d i s r u p t e d a c ro s s v a r i o u s s e c t o r s I t h a s c a s t u n c e r t a i n t i e s f o r s e v e r a l i n d u s t r i e s w o r l d w i d e

“The COVID 19 pandemic is expected to have a profound effect on the global drip bag coffee industr y, including consump tion, production and international trade,” according to the report “Reduced house hold income can translate into lower de

mand for coffee in terms of volume

“Furthermore, the price sensitive con sumers are slated to substitute higher value coffee by lower value blends, further im pacting the market growth Various social distancing norms and severe lockdowns in multiple nations have significantly influ enced the global economic growth ”

Straits Research expects a 1 percent de cline in the GDP growth to reduce the growth of the global demand for coffee by 1 6 million 60 kg bags In addition, the re duced out of home consumption and shut down of the hospitality sector are other significant factors to limit the revenue po tential

Despite steady overall growth in the in dustr y, coffee prices have experienced a continued downward trend since 2016, ac cording to the report, dropping 30 percent below the average of the last 10 years Con sequently, lowering the revenue of the key players present in the market However, the data of retail and supermarket suggest in creased demand in some countries due to panic buying and stockpiling

The drip bag coffee market is predicted to take an upward swing in the next five years as the coffee industr y continues to grow in the post COVID era, the report states Despite the current volatility, the

long term outlook for drip bag coffee is predicted to be positive

“ A l t h o u g h t h e p a n d e m i c h a s h i t m o s t o f t h e s e c t o r s , t h e c o f f e e s e c t o r i s p ro j e c t e d t o h a v e a m o re c o n s i d e r a b l e i m p a c t , ” a c c o rd i n g t o t h e re p o rt “ H o w e v e r, t h e v a r i o u s c o ff e e p ro d u c e r s a n d p l a y e r s i n v o l v e d i n t h e H O R E C A s e c t o r, p a rt i c u l a r l y o f t h e d e v e l o p e d n a t i o n s , a re t e m p o r a r i l y s u r v i v i n g o n g o v e r n m e n t g r a n t s a n d b u s i n e s s l o a n s

“Coronavirus is projected to present crit ical short term concerns due to lower pro duction and disrupted supply chains A growing number of savvy customers and a rise in the demand for a more diverse blend will influence the market ”

With a growing number of card pay ments, only cafes and cashless transaction systems will boost the market in the com ing future, according to the report 5G will increase the scope of customization, faster delivery options, and IoT integration

“ T h e l o n g t e r m f u t u re o f t h e d r i p b a g c o f f e e m a r k e t i s e x p e c t e d t o p ro p e l t h e c a u s e o f t h e c o n s u m e r s ’ b u rg e o n i n g d e m a n d f o r t h e r i c h c o ff e e e x p e r i e n c e T h e d i g i t a l t e c h n o l o g y i s e x p e c t e d t o p l a y a p i v o t a l ro l e i n d e v i s i n g n e w s e r v i n g w a y s i n t h e n e x t f i v e y e a r s , ” t h e re p o r t c o n c l u d e s G N

Melodea Plastic-Free Packaging Solution Debuts

Israel based, green tech startup Melodea, Ltd , producer of sustainable barrier coat ings for packaging, is expanding its eco friendly solution to the U S market The move supports increased production capac ity of its novel, plastic free, plant based barrier coatings to ser ve the burgeoning U S and South American markets Melodea showcased its portfolio of products at the PackExpo exhibition in Chicago

Plastic remains one of the greatest strains on the ecology and climate, according to Melodea Of the millions of tons of plastic waste generated each year, single use plas tic packaging is the worst culprit

Melodea produces barrier coating mate rial sourced from wood pulp, a sidestream of the paper making industr y Its innova tive green solution is helping food, bever age and consumer goods packagers sever unwanted ties with plastic Plastic has long been necessary to maintain food freshness, acting as a barrier to prevent unwanted transmission of oxygen, water, oil or grease into the products

Melodea developed a formula derived from cellulose nanocrystals that can with stand high humidity and protects packed products from oxygen, water, oil and grease This sturdy but lightweight plant

material offers an alternative to plastic and aluminum for maintaining the quality and integrity of packaged foods

As a forestr y byproduct, it also is biodegradable, fully recyclable and non toxic to people or the environment The award winning material is being used for the manufacture of paper based pouches, lids, molded pulp trays and more

In line with increasing demand from the U S market, Melodea will operate a toll manufacturing plant in the United States, which will allow for the cost effective pro duction, shipping and easier logistics of its two leading products: MelOx, which pro tects packaged products from oxygen, oil and grease transmission; and VBcoat, which counteracts the transmission of water, oil and grease All of Melodea’s bar rier coatings are in compliance with FDA regulations for food packaging

“CNC from naturally abundant and re newable cellulose is emerging as one of the most promising green solutions to help re place environmentally harmful materials,” said Shaul Lapidot, CEO and co founder of Melodea “The new plant, combined with our newly established ties in the U S , can potentially triple our manufacturing capac ity to meet amplified demands It also will

shorten the travel and subsequent carbon footprint by bringing production closer to our main markets in South America and the U S ”

Melodea recently forged a new commercial deal with a major manufacturer of plant based fiber solutions in its mission to elimi nate single use plastics The company will produce and market various packaging prod ucts infused with Melodea’s VBcoat moisture barrier The first product to be rolled out is an eco friendly, high performing molded pulp tray for leafy greens designed to replace existing plastic based formats

Melodea estimates it will be ready to start shipping locally from the U S site within the next three to six months as it initiates production of its novel barrier coatings with a local U S partner The new pipeline will ser ve its North American clients (in cluding leading food and consumer goods companies) and further expand its client network

The global nanocellulose market is worth approximately $346 million and is projected to grow to $963 million by 2026 Driven by consumers ’ demands for eco supportive packaging solutions, nanocellulose is gain ing traction among retailers differentiating themselves by decreasing the impact of their

products on the environment

North America boasts the highest market share of the global flexible packaging mar ket, with some of the largest international market players in the field of paper based packaging headquartered there

Melodea has so far raised a total of $20 million in capital The company was founded as a spinoff project initiated at the Hebrew university of Jerusalem in 2010 in Israel by Lapidot together with Tord Andres, an expert from the composites world, and Oded Shoseyov Ph D , a renowned expert in Nano materials and plant biotechnology who sits on the Melodea advisory board

Melodea’s technology is protected by 14 patents and was a winner of the Packaging Europe 2019 sustainability award

“CNC is the ideal environmentally sound solution, delivering high performance ‘clean and green ’ paper based packaging products,” said Zvika Weiss, CFO “Our CNC is sustainably produced, recycling about 95 percent of the materials in the process, and its superior performance has been verified by academic research CNC has great potential to turn the tide on the cascade of negative impacts from plastic pollution that have been a pressing envi ronmental issue for too long ” GN

Laird Superfood to Shutter Oregon Facility

Laird Superfood, Inc has entered into a co packer agreement to outsource the manufac turing of its powdered creamers and hydration products As a result, the company will be winding down its manufacturing op erations in Sisters, Ore , by the end of 2022

“This strategic pivot to an outsourced manufacturing model will significantly im prove our financial profile by reducing

fixed overhead and simplifying our busi ness, enabling us to focus on maximizing our commercial growth potential,” said Jason Vieth, president and chief executive officer “Increasing gross margin is a strate gic imperative for Laird Superfood and this is an important step towards our commit ted long term target of 35 percent

“While we ’ ve made considerable progress

on commercial and operational initiatives over the past several quarters, ongoing chal lenges in the macro environment make the shift to third party manufacturing an essen tial move in order to be more responsive to our customer demand while fully aligning our cost structure with the current state of the business,” Vieth said “We are grateful for the support of the

Sisters, Ore , community and our dedicated employees who have helped to build the Laird Superfood brand Discontinuing our manufacturing operations was an ex tremely difficult decision We are deeply committed to supporting our employees during this transition and will provide all affected team members with severance and outplacement services ” GN

Nut Industr y Leaders Advance 2030 Goals

Covering Health, Hunger, Nutrition Needs

As legislators and business leaders resolve to close the hunger gap, the Peanut and Tree Nut Processors Association is focusing on how the multifaceted nut industr y aligns with the 2030 nutrition and food safety goals recently proposed at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health

PTNPA includes executive owners and operators of companies that shell, process, salt and/or roast peanuts and tree nuts, and those that supply equipment and services to the industry for the original plant based protein commodities

“Our member companies exhibit unwa vering support to accelerate improved ac cess to nutritious nut based products, along with innovative approaches in ad vancing public health,” said Jeannie Shaughnessy, executive director and CEO “We’re thrilled to see a sense of unity across sectors when it comes to ensuring the nu tritional needs of all households and con

sumers are met ”

The association recognizes the nutritious products its members represent, along with advancements in creating consumer access to safe, shelf life stable and plant based foods

The association highlights why nut com modities are essential to advancing public health and nutrition goals in the United States and beyond

According to the group:

• Nuts are the original minimally processed plant based protein

• Nuts are a nutrient dense food and a great source of fiber and protein

• According to the latest Dietary Guide lines for Americans, peanuts and other nuts are “important sources of iron, zinc, pro tein, choline and long chain polyunsatu rated fatty acids,” all of which contribute to healthy childhood development

• 64 percent of children sur veyed said they’d eat more fruits and vegetables with

their favorite nut butter dip

• Research has found that people who are at risk of a heart attack can cut their risk by eating a healthy diet that includes nuts

PTNPA members are connecting with congressional offices by inviting leaders to members’ operations to brief them on the critical public health and economic impor tance of the nut industry

“ Wi t h a l l t h e d i f f i c u l t i e s o u r i n d u s t r y i s f a c i n g t o d a y p o rt i s s u e s , s u p p l y c h a i n c h a l l e n g e s , w o r k f o rc e d y n a m i c s , i n c re a s e d re g u l a t o r y e x p e c t a t i o n s i t i s m o re i m p o rt a n t t h a n e v e r t o e n s u re t h a t o u r c o m m u n i t i e s a n d l e a d e r s u n d e r s t a n d h o w c r i t i c a l o u r i n d u s t r y i s , ” s a i d J e a n n i n e G re c h , P T N PA b o a rd m e m b e r, C a m p o s B ro t h e r s F a r m s “ P T N PA m e m b e r s a re s t ro n g c h a m p i o n s o f t h e n u t i n d u s t r y a n d w e w i l l c o n t i n u e t o a d v o c a t e a n d w o r k w i t h o u r c o m m u n i t i e s a n d g o v e r n m e n t l e a d e r s s o t h a t w e c a n re m a i n a t t h e f o re f ro n t o f i n n o v a t i o n a n d s o l u t i o n s i n

f o o d s a f e t y, s t a b i l i t y, a c c e s s i b i l i t y, a n d n u t r i t i o n ”

The nut industr y ’ s alignment with the 2030 hunger and nutrition goals also stems from its work to pioneer food safety con scious businesses Member companies of the association came together this summer in Chicago to meet at the industry’s annual Technical Forum to openly discuss rapidly advancing technology, collaboration and the agility efforts required to continually manage and enhance a safe, stable food supply Expert presenters from The Global Food Defense Institute, the Food Fraud Initiative (founded by Michigan State Uni versity), the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and other accom plished speakers shared their insights and proposed solutions for an increasingly complex industry

PTNPA also proudly announced the fourth edition of its Handbook for Safe Pro cessing of Nuts GN

Sur vey: U.S. Chefs Interested in Ser ving Cultivated Meat to Meet Consumer Awareness

As consumers are becoming more con scious of the impact of their dietar y choices, American chefs are interested in the benefits and appeal of cultivated meat options, even if it means paying more, ac cording to a sur vey by Israel based food tech company SuperMeat

The sur vey included chefs across the United States, spanning fine dining to fast food, showing sentiment on the emerging cultivated meat industr y and their candid thoughts on ser ving it on restaurant menus As cultivated meat nears the market, these re sults signify that the pre miere foodser vice professionals across the countr y are prepared and awaiting the opportunity to try it for themselves, accord ing to the survey

“It is great to see the in terest and positivity from the professional culinar y community for cultivated meat,” said SuperMeat CEO Ido Savir “This demonstrates that chefs are more than intrigued by culti vated meat, understand the benefits, and are ready to see it ser ved in mainstream dining ”

Reflective of U S dining habits, the type of cultivated meat chefs are most interested in trying is poultry, with 51 percent indi cating they would be interested in tasting it, while the remaining choices of beef, ex otic meats, seafood and pork were pretty evenly split from 38 percent to 35 percent

There were, however, some notable dif ferences in meat preferences based on re gion and type of restaurant While most regions had similar opinions, chefs from the South were vastly different, with beef and exotic meats being tied as the top

Eat Chicken

Continued from PAGE 1

Kerr y said using new cooking sauces helps consumers pair favorite foods with new flavors and cuisines while satisfying and exciting the taste buds

Keep Hydrated

Consumers liked the added health and functional benefits of functional and nutri tional beverages, saying they met health/diet/lifestyle needs, gave them en ergy as a pick me up, satisfied the need for better quality beverages and helped them stay hydrated

However, functional and nutritional bev erages didn’t pass the taste test or satisfy cravings, were not available and didn’t fit in with consumer habits

Kerr y said functional and nutritional beverages prioritized health benefits but missed the mark on cravable taste

When it comes to refreshing beverages, consumers said they were motivated to

choice at 44 percent, with poultry being se lected by only 26 percent of chefs

Pork was the top choice for fine dining chefs at 52 percent, whereas poultry was by far the highest choice for those working in fast food at 62 percent

Those who cook mainly American cui sine also heavily favored poultry (64 per cent), while those focused on Italian cuisine leaned toward seafood (56 percent),

According to the sur vey, 60 percent of chefs use plant based ingredients to create their own alternative options and 45 per cent use existing/off the shelf plant based meat alternatives If it were an option, 80 percent of chefs would consider cultivated meat in place of meat alternatives on their menu

Chefs have a lot to consider when choos ing menu items, including taste, cost, cus tomer demand and more and these major factors determine if and why they would incorporate cultivated meat into their menus Food safety was cited as chefs’ top motivator for ser ving cultivated meat, with more than half indicat ing it was important (51 percent) Other key factors are environmen tal benefits and customer demand

Chefs cooking Mediterranean were over whelmingly (83 percent) willing to pay a premium of 11 to 15 percent, whereas chefs cooking Italian and Mexican cuisine largely considered a lower premium of 5 to 10 per cent

Two thirds of chefs surveyed pointed to high cost as the greatest potential deterrent to trying cultivated meat

When it came to motivating factors for purchasing cultivated meat, chefs in French and Japanese cuisines pointed to product quality and flavor and customer demand as top reasons, while chefs cooking Italian cuisine were most motivated by environ mental benefits and animal welfare The majority of other cuisines selected health benefits as the top motivator

with chefs in Japanese, French and Indian cuisines favoring exotic meats

Concern for the environment and animal wellness, health and dietar y restrictions and other lifestyle choices have all con tributed to higher interest in meat alterna tives on menus In fact, 65 percent of chefs have seen increased demand in the last five years in particular, 87 percent of restau rants in the Midwest and 82 percent of fast food establishments noted the rise in consumer interest for meat alternatives

Eighty six percent of chefs who cook mainly Japanese cuisine saw an increase in demand for alternative meat compared with only 48 percent of Italian cuisine chefs

drink them because they keep them on their “A” game They help them stay hy drated, give them energy, help them stay awake and alert and appeal because they have sustainable and environmentally friendly choices

Yet they don’t qualify as a reward as con sumers would like, weren’t available, didn’t satisfy or help them feel full until the next meal or help them maintain a balanced diet

Kerry said refreshing beverages revitalize consumers in the moment, but lack the satiety and craveability to keep consumers running

Snack Time

Salty snacks satisfy cravings, give con sumers what they want as a treat, taste good, tide them over until the next meal and are available, according to the report

But, not surprisingly, salty snacks failed for health/diet/lifestyle needs, didn’t stand up to quality food, didn’t add any health or functional benefits and didn’t keep them fo cused

Motivators differed significantly based on type of establishment as well Fine dining chefs pointed to environmental benefits as a top motivator (52 percent), followed by control of taste and texture (48 percent), whereas those working in fast food establishments were more concerned about food safety (60 percent)

Understanding the multiple benefits of cultivated meat, 77 percent of chefs are willing to pay a premium to include it on their menu, with two thirds of chefs saying they’d be willing to pay between 11 to 15 percent more than traditional meat

More chefs in the Midwest (87 percent) than any other region indicated they’d be willing to pay a premium of some kind for cultivated meat options

Meanwhile, chefs in the West were the most willing to pay a high ticket premium with 16 percent saying they would pay 16 to 20 percent more; only 6 percent of chefs nationally indicated they’d be willing to pay this high of a markup

Kerr y said salty snacks meet taste and availability needs with “untapped” oppor tunities to innovate for lifestyle and health benefits

Consumers are motivated to eat sweet snacks because they count as a reward, help them cope with life and keep them on their “A” game, according to Kerr y They meet the needs for a treat, fulfill cravings, give them something to eat while relaxing and rewinding, tide them over until the next meal and bring good memories

On the flip side, consumers know sweet snacks aren’t healthy, making them desire better quality food and something better suited to their health goals and lack added health and functional beverages

Kerry said sweet snack makers are good at satisfying taste and emotional desires but have an opportunity to add cleaner, func tional and better for you benefits

There’s an App for That

Consumers go for non meat appetizers in a big way, saying they tide them over until the next meal, give them cost/conve

Most chefs indicated they would be early adopters once cultivated meat became avail able, with more than half (52 percent) say ing they would be willing to add cultivated meat and poultry to their menu one to two months after it became available Chefs in the West and Northeast are likely to add cultivated meat much more quickly with 23 percent and 21 percent respectively, saying they would include it on their menu imme diately after it became available Chefs from the South were much more hesitant with more than half (51 percent) saying they would wait three to six months

Chefs are optimistic that cultivated meat will become fully integrated into main stream hospitality culture and restaurants relatively soon, with 79 percent believing it will happen in less than one year indicat ing diners and consumers alike are eager for the commercialization of cultivated meat

T h e re s e a rc h w a s c o n d u c t e d b y C e n s u s w i d e , a n i n d e p e n d e n t m a r k e t re s e a rc h c o n s u l t a n c y T h e s u r v e y t o o k p l a c e o n l i n e w i t h 2 5 1 c h e f s a n d / o r f o o d s e r v i c e p ro f e s s i o n a l s i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s b e t w e e n S e p t 7 9 G N

nience/time saving options and sustainabil ity and environmentally friendly choices and have a positive impact on the planet and community

However, they didn’t satisfy cravings, didn’t taste good, don’t fit health/diet/ lifestyle needs and weren’t an energizing pick me up

K e r r y s a i d n o n m e a t a p p e t i z e r s a d d re s s t h e n e e d f o r c o n v e n i e n c e a n d s u s t a i n a b i l i t y, t a s t i e r a p p e t i z e r s w o u l d m e e t t h e n e e d s o f a w i d e r, h e a l t h c o n s c i o u s a u d i e n c e

Consumers are split on whether meat based appetizers are a treat or not They do meet their needs for friends and family time, gives them a chance to relive nostal gic moments and fills their family’s re quests They don’t taste good, satisfy cravings, meet dietary needs or give them energy

“Quality time with loved ones is critical for appetizers, with craveable, healthier and protein packed offerings helping to pump up the categor y ’ s potential, Kerr y concluded GN

gift baskets 25 years ago to a thriving CPG company and also saw the need for gifts that appeal to men especially

“There are not that many men ’ s gift op tions out there,” Neil Edley said “It’s really hard to shop for men ”

It may be some small comfort to women shopping for men that they do know it’s hard to shop for men even for them

“Sometimes, it’s the aspect of the stereo type of simplicity that becomes almost complex in a way, ” said Jacob Oullette, so cial and media specialist for Stonewall Kitchen Family of Brands “I know, for ex ample, that I’ve struggled to find gifts for my own dad He doesn’t ask for much What can you get somebody who lives that kind of lifestyle?”

Bouquet of Jerky

Greg Murray at Manly Man kept thinking about the dilemma of what to give an ailing pal

“I got to thinking about edible bou quets,” he said “What kind of bouquet concepts would guys like? I like beef jerky So I came up with the concept and tested it The reception was incredible Everybody loved it

“One guy said that’s exactly what he needed for his buddy in the hospital Or another, I didn’t know what to get him for congratulations or a gift on Valentine’s Day ”

Murray noted that a recent survey asked women what they planned to give their male companion for Valentine’s Day and the overwhelming response was: nothing When they asked men the worst gift they ever got: nothing

“Men are the silent heroes,” Murray said, with a verbal wink “They don’t complain, it’s OK to give nothing ”

Murray wanted to correct that He set out to give the world an alternative to giving

socks and ties to men on holidays

The Manly Man Co sells beef jerky “flower” bouquets in beer mugs, pint glasses or, for the “street edition,” a black steel pint glass There are also single malt scotch caramels in a heart shaped tin, a Man Card that serves as a bottle opener and even bacon scented wrapping paper

“It’s a thoughtful gifting experience,” Murray said “It’s not just an object, but guys love it and women love the experi ence It creates memories ”

One of the most popular products is the trademarked Meat Card, a greet ing card sized sheet of beef jerky laser engraved with a customized message, though the flagship prod ucts are the jerky bouquets

“A lot of thought went into them,” Murray said of the bou quets “You can’t just rely solely on flavors You have to have structural integrity ”

The jerky comes in three flavors original, teriyaki hot and spicy with more flavors to come and arrive “fully assem bled,” he noted

The Meat Card idea arose out of a desire to send a special message to men

“Hey, guys love meat They love to eat and this is a unique way to send them a message on that,” he said

The company ’ s bacon roses are now a memor y (Murray hopes to bring them back) but they do sell Bacon Bouquets, thick cut slices of bacon in four flavors, which is a popular Father’s Day gift

“That’s my love language, bacon,” Mur ray said with a laugh

This year, Manly Man debuted Meat Hearts, like those heart shaped Valentine’s Day candies but made of jerky

“It was just insane, the amount of sales we had,” Murray said “It broke our web site! We sold out in 20 minutes We more than doubled single day sales of all time We were featured on ‘Good Morning Amer ica’ and the ‘Today’ show ”

ucts, the men ’ s line was crafted with whimsy, beginning with a cake of soap with a pig stamped on it and a “Don’t be a pig” friendly reminder

“Essentially, what we want to do is make something useful and make someone laugh,” she said

Walton Wood men ’ s gift includes Hand some AF set with the best selling Men Don’t Stink XXL exfoliating soap bar, Date Night solid cologne in a whiskey scent and Gentleman Shave Soap; and a Bachelor Party Proud set with its rooster themed personal care products of soap, manscaping balm and anti chafing, sweat busting pow der

Walton Wood Farms’ food offerings in clude the Gentleman Burger Spice (in an 8 ounce jar because men and barbecue, you know)

Walton Woods hand creams and sanitiz ers are created so that the moisturizers are absorbed and don’t smear on whatever the hands touch

“You want to be able to use your phone,” she noted

As with all of the products that Walton Wood Farms produces, ingredients are cho sen carefully

“The world I want to live in,” Bradford Scott said, “I do not want to put anything on my grandkids that’s bad There’s a lot of bad things out there in the world and gosh, I would not want to put anything like that on my grandkids

“The other day, my 2 year old grandson ate a hunk of bath balm I can’t understand why,” she said, laughing “My granddog Rusty loves to lick the skin cream off my hands ”

Innovations in development include more personalized gifts from bar ware to wallets The company is refining its pack aging and working on ways to improve the shopping experience for customers

‘One and Done’

When Walton Wood Farms was looking at men ’ s gifts, aesthetics was a major consid eration

“When we looked at men ’ s fragrance, we asked, ‘Why are they so feminine? Those glass bottles are not made for the way men live,” Leslie Bradford Scott said

“If it’s a tin can, you can throw it at a wall and not break them,” Bradford Scott said

And while the odds are good that most women have specific products for specific needs, most men probably don’t, so the composition of the fragrant product is im portant so added water and alcohol don’t dry out the guy’s skin

“Guys like one and done,” she said

For instance, for all of the men out there who are rocking whiskers, the Gentleman Beard Wash is a conditioning, citrus and mahogany scented beard wash that not only is free of alcohol and dyes, but is vegan and cruelty free Redneck Shave Cream is a bourbon and oak scented exfo liating soap made with black jojoba beads

And just who are companies tr ying to target with their packaging, Bradford Scott asked

“I thought, ‘Why do they have a polo player on the bottle?’ I don’t know any men who play polo,” she said with a laugh “We wanted themes that fit the way men are ”

As with the rest of Walton Wood prod

Walton Wood Farm’s food products, of course, can appeal to anyone of any age looking for everything from hot chocolate to pancakes, scones and biscuits to jams that taste like they just came off the farm

“I love pumpkin spice,” Bradford Scott admitted “Anything pumpkin spice ”

Walton Wood Farm makes seasonal pumpkin spice pancake mix

“I squirrel some away so I can have them any time of the year, ” Bradford Scott said, laughing

Visions of Sugar Plum

Sugar Plum Foods’ mainstay remains its gift baskets, which it tailors to as many occa sions as possible including Easter, Christ mas, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, Halloween, baby showers and bridal showers, as well as corporate gifting

As with the Manly Man Co , Sugar Plum’s approach to appealing to men began with their appetites

The company ’ s website boasts a section called The Man Cave that introduces its Damn, Man line of “snacks guys love ”

“We developed a line of meat sticks and nuts and put them in a decanter, for use after you finish what’s inside,” Neil Edley said “It’s giftable for the nuts, but also for the vessel ”

Other offerings include Beer & Bourbon Nuts in a gift tin, the Manly Nut Box with a variety of seasoned nuts, Nuts & Beef Box and Kettle Cooked Maple Flavored and Bourbon Infused Pecans

“We’re looking to expand our line more, ” said Edley, who is in charge of innovation for Sugar Plum “I’d like to take our snack ing nuts national They’re great for cock

Year end holiday gifting includes person alized stockings that can come with jerky products, bacon candy cane and personal ized wooden greeting cards (don’t eat those)

tails and appetizers, or just to eat as a snack They go great with cheese and meats or to dress up a salad You can cook with them

The Spicy Thai Chili Nut you can grind up in an egg batter with panko crumbs for chicken strips to bake or fr y with the Co conut Curry ”

Sugar Plum also keeps busy making private label products, such as a butter board seasoning kit for Un common Goods Hand made by Edley, the kit features four flavors of seasoning blends Apple Cinnamon, Sun Dried Tomato, Lemon Garlic and Umami in sachets for the trending butter board presentations

“They come with wax paper to wrap the butter in and twine to make butter logs,” Edley said “You don’t have to use dair y butter, either You can use any kind of non dairy olive oil spread and add the sachets to it ”

The kit even comes with a recipe book “I’m really big into writing recipes and formulating them with food products,” Edley said

Edley never stopped having sugar plum visions dance in his head

“I don’t sleep at night,” he said, laughing “I’m always thinking, always analyzing and dreaming up new concepts If you can dream it, we can make it If you can taste it, we can make it

from Ouellette this year, stop reading now )

Of course, though, that doesn’t mean that Stonewall Kitchen’s Village Candle can’t come up with a spe cialized set of gifts for men, the Gentlemen’s Collection Trio

“It was developed with a focus on men, but really is a unisex type of collection,” Ouellette said “It has a more modern and simplistic feel to it ”

This summer, Village Candle re leased a bunch of fall inspired can dles that men will enjoy

“There are dark berries and smoky, woody notes in the newer collection,” Oullette said “The Cinnamon Whiskey is new this fall Personally, it’s next on my list to give to my dad

“I’ve burned a couple of the can dles in my own house I don’t like a highly powerful sweet scent, but I’ve burned Spiced Tobac & Honey in my home and it’s so pleasant It fits me ”

The newer fall can dles come in silver tins, rather than the glass jars most Vil lage Candles are in, with black lids

“It’s more of a neu tral look, for anybody to have it on a table or TV cabinet, where it blends in with the rest of the space, pro viding a wonderful, comforting fra grances to the space as well ”

well

“The same thing with the Cin namon Whiskey, it reminds you of sitting by the fire with a cock tail in hand and brings back those memories,” Ouellette said “Candle scents as a whole, I think we connect them back with experiences in our own lives ”

Naming candles is an art form because they’re important in conveying the life experience it’s intended to evoke “A lot of times, candles are named after the prominent scent, experiences or actual food items They’re something we all know, an aroma we can connect with,” Ouellette said

Ouellette said “It has a very eccentric and more formal fragrance to it ”

Here’s what the Village Candle word smiths have to say about it:

“Made for the modern man, whether you ’ re having a chili night in or hosting an intimate dinner party, add a sophisticated fragrance to your space A complex and un expected combination of white thyme, fresh bergamo, mineral water and Amalfi lemon is grounded by notes of driftwood, sheer leather and musk ”

Really makes you want to smell what that’s like, right?

“I love how we name some of the prod ucts,” Ouellette said

Ouellette said events of the past couple of years have had an effect on the kinds of candle scents consumers have brought into their homes, with a trend toward nature’s scents

“I know I found burning Pure Linen and c o m p a r a b l e scents at the height of the p a n d e m i c brought me that fresh air scent

When we were locked inside for so long and not able to go to restaurants and coffee shops, the candles started to trend toward that direction for those kinds of fragrances ”

The Gentlemen’s Collection Clean Musk & Vetiver, Leather & Musk Noir and Moonlit Surf aim for a more neutral fra grance experience

“From our own vantage point, a lot of women have become keen on the Gentle men ’ s Collection,” he said, “especially Moonlit Surf with notes of eucalyptus, lavender, pine and marine scent ”

Ouellette gives props to the Village Can dle writing team when describing the can dles For Moonlit Surf:

For men who aren’t into can dles but into hearty fragrances from the kitchen or on the patio, Stonewall Kitchen’s Urban Accents has a variety of products that appeal to people who grill New products include Smoky Brown Sugar Veggie Roaster Seasoning Blend, Plant Based Red Sauce Mix, Herby Dill Veggie Roaster Seasoning Blend, Plant Based Chili Verde Meatless Mix and Plant Based Chorizo Meatless Mix

“I like to be creative with it, and really make innovation fun,” he said “Because people just want to snack ”

Home Fragrances

Perhaps Stonewall Kitchen’s roots produc ing homespun products (and Grandma Pearl’s recipes) for farmers markets has helped its ever growing Family of Brands to appeal to almost ever yone for almost every need Candles are always a popular gift for men and women

“Everybody can enjoy them,” said Jacob Ouellette “From the angle of gifting, for me, you can’t really go wrong with any of these items ”

(Spoiler alert: If you ’ re expecting a gift

The fall collection includes Dark Berries & Cedar, Silver Birch & Cedar, Hearthside Pine, Cinnamon Whiskey, Moonlit Surf, Spiced Tobac & Honey, Bergamot & Amber, Black Oak, Leather & Musk Noir and Clean Musk & Vetiver There are also winter themed luminary candles in holiday tins First Snowfall, Festive Forest and Holly Jolly Nights And, of course, in the signature Village Candle glass jar, Spiced Pumpkin Bread

Ouellette said the most popular choice for a men ’ s gift candle seems to be the Hearthside Pine

“My friend has bought one for her hus band He loves the scent of it It appeals to the hunter, so there’s that connection as

“After a day beside the water, the soft moonlight reflects off the whitecaps as the tide erases the evidence of a busy day This fresh fragrance fills the air with salty ocean spray, weathered drift wood and sea moss Whether you ’ re overlooking the water or the city, create an oceanside escape in your home ”

Then there’s Leather & Musk Noir

“At first, you think, wait a minute, what?”

“Grilling baskets are always popular,” Ouellette said “Urban Accents has items of all types that appeal to the men in our lives ” GN

12 Tides Snacks

Continued from PAGE 1

That would remove barriers for consumers unfamiliar with kelp on how to prepare it All they would have to do is open a bag and eat

“You wouldn’t have to cook it or pair it with something else that might make for a bad first experience,” he said “You can buy one bag of chips and get that sort of intro ductory experience ”

Schnettler describes 12 Tides snacks as “sort of puffy, shaped Fritos ”

“They have a unique texture We were able to use a lot of unique elements of kelp for a texturally savory flavor profile ”

The organic kelp chips come in Sea Salt, Chili Pepper and Ever ything flavors and are available in a variety pack

12 Tides couldn’t have gotten a better re ception than being mentioned on the Whole Foods Top 10 Food Trends for 2023 along with other kelp products

“In its original form, kelp can absorb car bon in the atmosphere, making kelp farm ing more important than ever in the age of climate consciousness,” Whole Foods wrote in its trend list “Kelp grows quickly, doesn’t require freshwater or added nutri ents, and is nutritious and versatile in food products we ’ re seeing it in noodles, chips, fish free ‘fish’ sauce and beyond As consumers seek out alternative ingredients and experiment with new flavors, kelp in spired foods are gaining popularity ”

12 Tides was launched after the peak of the pandemic at farmers markets, where consumers felt safe to shop in open air

F&B Industr y

higher across the industry as more compa nies compete for the same customer base ”

The need to keep up with fluctuating consumer habits and regulations is con stant in the industry, according to the re port To stay competitive, many companies are rethinking how they operate

“While companies realize that a digital first strategy is critical to success, it is a complex journey with many challenges to address along the way, ” the report states IDC contacted more than 650 F&B com panies to learn what strategies they were using and gauge the impact of digital trans formation, sustainability initiatives, out sourcing, supply chain management and the technology approach supporting F&B modernization and automation

Digital transformation has clearly been delivering benefits for the industr y, with roughly three quarters of respondents see ing KPI improvements across all areas of the business (production, quality, supply chain, logistics, sales, ecommerce, etc ) as a result of DX initiatives In addition, 45 to 55 percent of F&B companies expect to see even greater improvements across these areas over the next year

This cloud focus is reflected in the use of cloud based ERP systems, which continue to gain ground across the industry Over a quarter of respondents are in the process of moving to the cloud or are already on cloud ERP, with another 25 percent of respon

spaces, Schnettler said Supply chain issues weren’t an issue because the company sourced directly from kelp farmers, which helps in 12 Tides’ sustainability mission to support coastal communities Then it was able to get its product placed with Imper fect Foods and Instacart

The only hindrance was being unable to do educational outreach due to travel re strictions

“People were looking for snacks to eat at home while working at home all day,” Schnettler said “They were no longer rely ing on the office to provide them with snacks I think in general, even before the pandemic, snacking was a growing percent age in the stomach of Americans’ eating habits ”

Kelp products appeal to post pandemic consumers more reliant than ever on bet ter for you foods and general wellness It appeals to conservationists like Schnettler who are worried about microplastics in

seafood and sea salt Because kelp doesn’t absorb or breathe water, it doesn’t absorb microplastics, either What it does absorb is carbon, which helps oceans by reversing acidification and supporting biodiversity

“Kelp is a zero input crop that requires no fertilizers or pesticides,” Schnettler said “It’s a pretty compelling argument that we should be looking more at crops like this and relying less on rice and potatoes and more on crops that can be climate resistant and also lessen the pressure on the use of petroleum and pesticides ”

One of 12 Tides primar y sustainability goals is reforestation of kelp along the Cal ifornia coast

“The kelp forest in America has declined the past couple of decades, mostly due to oceanic warming events,” Schnettler said That deforestation has affected many species that lived in the kelp ecosystem

The company ’ s desire to provide a healthy, tasty snack at a good price point

while having the least impact on the envi ronment also extends to its approach to packaging, having developed its own com postable pouch for the snack line so it’s ocean friendly and free from plastic

Schnettler foresees an increasing focus on healthier foods and mitigating harm to the environment

“Consumers are being more conscious about what they are putting into their bod ies and are looking for alternatives that avoid artificial ingredients and preser va tives,” he said “The simplicity and organic ingredients in our products play clearly into that

“ A n d p e o p l e a re f o c u s e d o n l o w e r i n g t h e i r i m p a c t o n t h e p l a n e t , m a y b e t o a greater degree actually have a positive im pact on the planet,” Schnettler said “Buy i n g s o m e t h i n g f ro m u s b a s e d o n t h i s , being incredibly climate positive and sim p l e i n g re d i e n t s a l i g n s w i t h c o n s u m e r s ’ v a l u e s ” GN

dents considering a move to the cloud Financial performance of F&B organiza tions that have moved to the cloud con tinue to show dramatic correlation with better financial results, with companies on cloud ERP reporting over twice the in creases in revenue and profit over the past 12 months when compared with those with on premises ERP systems, according to the report This performance difference is also shown when comparing F&B specific ERP systems with those designed with more general applicability, with industry specific ERP respondents citing a 5 3 percent in crease in revenue and 4 9 percent increase in profit (general ERP increases of 2 9 per cent and 3 7 percent, respectively)

There’s no escaping that economic un certainty and rising inflation worry indus try executives the most Inflation concerns are highest among North American compa nies though they rank as the top concern across EMEA, too

The industr y will continue to be chal lenged by these economic issues over the next five years, the report states, including higher operating costs and costs of goods sold or the need to raise prices cited as the most impactful

“As a result of inflation and cost con cerns, efficiency and waste reduction ini tiatives are expected to be a high priority over the next year, ” the authors write

Yet F&B companies have prioritized sus tainability as the top issue, cited by nearly 40 percent of respondents

“There is a connection with efficiency initiatives, as there are cost savings that can

be derived by sustainability improvements (reducing energy, water, waste, etc ), but the largest driver behind this focus can be traced back to customers,” the report states “While there are many steps that companies can take to become more sus tainable, the majority of the industry still has work to do from an adoption stand point ”

Supply chain resiliency (visibility and adaptability) is still ranked as the largest gap F&B companies need to address for long term success, according to the report Limited flexibility and a lack of digital tools to manage the supply and limited supply chain talent/labor contribute to this gap The supply chain plays a critical role today in managing and mitigating business risk through traceability, visibility and sustain ability efforts

The authors expect outsourcing and con tract manufacturing, a new focus this year, to continue to grow in 2023 The ability to better meet fluctuations in demand in a timely manner was the top reason out sourcing was considered, with product quality and traceability concerns as the top barriers

The top overall digital transformation barrier F&B companies face is a growing lack of a talented and skilled workforce, es pecially compared to last year ’ s sur vey In 2021, 19 8 percent of respondents cited tal ent as the top barrier, while this year that proportion increased to 35 3 percent of re spondents

“One of the key questions that needs to be answered is, ‘What is the role of technol

ogy in combating growing skills gaps?’” ac cording to the report

“Even with economic and inflation con cerns, the F&B industry plans to continue investing in technology to further improve its businesses, with half of the respondents expecting enterprise software spending to increase over the next 12 months (over 10 percent of respondents expect spending in creases of over 25 percent),” the authors write “Artificial intelligence (AI) is viewed as the most impactful technology enabler over the next five years, yet the importance of the cloud is not far behind ”

The F&B industry is not alone in facing these issues

“The F&B industry, like most industries in the global economy, has become accus tomed to unpredictable demand, unreliable supply, consumer habit shifts, sustainabil ity pressures and differentiation chal lenges,” the authors write “Underlying all this disruption, food and beverage organi zations are contending with traditional pressures around costs, quality and effi ciency

“Making effective decisions to address these concerns can be a major challenge for companies that do not possess the right in frastructure Successful F&B organizations are focused on empowering their talent bases with the data and information they need to make the best decisions possible in the right time frame Using this approach and cloud based ERP systems as the digital foundation for F&B transformation pro grams has clearly been delivering results,” the report concludes GN

T H E B U S I N E S S N E W S P A P E R F O R T H E G O U R M E T I N D U S T R Y

e m b e r o f S t o n e w a l l K i t c h e n ’s f a m i l y o f b r a n d s , N a p a Va l l e y N a t u r a l s c r a f t s p r o d u c t s t h a t s e t t h e i n d u s t r y g o l d s t a n d a r d f o r t a s t e

Poured and packaged in an eye catch ing wine bottle, the Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil is no exception! Certified organic

Jake’s Nut Ro asters New Brine & Dill Almonds

Jake, a fourth generation member of the Jasper family, is proud to continue the farming traditions of his great grandfather that have been passed down for over 70 years Jake’s Nut Roasters is pleased to announce its newest flavor to the Jake’s can lineup: Brine & Dill Almonds Already becoming a consumer favorite, Jake’s Brine & Dill Al monds are bursting with the bold flavors of vinegar and dill They provide a little tanginess with just the right amount of dill pickle flavor, the per fect addition to your snacking routine These almonds are “Straight from Jake’s Orchard” showcasing the company’s ver tical integration and commitment to sus tainable growing practices Jake’s almonds provide the quintessen tial plant based protein and make eating

Ariston Infused S alts

Try Ariston’s newest arrivals from Greece These gorgeous infused salts come with their own adjustable stainless steel mill They are both a gourmet food item and a little kitchen tool all in one A must in every kitchen and store counter

They come in the following flavors:

• Plain Sea Salt from Greece

• Greek Salad Infused Sea Salt (beautiful blend of rosemary, oregano and sundried tomato) pairs well with Ariston Select EVOO & Med Herb infused olive oil)

• Garlic & Basil infused sea salt Excellent with Ariston traditional balsamic, caprese salads, cheeses; great with pasta and Ital ian meat, too; beautiful color as well

• Lemon & Turmeric infused sea salt Ex cellent with chicken, seafood, rice, pota toes, eggs and anywhere that needs the brightness of lemon flavor and the healthy and earth flavor of turmeric

• Black Sea Salt (sea salt with all natural cuttlefish black ink) Keep your guests guessing what’s your secret ingredient Tastes like sea salt with a subtle hint of seafood Also works excellent as a salt rim for a cocktail and bloody Mary drink

• Smoked Sea Salt Excellent with all meats and seafood It tastes like you have

this healthy snack both fun and satisfying!

Produced in a dedicated peanut free facil ity, these premium Cali for nia almonds are dry roasted and seasoned in small batches to deliver exceptional quality Jake’s Nut Roasters 7 ounce cans have a cool, classic appearance that look great on store shelves, kitchen coun ters, and table center pieces They also make the perfect gift A commitment to qual ity and innovation has propelled many fine Jasper Specialty Foods products into the hands of health conscious almond lovers around the world Jake’s Nut Roasters can also be found on Amazon

Jasper Specialty Foods 800 255 1641 www jasperspecialtyfoods com www.jakesnutroasters.com

Le Gruyère AOP

Do you know Le Gruyère AOP?

• Le Gruyère AOP is produced using raw milk

• Le Gruyère AOP is natural there are no additives, no GMOs and no preservatives

• Le Gruyère AOP is naturally gluten and lactose free

• E a c h w h e e l o f G r u y è re A O P i s a g e d f o r a m i n i m u m o f f i v e m o n t h s b e f o re b e i n g re l e a s e d f o r s a l e a n d c a n b e a g e d f o r b e t w e e n 1 4 a n d 1 8 m o n t h s I t c a n b e k e p t f o r m o re t h a n 2 4 m o n t h s f o r c h e e s e l o v e r s l o o k i n g f o r a n e v e n s t ro n g e r f l a v o r

• A wheel of Gruyère AOP weighs between 25 and 40 kg

What does AOP mean?

Protected Designation of Origin

To be considered AOP, you have to have:

• A tradition

• A limited production zone

• A name

been smoking your food for hours without all the work Excellent and bold flavor a little goes a long way

• Plain Pink Himalayan (from the Hi malayan Mountains) Try them all!

Ariston Specialties 860.263.8498 www.aristonspecialties.com

• A knowhow and a history

• A product

Production process has been maintained since the origins of Gruyère AOP back in the year 1115 and is strictly respected by the milk producers, the cheesemakers and the affineurs who follow the rules of the AOP specifications

Le Gruyère AOP www.gruyere.com

Cafe Spice Butter Chicken Meatb alls

Located in New York’s Hudson Valley, Cafe Spice prepares authentic global cui sine for retail grab n go and foodservice The collection of restaurant quality meals includes something for everyone: GAP Animal Welfare Cer tified chicken, vegetar ian, plant based, dairy free and gluten free options, all fully cooked and ready to heat and eat within min utes Butter Chicken Meatballs are a culi nary twist on the popular Butter Chicken dish Spiced North Indian style meatballs, made with chicken, are simmered in a rich, aromatic tomato cream sauce, paired with

Basmati rice that’s delicately infused with saffron threads, cardamom and bay leaves Butter Chicken Meatballs is one de lectable dish amongst many Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Vin daloo and Potato & Cauliflower Curry, to name a few others With chef crafted recipes, Cafe Spice brings boldly delicious flavors to everyone, to enjoy anywhere no travel required!

Cafe Spice 845 863 0910 www cafespice com

Sunday Night Fo o ds Desser t S auces

Rich, velvety, luxurious Made from the highest quality ingredients on Earth, Sun day Night Foods’ award winning pre mium dessert sauces are pure chocolate ganache in a jar Using a classic French tech nique, Sunday Night Foods makes each small batch with leg endary Guittard choco late and cocoa, cane sugar, fresh cream and butter, pure Nielsen Massey vanilla and sea salt to cre ate chocolate euphoria

Founder Eileen Gannon created the

BeBOLD Energy Bars

Trivia: What’s the hottest new woman owned, plant based product launched by Stacy of Stacy’s Pita Chips? Refrigerated BeBOLD energy bars! Not only delish and created with the same integrity as the pita chips, but they’re gluten and dairy free, plant based and a simple combination of nuts, nut butters, oats, chia, wildflower honey and maple Soooo good! They come

brand so people can easily enjoy feeling comfort, care and kindness on any day of the week The company works with the National Alliance on Men tal Illness in the hope that, through baking, everyone can stay present, find purpose and cre ate joy within and around them

Sunday Night Foods www.sundaynightfoods.com

in two flavors: Chocolate Chip Al mond Butter and Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter

BeBOLD 855 623 2653 www beboldbars com

Stonewall Kitchen www.stonewallkitchen.com

Darrell Lea

Fabulicious S our Candy

Darrell Lea Brands remains the home of premium licorice and the only authentically Australian licorice in the United States In the United States, the company’s her itage has been built on licorice; in Australia, the com pany is a market leader across the wider candy category in cluding chocolate tablet, chocolate panning, sugar panning, starch mould, sours and seasonal Darrell Lea is excited to introduce a wider candy offer to the U S market starting with the unique, high inclusion chocolate tablets (available now) and then ex panding into sours and chocolate panning in 2023 all proven and market leading SKUs back in the Australian market

Darrell Lea is the go to brand when seeking premiumization that provides unique differentiation The brand is built on quality and authenticity with best in market

Stix Range

claims as well as ingredients Darrell Lea is proud to use natural colors and flavors, no preservatives, non GMO ingredients (many certified Non GMO Proj ect), sustainable cocoa (Cocoa Horizons) as well as being 100 percent palm oil free

Live the sweet life with the new Darrell Lea Fab ulicious Sour Candy Stix Range available in three exciting flavors Rasp berry, Apple and Mixed Flavor launched in No vember These soft, tangy tubes filled with a sour sherbert center are guaranteed to make taste buds tingle! Darrell Lea Fabulicious sour candy stix are palm oil free, no artifi cial colors or flavors and no preservatives

Darrell Lea Brands

www darrelllea com

Widmer’s Cheese Cellars’ Matterhorn Alpine Cheddar Cheese

Widmer’s Cheese Cellars, Inc Matterhor n Alpine Cheddar Cheese is a homestead cheddar with a blend of se lect Alpine cultures added for the most unique tasting Cheddar on the market It’s aged for a minimum of eight months

The Widmer family has been handcrafting Cheddar since 1922 in small batches using original family recipes In recent years, Widmer Cheddars have more age to satisfy the palate of the dis tinctive, artisan style cheese lover Original family recipes and select cultures (with no shortcuts) gives the Cheddars a more so phisticated and complex flavor profile Widmer still washes the Cheddar curds before salting and placing in forms to

lower the amount of lactose, which re duces bitter ness in the final product The super aged Cheddars have an intense flavor with hints of caramel and are known for being very smooth without the bitter ness associated with some aged Ched dars They are also available with jalapeño peppers

Widmer’s Cheese Cellars Cheddar can be purchased in 8 ounce pieces, 1 pound pieces, 5 pound pieces, and 40 pound blocks

Widmer’s Cheese Cellars 888.878.1107 www.widmerscheese.com

OMG! Pretzels uses wholesome ingredi ents and carefully crafted family recipes to make delicious, bite sized, sourdough pretzel nuggets that are perfect for every occasion The variety of bold, gourmet fla vors and crave worthy crunch combine to create the transcendent first bite experi ence that every pretzel lover dreams of It’s the premium quality and unforgettable taste that make OMG! Pretzels the obvi ous choice for customers in search of a superior snack A women and family owned business, OMG! Pretzels are rec ognized as an award winning product with strong consumer satisfaction

There are no gourmet pretzel nuggets on the market quite like OMG! Pretzels; each pretzel is positively poppable and mouth wateringly delicious One of the fla vors that shines as a versatile snack, ele gant appetizer or flavorful recipe addition is Chesapeake Spice Vegetarian friendly with no added sugars, the bold blend of

spices complements chowders and crab cakes, making these gourmet pretzel nuggets a great addition to seafood and deli counter offerings A must have in every single home and retail location, OMG! Pretzels provide a love at first bite experience Once you pop one in your mouth, OMG! comes popping out!

White Coffee

White Coffee is a family owned, certified woman owned busi ness, started in 1939

As third generation im porter of fine Arabica coffee, White Coffee sells the finest coffees to thousands of resi dents in New York and across the United States each year As the company has grown, White Coffee has helped pioneer the growth of the specialty coffee industry Today, White Coffee continues to be an industry leader in sourcing and roasting the finest coffees available as well as fea turing world famous licensed brands such

as newly added Peanuts, Baileys and Mars Wrigley, to name a few The company has built its business one customer at a time, cup by cup, with excel lent quality and attentive customer service

White Coffee is based in Long Island City, N Y , and is a third generation, certified woman owned business, in operation since 1939 Its products are available in re tail outlets throughout the United States and online

White Coffee 800.221.0140 www.whitecoffee.com

STAR Double-Stuffed Jalap eño and Garlic Olives

Both garlic stuffed and jalapeño stuffed varieties are growing faster than the category and STAR has combined the two popular flavors into its new, colossal sized, flavor packed olives

Introducing STAR Dou ble Stuffed Jalapeño and Garlic Olives Harvested while still young, these large sized olives pack a whole lot of flavor

Featuring artisanal quality, these are the perfect balance of flavors, not too spicy and not too salty Enjoy straight out of the jar, in charcuterie plat ters or use as a spicy gar nish for your favorite drinks

Contact Borges USA for more product information

Borges USA www borgesusa com

Holy Pero gy! Premium Frozen Pero gies

Holy Perogy! makes a line of premium frozen perogies prepared with top quality ingredients for U S con sumers to enjoy their Ukrainian family recipe at home The sibling team behind Holy Perogy!, President Tony Rabi novitch and CEO and the face of Holy Perogy!, Diana Hecht, took their cue from the family’s Canadian restaurant to launch the CPG

What sets Holy Perogy! apart is the way they are made with premium ingre dients The thin dough is packed with fla vorful, freshly cooked mashed potatoes and other real, whole foods prepared with love using a longtime family recipe The perogies are made, but not cooked, then

Monteb ello Basil Marinara

Originally built in 1388, the idyllic Monastery of Montebello has long served as an emblem of agriculture in norther n Italy This is a region prized for its produce, a place where tomatoes go from the vine to the jar within hours of ripening Exclu sively imported by Stonewall Kitchen, Montebello pasta sauces are organic, Bio dynamic® and, most importantly, deli cious

The Basil Marinara combines farm grown tomatoes with aromatic basil, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a soffritto of onions, carrots and celery These ingre dients create a simple and simply sen

frozen and packaged in a resealable standup pouch that maintains freshness in the freezer The two step process for preparing them at home takes minutes and results in authentic flavor and texture every time

Each of the Holy Perogy! flavors are sure to be a crowd pleaser, including Fully Loaded Potato with Cheddar & Bacon, Oh! So Cheesy with Potato & Cheddar, Sizzlin’ Fried Onion with Potato, and Kickin’ Jalapeño with Potato & Cheddar

Holy Perogy! www holyperogy info

sational sauce that’s smooth, natu rally sweet and per fectly seasoned Customers will love using it to plate up a generous serving of spaghetti and meat balls or layering it with lasagne to bring Italian authen ticity to any dish

Stonewall Kitchen www.stonewallkitchen.com

TRADESHOWCALENDAR

(dates subject to change)

January 15 18

Winter Fancy Food Show Las Vegas, Nevada www specialtyfood com

February 1 3

North American Association of Food Equipment Mfg Orlando, Florida www nafem org

February 26 28

National Grocers Association Las Vegas, Nevada www nationalgrocers org

March 2 3

Tastemaker Conference Chicago, Illinois www tastemakerconference com

March 5 7

International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of New York New York City, New York www internationalrestaurantny com

March 5 7

Coffee Fest New York City, New York www coffeefest com/new york

March 5 7

Healthy Food Expo New York City, New York www internationalrestaurantny com

March 7 11

Natural Products Expo West Anaheim, California www expowest com

March 28 30

International Pizza Expo Las Vegas, Nevada www pizzaexpo pizzatoday com

April 18 19

Ingredient Marketplace, SupplySide East Secaucus, New Jersey east supplysideshow com

May 7 10

Craft Brewers & Brew Expo America Nashville, Tennessee www brewersassociation org

May 8 11

Food Safety Summit Rosemont, Illinois www foodsafetysummit com

May 22 25

Sweets and Snacks Expo Chicago, Illinois www sweetsandsnacks com

June 4 6

Dairy Deli Bake Seminar & Expo Anaheim, California www iddba org

June 16 18

International Society of Sports Nutrition Fort Lauderdale, Florida www sportsnutritionsociety org

June 25 27

Summer Fancy Food Show New York City, New York www specialtyfood com

July 9 11

School Nutrition Association Denver, Colorado www schoolnutrition org

August 28 30

Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo Los Angeles, California www westernfoodexpo com

The Beverage Forum Returns to Chicago

For 27 years, The Beverage Forum has brought together beverage executives, dis tributors, marketing and brand teams and innovative suppliers for two days of learn ing and networking with some of the most progressive leaders in the industry

This year ’ s forum will be May 2 3 at the Westin Chicago River North

Brian Sudano, managing partner of Bev erage Marketing Corporation, will present a m a r k e t t re n d s w o r k s h o p o n a l c o h o l i c b e v e r a g e s T h e a l c o h o l i c b e v e r a g e s e g m e n t h a s re c e n t l y g o n e t h ro u g h a t r a n s f o r m a t i o n w i t h t h e e x p l o s i o n o f h a rd s e l t z e r A m u l t i t u d e o f c h a n g e s h a v e o c c u r re d i n b e v e r a g e s a n d c o m p a n i e s a s C O V I D 1 9 h a s d r a m a t i c a l l y i m p a c t e d t h e b u s i n e s s c re a t i n g a w h o l e n e w d y n a m i c f o r t h e i n d u s t r y Wi t h a n i n d e p t h re v i e w o f g ro w t h rates, projections, consumer patterns, cat e g o r y c h a l l e n g e s a n d m u c h m o re , S u d a n o w i l l g i v e a d e t a i l e d l o o k a t t h e d e v e l o p m e n t s t h a t a re s h a p i n g t o d a y ’ s a l c o h o l i c b e v e r a g e m a r k e t p l a c e w i t h a v i e w t o t h e f u t u re H e w i l l a l s o e x p l o re w h i c h c a t e g o r y b e e r, w i n e o r s p i r i t s i s w i n n i n g a n d w h y

Gary Hemphill, COO of research at Bev erage Marketing Corporation, will lead a market trends workshop on non alcoholic beverages The market for refreshment bev erages has proven resilient in the face of a pandemic But not all categories are created equal: Learn which categories have thrived and which have struggled in this challeng ing environment

The workshop will dig into the data and provide details on categor y performance and discuss the trends driving that per formance, touching on traditional cate gories as well as emerging ones Michael Bellas, chairman and CEO of Beverage Mar keting Corporation will give the opening address on “The Wellness and Functional Future: How a Dynamic Beverage Category is Poised to Meet Consumer Needs ”

A panel will discuss “Transforming Brands and Transcending Categories” Pan elists include John Shea, chief marketing officer of Mark Anthony Brands Inc ; An gela Smith, manager, consumer insights and engagement, Talking Rain Beverage Company; and moderator Kevin Lane Keller of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth

T h e p a n e l i s t s w i l l d i s c u s s h o w i n n o v a t i o n i s t h e f u e l f o r g ro w t h a n d v i t a l t o t h e l o n g t e r m s u c c e s s o f a n y o rg a n i z a t i o n B e v e r a g e m a r k e t e r s a re t a k i n g t h e l e a d t o f i n d n e w w a y s t o c re a t e a n d d e l i v e r v a l u e f o r c o n s u m e r s a n d f o r t h e i r c o m p a n i e s T h e y a re re d e f i n i n g w h a t t h e i r b r a n d s s t a n d f o r a n d t h e d i ff e re n t k i n d s o f b e n e f i t s t h e y p ro v i d e To p b e v e r a g e m a r k e t e r s w i l l s h a re h o w t h e y a re s h a p i n g a n d a c t i v a t i n g t h e i r v i s i o n s f o r w h a t t h e i r b r a n d s c a n b e

S u d a n o w i l l m o d e r a t e a p a n e l d i s c u s s i o n o f “ G e n e r a t i n g t h e F u t u re B e v e r a g e S p a c e ” w i t h S t e p h e n E l l s w o r t h , c o f o u n d e r a n d C E O o f p o p p i ; J o e P e l e g , f o u n d e r a n d C E O o f T h e F u n Wi n e C o m p a n y ; a n d J a s o n S h i v e r, C E O o f Wa t e r l o o

S p a r k l i n g Wa t e r P i o n e e r i n g t h e n e x t b e v e r a g e b r a n d s t h a t w i l l s a t i a t e c o n s u m e r s ’ n e e d s a n d wants is no easy task, but this panel of in n o v a t o r s w i l l d e t a i l w h a t t re n d s a re d r i v i n g t o d a y ’ s s u c c e s s f u l n e w b e v e r a g e l a u n c h e s W h e t h e r i t b e t h ro u g h g ro u n d b re a k i n g i n g re d i e n t s o l u t i o n s o r h y b r i d f o r m u l a t i o n s , t h e b e v e r a g e s o f t o m o r ro w h a v e b ro k e n a w a y f ro m t r a d i t i o n a l m o d e l s w h e n c r a f t i n g t h e s e v i s i o n a r y s o l u t i o n s

Caroline Levy, founder of Caroline Levy Advisor y Ser vices, will moderate a panel discussion, “A Wall Street Perspective on the Beverage Market” with Bonnie Herzog, managing director at Goldman Sachs; Car los Laboy, managing director, global bever age sector head at HSBC and Robert Ottenstein, senior managing director at Evercore ISI

The pandemic’s effect on the beverage market has touched all facets However, manufacturers have re examined portfo lios, growth projections, capital expendi tures and much more to remain competitive Wall Street analysts will offer their insights about which beverage players have recovered, thrived or are still playing catch up in today’s market

Steve Pintarelli will moderate a panel on “The Driving Forces of Innovation” with Chris Sinclair, global head of product opti mization at NielsenIQ BASES; Jason Cohen, founder and CEO of Gastrograph AI; and Wade Schmelzer, principal food sci entist at Cargill

W h e n d i s c u s s i n g t h e f u t u re o f b e v e r a g e s , m a n y a re q u i c k t o t h i n k o f t h e f i n i s h e d p ro d u c t s l i n i n g s t o re s h e l v e s B u t all of those packaged beverages with their f u n c t i o n a l i t y, f l a v o r s a n d p a c k c o n c e p t s o r i g i n a t e d l o n g b e f o re t h o s e f i n a l p ro d u c t s E x p e r t p a n e l i s t s w i l l h i g h l i g h t t h e re s e a rc h a n d d e v e l o p m e n t t h a t g o e s i n t o s u p p o rt i n g b e v e r a g e m a k e r s f u t u re i n n o v a t i o n s

Danny Stepper, co founder and CEO of L A Libations, LLC, will moderate a panel talk on “Retail’s Next Steps” with Mark Wilkins, director of grocery beverage and beer/wine at Sprouts Farmers Market; and Brian Gonzalez, director of beverage and soda at CVS Health

With the pandemic prompting more con sumers to embrace omnichannel shopping, retail outlets are finding more ways to am plify the in store experience whether through technology upgrades, diversified portfolios or in person engagement all while balancing the variables that e com merce has unleashed on day to day opera tions

Keynote speakers include Mallika Mon teiro, EVP, chief growth, strategy and digital officer at

Constellation Brands; Mark Rampolla co founder and PowerPlant Partners founder, ZICO Beverages; Brendan Whit worth, CEO, Anheuser Busch; and Albert Baladi, president & CEO, Beam Suntor y Brad Goist, COO Refresco North American, will deliver the closing keynote and re marks