Gourmet News November 2015

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Herbicide Proliferation and Cancer Link Enough Reason to Require GMO Labeling, Says Advocate

BY LORRIE BAUMANN

The real reason to be concerned about genetically engineered crops is not food safety. Rather it’s the increased use of the herbicide glyphosate that’s made possible, and perhaps even inevitable, by these crops, according to Gary Hirshberg, Chairman of the advocacy organization Just Label It! as well as Chairman and former President and CEO of Stonyfield Farm.

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, was called “probably carcinogenic to humans” in May by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an agency of the World Health Organization. In

Just as California’s Silicon Valley has a justly deserved worldwide reputation as a center of excellence in computing and information technology, Italy has a “Food Valley” with an equally deserved worldwide reputation, according to Massimo Cannas.

Cannas is an Italian-American food importer and broker who’s a familiar figure in the exhibit halls of the Fancy Food Shows, particularly in the Italian food areas, as

Joel Salatin on Defying Food Myths

the same report, IARC classified the insecticides malathion and diazinon as probably carcinogenic to humans and the insecticides tetrachlorvinphos and parathion as possibly carcinogenic to humans. The report notes limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans for nonHodgkin’s lymphoma and lung cancer with evidence from studies of exposures in the U.S., Canada and Sweden published since 2001.

“In addition, there is convincing evidence that glyphosate also can cause cancer in laboratory animals,” the report notes.

That report prompted the French government to ban sales of glyphosate to consumers, and re-

tailers in Germany have begun voluntarily pulling products containing glyphosate from their shelves, according to Chemical & Engineering News. Monsanto has asked Intertek Scientific & Regulatory Consultancy to convene a panel of experts to review the IARC report and points to a statement by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, which says it’s too soon to say what the IARC report means because there are a number of long-term studies of the effects of glyphosate on mice and rats that were not considered by IARC. “IARC received and purposefully

well as throughout the entire specialty food industry. He founded specialty food brokerage MAXCO International in 1995 and has clients across the country. Now, he’s expanding his enterprises with the founding of Cibo California, a new specialty food import business based in southern California. Federico Pavoncelli is the company’s Co-Founder and Executive Vice President. “I am so

proud that he has joined the company and shares its vision,” Cannas says. “He is a great person that I respect very much.”

As President and CEO of Cibo California, Cannas plans to source a wide selection of authentic Italian food specialties and import them into the U.S. He and his partners, all first-generation

Every society has its orthodoxies, and some of them look foolish later. One of today’s is that cheap food and high quality can happen at the same time, says Joel Salatin, a full-time farmer in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and a leader in the American sustainable farming movement. “Five hundred fifty years ago, you would have been laughed out of the room if you’d dared to suggest that the Earth was round. The flat Earth idea was quite ubiquitous in the world and that was the orthodoxy of the day. We look back and laugh,” he told an enthusiastic audience during a keynote speech in Baltimore at this year’s Natural Products Expo East.

Americans spend a smaller percentage of their total consumer expenditures on food than do the residents of any other country in the world, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. There are countries where residents spend less per capita on their food, but

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Authentic Italian Food at a Fair Price from Cibo California

BY LORRIE BAUMANN

SMALL ELECTRICS

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BY LORRIE BAUMANN

American Demand for Organic Food Outstrips U.S. Production

BY LORRIE BAUMANN

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has just released figures that tell us how well organic farmers are doing in the marketplace. The big surprise?

While U.S. sales of organic food products broke records this year, the number of acres of farmland devoted to organic agriculture in this country declined between 2008 and 2014.

The USDA found 14,540 organic farms in the U.S. in 2008, compared to 14,093 in 2014.

The number of acres devoted to organic production declined from just over 4 million in

2008 to 3.67 million in 2014.

The figures come from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, which gathered information on all known certified organic, exempt and transitioning organic farms throughout the U.S. in the first few months of this year. “Exempt” refers to farms that follow national organic standards but have less than $5,000 in annual sales. These farms are allowed to use the term “organic;” they just can’t use the USDA Organic seal. Transitioning farms are those that are converting acreage to organic

production but haven’t reached the three-year period under organic management that’s required before produce raised on that acreage can be certified as organic.

While the acreage devoted to organic agriculture in this country has fallen, purchases of organic food have been growing.

In the U.S. last year, consumers spent $35.9 billion on organic food, representing 4 percent of total food sales, and an 11 percent increase over the previous year, according to the Organic Trade Association. The majority of American households in all

regions of the country now purchase organic food, from 68 to almost 80 percent of households in southern states to nearly 90 percent on the West Coast and in New England, the OTA says.

The total market value of organic agricultural products sold

by American farmers in 2014 was $5.5 billion, of which $3.3 billion was for crops, including vegetables, fruit, nuts, grain, hay and soybeans, and $2.2 billion was livestock, poultry and products like milk and eggs. Milk is by far Continued on PAGE 6

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As we go to press with the November issues of our magazines, we’re anticipating the release of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, which are due out before the end of the year. Preliminary indications are that the guidelines won’t be much different from those issued in 2010 and that they’ll call on Americans to eat more fruits and vegetables and to limit their intake of saturated fats.

What they won’t do is suggest that Americans avoid meat altogether, in spite of some expressed concerns that meat, especially meat from large animals such as cows, may put more of a burden on the environment than plant foods that supply the same number of calories.

Once they’re released, the Dietary Guide-

lines will affect a whole range of federal programs over the next five years until the next iteration of the Dietary Guidelines is issued. The programs that will be affected include school lunch requirements, regulations for federal food programs including SNAP and WIC and the rules for the Nutrition Facts labels on the foods on grocery store shelves. Given the complexity of the role that the Dietary Guidelines play in federal food policy, it’s surely enough that their recommendations consider the vast body of what we know about human nutritional requirements rather than also burdening them with responsibility for interpreting all we do and don’t know about the environmental impacts of our diet.

That’s not to say that environmental impacts aren’t crucial issues that deserve our full consideration. They are. But the Dietary Guidelines already have enough to do without asking them to save the Earth

as well.

And in other news, Kitchenware News welcomes the contributions of Senior Associate Editor Richard Thompson and Associate Editor Micah Cheek to its pages.

Theirs are already familiar bylines to the readers of Gourmet News, and we know that you’ll enjoy reading their work. Both of them have culinary experience in restaurant kitchens and are dedicated and passionate writers who are enthusiastic about sharing what they’re learning about how kitchenware manufacturers and retailers are serving the evolving needs of home cooks. Amber Gallegos, who has edited Kitchenware News for the past few months, has left the magazine to pursue other opportunities. We wish her well in her future endeavors. GN

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New & Notes BRIEFS Terry Meyer Named VP of Sales for Rhythm Superfoods Rhythm® Superfoods, which makes plant-based superfood snacks, has named Terry Meyer as its new Vice President of Sales.

Meyer brings more than 20 years of sales, operations and management experience to Rhythm Superfoods. Meyer has previously worked at brands such as Unilever-Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream; Naked Juice, where he led the rapid expansion of the brand into doubledigit growth; Good Health Natural Foods, Inc., where he positioned the brand as a leader in innovation with healthier oils and vegetablebased nutrition in salty snacks; and Podponics.

Meyer will manage the company’s sales team and strategy for continued growth, both with existing product lines and with future plant-based snack innovations.

Michael McManama Appointed as President and CEO, Decas Cranberry Products Inc. Decas Cranberry Products, Inc. of Carver, Massachusetts, announces the appointment of Michael McManama as President and CEO replacing Chuck Dillon effective September 28, 2015. Dillon is retiring.

McManama has had a diverse and successful career having held senior management, marketing, brand, product development, sales and trade management positions with HP Hood, Ocean Spray Cranberries, Papa Gino’s/D’Angelo and most recently, The New England Coffee Company, a Division of Reily Foods Inc. He has a BS degree in Operations from Boston College and an MBA from Suffolk University.

Mini Babybel Awards $50,000 Scholarship Eight-year-old Gabriella Campanario and her father Agostinho Campanario of Issaquah, Washington, have been selected as the grandprize winners in Babybel’s Big Dreamers Contest. The family will be awarded a $50,000 scholarship to help Gabriella achieve her big dream of becoming a professional artist. Mini Babybel also will donate a total of $50,000 to further inspire and support big dreams for kids and teens, with $25,000 going to Boys & Girls Club of America (BCGA) and $25,000 going to the Campanarios’ local Boys & Girls Club of Bellevue in Bellevue, Washington.

Boar’s Head Hummus Earns Non-GMO Project Verification Boar’s Head Brand® announces its line of gluten free hummus flavors are now Non-GMO Project Verified. The Non-GMO Project is North America’s only independent verification for products made according to best practices for GMO avoidance.

The Non-GMO Project Verification Seal will be displayed on Boar’s Head Hummus packaging and serves to reinforce the steadfast commitment to higher standards that Boar’s Head has upheld for 110 years.

Mars Opens Global Food Safety Center in China Mars, Incorporated has opened a Global Food Safety Center near Beijing, China. The company calls the center a first-of-its-kind facility for pre-competitive research and training that aims to raise global food safety standards through collaboration. Convening governments, academics, regulators and industry peers, the Mars Global Food Safety Center is intended to drive global focus on addressing the challenge of food safety, leading to better access, availability and nutrition, as well as reduced food waste and an increase in overall quality of life.

Building on decades of research, the Mars Global Food Safety Center is a $15 million investment in Mars’ ongoing commitment to working with world-leading experts to ensure the safety and security of food for generations of families. In 2014, Mars and the University of California-Davis jointly established the Innovation Institute for Food & Health, fostering a new type of public-private partnership that catalyzes much needed innovation at the intersection of food, agricultural and health.

Grant Reid, President and CEO of Mars, Incorporated, stated: “Food safety is a global issue that concerns us all—business,

governments, academics and the world’s population. Working together across all disciplines is the only way we can truly advance efforts at scale, with the ultimate goal of increasing access to safe nutrition for billions of people around the world.”

With an emphasis on pre-competitive research and collaborative solutions, the Mars Global Food Safety Center will leverage insights and expertise from over 60 Mars partnerships dedicated to innovative, sustainable and responsible food safety practices. The World Food Programme (WFP), the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA), and the IBM/Mars Consortium for Sequencing the Food Supply Chain are among the many organizations Mars is partnering with to try to solve the challenge of feeding a global population expected to grow to nine billion by 2050.

David Crean, Vice President, Corporate Research and Development, at Mars Incorporated, commented: “Unlike an R&D or innovation center focused on product development and improvement, the Mars Global Food Safety Center is a state-of-the-art facility

dedicated to advancing food safety research through collaboration and the pre-competitive sharing of information. We firmly believe that in order to ensure generations of families have access to safe and nutritious food, we must work together to evolve food safety management programs and create robust, sustainable supply chains.”

Located just north of Beijing in Huairou, China, the Mars Global Food Safety Center will employ approximately 30 employees working on food safety research and training, plus a variety of sabbatical positions open to academic and regulatory researchers. Mars selected the location not only because of China’s significant role in the global marketplace, but also to leverage the intensive scientific focus the region is bringing to food supply and safety issues today. The facility will house analytical chemistry and microbiology laboratories, interactive training laboratories and a conference auditorium to enhance knowledge sharing. Through scientific forums and media platforms and events, the Mars Global Food Safety Center will promote the findings of its work in order to help advance others’ research efforts. GN

Pennsylvania Convenience Stores Pilot Test Dinner Kits A Bethlehem, Pennsylvania convenience store is pilot testing a new dinner kit that allows timestarved customers to quickly prepare nourishing family meals in less than 30 minutes. The all-in-one kits provide healthy options to consumers and eliminate three significant downsides to many popular meal-delivery kits: cost, packaging waste and the need to plan a day or more in advance to order them.

Square One Markets is selling The Six O’Clock Scramble Fresh & Fast Family Dinner Kits™, developed by The Six O’Clock Scramble, a company dedicated to sharing fresh and fast family dinner solutions. The dinner kits provide all-in-one meal ingredients and recipe cards that contain everything time-stressed families need to prepare a fast, fresh meal.

They sell for around $20 and are designed to feed a family of four. At $5 per person, the dinner kits are less than half the price of mealdelivery services — and without the packaging waste and carbon footprint from shipping.

The kits also will feature some locally grown

and produced ingredients from the Bethlehem area.

The September 30 launch at the Square One Markets store in Bethlehem included cooking demonstrations and recipe sampling featuring the creator of the dinner kits, renowned cookbook author and The Six O’Clock Scramble CEO Aviva Goldfarb.

Square One Markets and The Six O’Clock Scramble worked with the Project on Nutrition & Wellness (PNW) and the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) to develop the family dinner kits. Square One Markets, with nine stores in the area, is conducting a 10-week pilot test of the concept with a different dinner offered each week.

“The evening hours are when families stress about dinner preparation plans. It also is the most popular time to buy gasoline. This is a great way to combine two trips into one,” said Square One Markets CEO Lisa Dell’Alba.

Only 50 percent of families today have dinner together at least five nights a week, and

one in three American children is obese. “The family meal kits provide a convenient and affordable solution for busy families, and gets them on their way quickly to a healthy family meal,” said Goldfarb.

Families that want to cook more meals together but can’t say that the main reasons are busy schedules (43 percent) and they are too tired after school or work (31 percent), according consumer data from NACS. This dinner kit addresses both obstacles.

Meanwhile, demand for meal kits is there.

More than three in four consumers (77 percent) say that they would be interested in purchasing an all-in-one meal kit from a store.

Convenience store customers are especially receptive: 85 percent of weekly convenience store customers would purchase a dinner meal kit, according to survey data.

Square One Markets Inc. is a convenience, food and gasoline retail chain with nine stores operating across five counties in Pennsylvania.

The chain is headquartered in Bethlehem. GN

Stonyfield Organics Offers Leave to New Parents Beginning in July 2016, Stonyfield, a New Hampshire-based organic yogurt maker, will offer six months of paid maternity leave to mothers or the primary caregiver in the case of same-sex couples. “At Stonyfield, our mission is healthy food, healthy people and a healthy planet. This is the epitome of healthy people, supporting our employees so they can focus on raising healthy chil-

dren from the start,” stated Sue Melvin, Stonyfield’s Vice President of Human Resources.

Stonyfield employs more than 300 people at its New Hampshire facility and remotely.

Of these employees, 36 percent are women.

The Working Parent Support Coalition was conceived by leaders at Danone’s U.S.based companies and the founding mem-

bers are U.S.-based divisions and subsidiaries of Barclays, Danone, Ernst & Young, KKR and Nestle. Leaders from each joined together to announce the Coalition, which is the first of its kind, and is committed to supporting workplace wellness improvements for parents and newborns and inspiring other companies to join in the movement. GN

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NEWS & NOTES

GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2015 www.gourmetnews.com

Supermarket Refrigerant Recognized in R&D Competition Honeywell’s new Solstice® refrigerant for supermarket refrigeration has been named a finalist for the R&D 100 Awards, sponsored by R&D Magazine.

Often referred to as the “Oscars of Invention,” the R&D 100 Awards honors the 100 most innovative technologies and services of the past year. Evaluated with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Solstice N40 (R-448A) refrigerant replaces highglobal-warming refrigerants in supermarket applications. It is part of a growing line of Solstice products for applications ranging from auto air conditioning to highlyenergy efficient appliance and building insulation, that have significantly lower global warming potential.

“Naming Solstice N40 a finalist for this award recognizes more than a decade of research and investment that resulted in new solutions to help end customers lower their greenhouse gas impact while complying with new and anticipated regulations,” said George Koutsaftes, Refrigerants Business Director for Honeywell Fluorine Products.

“In addition to its lower environmental impact, Solstice N40 is highly energy efficient, giving supermarket owners an added benefit.”

Solstice N40 was nominated by the publication in the Mechanical Devices/Materials category.

“This was a particularly strong year for research and development, led by many

outstanding technologies that broadened the scope of innovation,” said R&D Magazine Editor Lindsay Hock. “We are honored to recognize these products and the project teams behind the design, development, testing, and production of these remarkable innovations and their impact in the field.

We look forward to celebrating the winners on November 13 in Las Vegas.”

Global regulators are increasingly moving to phase out high-global-warming refrigerants and, on July 20, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published landmark regulations that will phase out the use of many hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants. The new regulation, effective July 2016. GN

Organic Food Continued from PAGE 1 the most important organic livestock and poultry product in the U.S. market. farmers have also American become global suppliers of fresh organic produce, with more than $550 million worth of organic products exported from the U.S. in 2014, according to an OTA study released in April. The top five organic products exported from the U.S. in 2014 were apples, lettuce, grapes, spinach and strawberries. However, imports of organic product outpaced those exports, amounting to nearly $1.3 billion in 2014. The top five organic imported products are coffee, soybeans, olive oil, bananas and wine. “At the rate that organic is growing, organic will double in size in six years. The current theory that my company is using is that by 2020 we [organic producers] will be at least 10 percent of the U.S. food market. How are we going to do that if we lack the raw materials? We are importing more soybeans than we produce, significantly more than we produce,” said Lynn Clarkson, President of Clarkson Grain.

He noted that in 2013, U.S. imports of organic corn went up by 67 percent, with much of that coming from Romania.

India is an important source of the soybeans imported into the U.S., according to Clarkson. “We are turning over our best markets to other countries,” he said.

“When you can’t find supply, you go to countries that are organic by default.

Until we can tell American farmers that there’s a secure market, we need to convince them that it’s good enough that they can step in.... Every small town has a ‘table of wisdom,’ and many of those tables are extraordinarily adverse to organic farming. With the downturn in corn prices, farmers are starting to pay more attention to the possibility, and that’s making cultural concerns less important as economic concerns grow.”

Also from the USDA report, 10 states account for 78 percent of all organic sales in the U.S. California alone produced $2.2 billion worth of organic products in 2014 from 2,805 certified and exempt organic farms and a total of 687,168 acres devoted to organic production, up from 470,903 in 2008. California farmers accounted for half of all organic crops produced in the U.S. in 2014. Washington, in second place, produced 12 percent of organic crops in the U.S. and totaled up $515 million in organic sales. In order, the top 10 states in organic sales were California, Washington, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Wisconsin, Texas, New York, Colorado, Michigan and Iowa.

California also leads the nation in organic livestock and poultry sales, with $271 million, or 41 percent of all organic livestock sales in the U.S. and $301 million in livestock and poultry products – milk and eggs. Pennsylvania came in second in livestock and poultry sales with $112 million, or 17 percent of all organic livestock sales. Wisconsin came in second in organic livestock and poultry product sales, with $127 million or 8 percent of the U.S. total. GN

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NEWS & NOTES

GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2015 www.gourmetnews.com

Consumers Spending More on Specialty Food Specialty food is drawing a new crowd this year. Men are stepping up purchases, less affluent shoppers are buying a wide variety of products like artisanal cheese and singleorigin chocolate, and Millennials are showing their age at the store.

These are some of the findings of new consumer research from the Specialty Food Association in conjunction with Mintel International. Specialty food consumers report spending one in three food dollars on specialty food, up from one in four in 2014. This comes as specialty food sales topped $100 billion for the first time in 2014 and continue to grow, according to the research.

While food shopping used to be seen as a woman’s work, for the first time since this research began in 2005, men have surpassed women slightly as most likely to purchase specialty food. The prized Millennial consumer is starting to get older, and those pushing 40 are spending more on meal ingredients than the snacks and treats favored by the younger set. Millennials favor convenience: they shop in the broadest range of retail outlets and spend the most on takeout and ready-toeat meals. More than half of specialty food consumers said they purchase specialty food online, and nearly a third said that they’re looking for an online delivery

service.

Consumers with annual incomes of $75,000 are twice as likely as those earning less than $50,000 to be specialty food buyers, yet the less affluent are buying the same wide range of specialty foods. The core specialty food consumer is now between the ages of 25 and 44 with a household income greater than $75,000 and a home on the East or West Coast. Specialty food consumers spend $113 per week on food they prepare at home, up from $92 per week in 2014.

Treats are trending. Consumers rank perennial specialty food favorites cheese and chocolate among their top five picks,

plus ice cream and frozen desserts; coffee, and cookies, brownies, cakes and pies.

Foods seen as healthy, such as tea, yogurt and kefir, and nuts, seeds, and dried fruit and vegetables, are rising in popularity.

About one in three specialty food dollars are spent on products with an all-natural or organic claim. Forty three percent of those surveyed said they try specialty foods to eat foods that avoid artificial ingredients and preservatives.

These findings are based on an online survey conducted in July 2015 of 1,683 adults aged 18+. The results are published in the fall issue of Specialty Food Magazine. GN

Joel Salatin

prise to us that we would be a healthier culture if the government had never told us how to eat.”

As a nation, American farmers have decided to invest in drugs, capital expenditures and energy intensity rather than farm management strategies that require people on the ground, and that has resulted in declines in the number of farmers and in their economic and cultural status in our society as well as in increasing pollution. What Americans should be doing instead of reducing food costs through these strategies is to manage their food expenditures by buying highquality fresh foods and cooking them at home rather than buying processed

foods, according to Salatin. “You don’t need to pay $3.99 a pound for potato chips,” he said. “Just go home and slice it up and fry it, and then you’ve got real nutrition – especially if you fried in lard,” he said.

Another way to reduce food cost is to move food supplies more efficiently from farms to consumers, Salatin said. He predicted that brick and mortar grocery stores are becoming obsolete, and electronic aggregation and distribution like that practiced by Amazon will become the way of the future. Already, he’s selling 40 percent of his farm produce through an electronic shopping cart maintained by a metropolitan buying club that’s able to

drop the price of that produce below that offered by local warehouse stores because the buying club doesn’t have to pay for the brick and mortar infrastructure of a retail store.

Another myth that will seem foolish in the future is that organically and naturally produced food can’t actually feed the world’s population. That’s not a new myth, according to Salatin.

In 1910, the world had run out of unexplored regions, and what happened was a worldwide fear that the planet was overpopulated and would run out of food, he said. Experts thought that we were running out of soil, and that meant that we were going to starve to death, he said. Out of this developed two parallel schools of thought about how to deal with the situation. One school of thought said that all of life was a reconfiguration of potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus. Then there was another school, the naturalist, who said that life was not fundamentally mechanical, it was fundamentally biological, according to Salatin. “Both sides moved forward with their approaches,” he said.

The process for describing aerobic composting was described in 1943 by Sir Albert Howard, but by then, the world was distracted by World War II. “What the world was wanting at that time was not compost; they needed explosives,” Salatin said.

Then, after World War II, the factories that had been using nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus to make explosives turned to making cheap chemical fertilizer that farmers could use instead of composting animal manure. “Sir Albert Howard had another idea, but we were tired of shoveling,” Salatin said. “It took a while for our side to develop all of the infrastructure necessary to come up to speed with the requirements of Sir Albert Howard’s gift of compost.”

“Life is fundamentally biological not mechanical. The soil is not lifeless, inert material. The soil is the most amazing foundation of life – the foundation being invisible. When do we think about that in our lives? Nobody ever thinks about it,” he said. “The orthodoxy out there is that Nature is a reluctant partner that we must subdue. What we have learned is that Nature is a benevolent lover that responds to caresses and wants to bless us with abundance beyond anything we could imagine.” GN

Continued from PAGE 1 they’re the likes of Colombia, Bulgaria and South Africa. On the other hand, Americans spend more on health care than do the citizens of the vast majority of other countries, according to the Global Health Observatory Data Repository. “We suggest, the weirdos, the heretics of our culture, dare to suggest that maybe we would be a healthier culture if we spent more on food,” Salatin said. “Think about how the experts told us to eat hydrogenated margarines instead of butter and lard. It should not be a sur-

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NEWS & NOTES

GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2015 www.gourmetnews.com

Litehouse Foods Names Brent Carr SVP of Sales and Marketing Litehouse Foods has named Brent Carr to the executive role of Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. In his new role, Carr will report directly to President and CEO Jim Frank and lead the company’s fast-paced growth in the dressings, dips, cheese and herbs categories.

A graduate of Boise State University with a degree in marketing, Carr is a 30-year industry veteran who spent the first 15 years

of his career at consumer packaged goods giant, Colgate-Palmolive. He then expanded his skill set with deep experience in the produce industry, working at Fresh Express for 10 years leading its national account teams. Carr joined Litehouse in 2009 to help build the value-added channel and was promoted to Vice President of sales in 2012.

“Brent has been instrumental in helping

our brand achieve year-over-year double digit growth in our category, creating deep relationships with our customers and working cross-functionally at Litehouse to achieve outstanding results,” Frank said.

“He is widely respected in the produce business, and we are proud to have him lead our sales and marketing teams.”

Carr lives in Idaho with his wife Lorri.

He has four children and a granddaughter.

“My focus in this new role will be to align our sales and marketing teams and strive to strengthen our cross-functional relationships with our customers in each channel,” he said. “Litehouse is a fast-growing brand, and I am excited to work with our team to continue to build category-leadership and innovation.” GN

GMO Labeling

cally engineered varieties have evolved any faster or any slower than genetically engineered crops,” he said.

He pointed out that use of glyphosate by American farmers has grown greatly because genetically engineered crops are designed to withstand the effects of the herbicide, which means that the herbicide can now be applied throughout the growing season. “Glyphosate is now the most-used agrichemical in our country,” he said.

Increased use of glyphosate and other herbicides has led to the evolution of herbicideresistant weeds that have become a nuisance to American farmers, according to Hirshberg.

“Today, more than 61.2 million acres of U.S. farmland are infested with weeds resistant to Roundup,” he said.

In response, farmers are being encouraged to use a solution of a stronger herbicide, 2,4D, which is a component of the Agent Orange defoliant used during the Vietnam War, according to Hirshberg. “You have the foxes guarding the henhouse telling us what is and isn’t harmful,” he said. “That was effective for one season, but now we have 2,4-D-resistant weeds being developed. We’re using more and more of this stuff and getting less and less results.... Farmers are becoming more and more dependent on this herbicide treadmill without seeing any effect.”

Glyphosate is commonly found in the air and in rain and streams in Iowa and Mississippi, said environmental scientist Paul Capel, Research Team Leader for the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Quality Assessment Program, who spoke by telephone a few days after Hirshberg’s presentation at NPEE. His team measured the incidence of glyphosate in air and rainwater samples in both Iowa, where glyphosate is primarily used on corn and soybean crops, and in Mississippi, where glyphosate is used on a wider range of crops and in non-agricultural areas throughout the

growing season. The analyses found glyphosate in the air in weekly samples taken in Mississippi during the growing season from April through October 86 percent of the time in 2007 and 100 percent of the time in 2008.

Glyphosate was found in Mississippi rainwater samples 73 percent of the time in 2007 and 68 percent of the time in 2008.

For rainwater, the USGS team found glyphosate in the water in 73 percent of the samples in 2007 and 68 percent in 2008 in Mississippi. In Iowa, the team found glyphosate in 71 percent of the samples in 2007 and 63 percent of the samples in 2008.

Capel was also involved in a 2004 study in Indiana that found glyphosate present in rain water 92 percent of the time.

Despite the chemical’s presence in air and rainwater, there’s little evidence at this point that glyphosate is a danger to groundwater supplies. Studies have shown that glyphosate is rarely detected in shallow groundwater, Capel said. He noted that glyphosate is typically applied by spraying from an airplane or mechanized equipment on the ground, and as it’s sprayed, some fraction of the chemical enters the air directly and never makes it to the ground. Of the chemical that does make it to the ground, some will be tied up in the soil, and thus unavailable to percolate into the groundwater.

While Capel’s USGS research documents that glyphosate is frequently found in rivers, streams and the air in areas where it’s heavily used on farm fields, the jury is still out on what that means about the health risk to humans, which depends both on level of exposure and how bioreactive the chemical is, according to Capel. “We’re trying to document environmental concentration off of the farm fields,” he said. “This is the exposure part of the health risk.”

He noted that scientists have associated glyphosate exposure with a number of differ-

ent health issues, including autism, cancer and kidney disease. “Most of these studies are still under debate,” he said. “There’s not a clear linkage between exposure and some sort of detrimental end point.... These are questions that still need to be asked.”

Banning the chemical is not an immediate solution to this problem, according to Hirshberg. “The simple reality is, with fire retardants for an example, it’s been a 30-year fight. You need epidemiological research. You need deep pockets for lobbyists,” he said.

His organization is advocating in favor of mandatory labeling of foods containing GMOs, which he believes would create consumer pressure on manufacturers to exclude GMOs from their products. If farmers couldn’t sell their genetically engineered Roundup Ready crops, they’d revert to conventional crops that can’t withstand glyphosate’s effects, so they wouldn’t spray so much glyphosate, he reasons.

His immediate objective on the way to that larger goal is to stop passage of the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015, which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in July with the expectation that it would face a tougher fight in the Senate. The bill allows for voluntary labeling of GMO ingredients but prohibits states from requiring mandatory labeling. Opponents of the bill typically refer to it as the DARK Act, which stands for “Denying Americans the Right to Know.”

“Our mission is not just to stop this bill,” Hirshberg said. “Our mission is to get mandatory labeling.... The real critical societal question is if we’re going to be a society that’s satisfied with labeling the absence, or are we going to say what’s in it.... The reality is we vote every time we shop, and unless we have information, we can’t vote.... The other side has spent over $100 million denying your right to know. What are they hiding?” GN

licious products that are being produced for commercial sale in Italy today, according to Cannas. Over the past 30 years or so, the Italian specialty foods industry has developed from a few large companies that made products characteristic of the owners’ culinary traditions. For years, those companies dominated the export market to the U.S., leaving many Americans with the impression that once they’d tasted, and come to love, those products, they knew all there was to know about Italian food.

But Italy is a country, not with a few basic recipes for foods that the entire country has in common, but with a multitude of intensely local culinary traditions, Cannas says. As he speaks, the Italian-accented words begin to tumble over themselves as they rush to explain why this is important to American consumers. “When you drive for 10 miles in Italy, you find yourself every

10 miles in a new Italy. Nothing is similar to what you tasted 10 miles ago. In Italy, we have dialects. Every 10 miles, there is a different dialect.

Everyone speaks Italian, but between neighbors, they speak local dialects. With that, the varieties of wine are different. The kind of bread is different. The pasta, the soup, the meat, the fish, the cured meats, the cheese, the extra virgin olive oil, the wine, the mineral water, the cookies, they’re all different. This is why Italy is so very interesting to the food lover. It’s always a discovery, day after day.”

“For an example, recently I found a producer who makes what I consider the very best hand-made breadsticks,” he continues.

“We drove for six hours in the rain and wind to arrive for a visit with this artisan that produces these breadsticks, which are

very unique. It’s a family-owned company, and after a couple of hours, they have granted us the exclusive right for distribution in the U.S. Now it’s up to us to translate this to the American consumers and to restaurants, but we are positive that we are going to be successful.... Americans today are excited to discover these new things coming from Italy. It’s no longer spaghetti and meatballs and pizza. There are specialty foods from every region to be discovered here. This is what we are trying to do. This is exactly why Cibo California is excited to discover for all of our customers and for everyone who loves food and who loves Italy.”

For more information, visit www.cibo california.com or call Cibo California at 949.427.5555. To place orders, call 800.991.5199. GN

Continued from PAGE 1 disregarded dozens of scientific studies – specifically genetic toxicity studies – that support the conclusion glyphosate is not a human health risk,” says a statement issued

by Monsanto. “IARC’s classification is inconsistent with the numerous multi-year, comprehensive assessments conducted by hundreds of scientists from countries worldwide who are responsible for ensuring public safety.”

The suspicion that there might be a link between glyphosate and cancer as well as increased use of herbicides on American crops due to the development of glyphosate-resistant weeds should be enough reason to require food manufacturers to label products that contain genetically-modified ingredients, Hirshberg said. “The reality is, how can you say that GMOs are safe when there’s a direct correlation to herbicide use,” he said. “I have not said a word about whether GMOs are safe to eat or not. We don’t bother going there.” Hirshberg made the remarks during Natural Products Expo East, held September 16-19 in Baltimore.

“Though poll after poll has shown that more than 90 percent of consumers want labeling, there is no consistent answer about why people are concerned about GMOs,” he said. “In a civil society, we would let people know, and then let them find out.”

Hirshberg noted that in the 19 years since the first genetically engineered corn was introduced into the marketplace with the promise of crops with higher yields and greater drought-resistance, farmers have seen much different results. “There’s no evidence that there’s been higher yields in corn and soybeans versus non-genetically engineered crops. There’s no evidence that non-geneti-

Cibo California Continued from PAGE 1 Italian-Americans who speak Italian as their native language, will use their knowledge of Italian culinaria as well as their Italian language skills and their ability to navigate the culture to bring authentic Italian specialty food products to an American public that’s eager to taste them, Cannas says. “Thanks to my relationships with the food producers, I have had the opportunity to find products from suppliers who have opened every door to me,” he says. “My face is known there, and I have had the chance to explain what the company is about..

The Italian foods that most Americans are already familiar with are but a small sampling of the range of authentic and de-

GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2015 www.gourmetnews.com

NEWS & NOTES

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Partners Artisan Hors D’Oeuvre Crackers Since 1992, Partners, A Tasteful Choice Company, has been making wholesome and delicious crackers made exclusively with high quality ingredients. One of the company’s top selling lines is Partners Artisan Hors D’Oeuvre Crackers. Approximately 2 inches by 3 inches in size, these hearty crisp crackers are excellent for pairing with toppings and spreads and are often used when creating elegant party platters.

Partners Artisan Hors D’Oeuvre Crackers are available in a variety of flavors, including customer favorites Roasted Garlic & Rosemary and Olive Oil & Sea Salt and the most recent addition to the line, Everything & More.

The Roasted Garlic & Rosemary crackers combine freshly roasted garlic, made by hand at Partners, with a sprinkle of rosemary to create the mild garlic taste that customers crave. Try pairing these crackers with goat cheese and fig jam for a delectable flavor combination.

The Olive Oil & Sea Salt crackers are seasoned with the perfect amount of sea salt, making them an excellent platform for every topping, from hummus to the most extravagant cheeses.

The Everything & More crackers consist of a touch of olive oil, a blend of organic whole grains: stone ground wheat, dark rye, sprouted wheat, amaranth, and quinoa; six different types of seeds: chia, poppy, white sesame, black sesame, flax, and caraway; along with freshly roasted garlic and onion.

These crackers truly are Everything & More!

Partners Artisan Hors D’Oeuvre Crackers are packaged in cellophane trays in approximately five ounce cartons, six cartons per case. The cartons feature two front facing sides, allowing for both vertical or horizontal display. As with all Partners products, these hearty crackers are nonGMO, certified kosher, and do not contain any artificial flavorings or preservatives. GN

Klondike Cheese Launches Refreshed Packaging for Odyssey Feta Klondike Cheese Company of Monroe, Wisconsin, is proud to announce the launch of refreshed packaging for its Odyssey® brand feta cheese. It showcases Klondike’s masterfully authentic cheese with Greek-inspired imagery, emphasizing the authentic Greek tradition used by Klondike’s five master cheese makers.

The eye-catching new packaging is designed to appeal to customers and increase retail sales velocity.

“Our new Odyssey packaging highlight Klondike’s commitment to both state-of-the-art cheese making while remaining true to authentic recipes and tradition,” said Teena Buholzer, Marketing Director at Klondike Cheese Com-

pany. “We understand what our feta cheese customer likes and responds to, and we designed our Odyssey feta packaging to appeal to that demographic.”

For more information about Klondike Cheese and Odyssey, including detailed information about retail and food service bulk www.klondikecheese.com. GN

products,

visit

Convenience Stores Poised to Grow Better-for-You Sales, Study Says Convenience stores are poised to capitalize on the growing trend of consumers seeking healthy, more convenient products, according to a new Hudson Institute report.

“Consumers’ desire for convenience is a growing trend and a notable convenience store opportunity,” according to “Health & Wellness Trends and Strategies for the Convenience Store Sector,” a report commissioned by the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS).

To grow sales, the 152,794 convenience store operators in the U.S. should look beyond simply meeting the needs of their traditional customers and embrace the growing demand for more better-foryou items that can be conveniently purchased, according to the report, authored by Hank Cardello, Senior Fellow and Director of the Hudson Institute’s Obesity Solutions Initiative, and Steve French, Managing Partner and Co-owner of the Natural Marketing Institute (NMI).

Convenience retailers should place a focus on two primary consumer segments to grow sales: continuing to serve their traditional core consumer segment of “Eat, Drink & Be Merrys” and the growing segment characterized as “Fence Sitters,” who represent 38 percent of convenience store shoppers and typically spend more, yet are often unsure where they can find convenient, better-for-you op-

tions. Overall, 34 percent of Fence Sitters say there are “no convenient locations nearby” to purchase healthy foods.

In particular, easy-to-access prepared foods present an opportunity for convenience stores with foodservice operations to capitalize on this customer’s desire to eat healthier more often. Foodservice sales are 19 percent of the industry’s $213.5 billion in in-store sales.

“Convenience stores have an opportunity to bridge this gap and own convenient foodservice—especially breakfast— when nutrition is considered most important and Fence Sitters are currently eating healthier options during this meal occasion in particular,” according to the report.

There also is considerable opportunity to grow sales through education—both by communicating the availability of betterfor-you products and by highlighting taste and quick and easy preparation for on-the-go consumption.

“By focusing on products and messaging that meet the need for healthier products—on-the-go, breakfast and kidtargeted convenience—convenience stores can drive significant, new growth in this emerging category,” the report concluded.

The insights in the report were based on the proprietary Health & Wellness Trends Database managed by the NMI, which has analyzed and compiled more than 80,000 consumer surveys since 2001. GN

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RETAILER NEWS

GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2015 www.gourmetnews.com

Retailer News Drop in for a Fresh Welcome at Urban Radish

BY LORRIE BAUMANN

Urban Radish is a little like Cheers, the bar in the television show that ran in its original release from 1982 to 1983 – it’s that place “where everybody knows your name,” says General Manager and Head Buyer MacKenzie Aivazis, who is also the daughter of Owners Michael Aivazis and Keri Johnson. The store in Los Angeles’ Downtown Arts District was designed around the idea that shoppers would be visiting daily rather than weekly. “We designed the store for urbanites,” Aivazis said.

“That means that the focus is on the freshness of the ingredients. Our customers are aware that we’re meeting with local farmers several times a week to buy the freshest produce. Customers are aware that when they see produce in our store, they know it was on the farm a day or two ago.”

“Sausages from the meat department have been made that week if not that day,” she continued. “There is a sense of community. I know my customers. I have the same customers who come in every day. I know what’s going on in their lives.... We strive

for that. It really is what makes the store special, in my opinion.”

Urban Radish’s neighborhood is in the process of redeveloping from an urbanblighted industrial area into a mixed-use neighborhood with manufacturing, highoccupancy residential and retail uses. Over the next two years, the neighborhood’s population is expected to triple. “Just two blocks after Skid Row ends, you have this really high-end community that’s developing here,” Aivazis said. As a result, the people who’ve moved into the new residential developments tend to be affluent Gen Xers who value transparency about their food sources and prefer fresh locally-sourced food when it’s available. “During lunch, there’s a lot of manufacturing surrounding the store, so we get a very, very hip crew that comes through, all in their 20s and 30s who are very avant-garde, what most people would identify as a hipster. It depends on whether they’re working in the area or actually live here,” Aivazis said. “They’re urban couples and singletons. When they have babies here, they tend to move away,

which makes sense because there are not a lot of amenities for children here.”

The redeveloping nature of the neighborhood means that the store is unable to offer its customers free WiFi, since the infrastructure in the area doesn’t allow enough bandwidth for that yet. Despite that, Urban Radish has a customer following who are engaged with each other and with the store, and they’ve made Urban Radish into a local hang-out spot. The store encourages that with a range of high-quality prepared foods as well as weekly live music sessions. It’s a great event, a great time. All the regulars come and we turn on the grill for a full dinner, and we usually have someone come in and sample wine,” Aivazis said. “That speaks to the community that we try to create for people who are our customers and people who are not our customers.... There are peple who are interested in this area and who come down here just to see what’s going on down here. I believe that this area will draw people who are interested in food. Our mission is to inspire that foodie in everybody. Sometimes you just have to put it in front of them.” GN

United Supermarkets to Open in Lubbock United Supermarkets has announced that the chain will open a new location in Lubbock, Texas. Construction on the new location is expected to start late this fall and is targeted for completion in late summer or early fall 2016, according to Robert Taylor, President of United Supermarkets, LLC. “We are thrilled at the opportunity to bring a next generation United store to Lubbock. Lubbock and the surrounding communities have always been highly supportive of United,” said Taylor. “We are glad to continue expanding to serve guests

in our home-base city, which continues to grow and thrive.”

At 56,000 square feet, the new United will anchor a larger development that will include additional retailers. The store will feature an adjacent 2,500 square foot United Express convenience store with a convenient drive-through.

According to Senior Director of Marketing Ron Bonacci, the company’s tenth Lubbock location will showcase a new look and feel for United shoppers. “This store will be the third United that reflects our

new brand strategy and the first in Lubbock,” Bonacci said. “The Lubbock community is so important to our company, and we believe the welcoming floor plan, signage and department layouts will be a positive expression of the strong relationship we have with our Lubbock guests.”

In addition, a significant expansion project at the Lubbock’s Llano Logistics distribution center is underway, paving the way for future growth. Both the new store and distribution center project will create new jobs for Lubbock. GN

Meijer Rebrands and Expands Natural and Organic Products Line As consumers continue to lean toward healthier meal and snacking options, Meijer has announced an expansion of its assortment of real food products through the launch of the True Goodness™ by Meijer brand.

The Grand Rapids, Michigan-based retailer combined its Meijer Naturals and Meijer Organics products lines to one True Goodness

by Meijer brand in an effort to minimize confusion over which products are better for customers based on their ingredients.

“We know it’s important to our customers to provide wholesome foods to their families, and the True Goodness brand is a simple and affordable solution to eating healthier,” said Peter Whitsett, Executive Vice President of Merchandising and Marketing for Meijer. “This brand makes real food more approachable, and is part of our ongoing focus to provide health and well-

ness options for our customers.”

According to industry research, millennial customers are leading the conversation around organic and real food, influencing trends among older generations. With 9 million millennial moms in the U.S. alone, this generation also comprises the majority of today’s new parents. And while many millennial moms still purchase the processed national brand peanut butter, chips, cereals and yogurt for their spouses, they are also grabbing healthier versions for their children.

With nothing artificial, no hydrogenated oils, and a wide range of USDA certified organic items, True Goodness offers healthier food options at a great value and with a wide product selection available throughout the store. The packaging differentiates which items are USDA certified organic,

meaning these products do not contain GMOs, growth hormones, antibiotics, convention pesticides, synthetic fertilizers or ionizing radiation.

Meijer is in the process of transitioning 225 of its Meijer Organics and Meijer Naturals food items to the True Goodness brand, and plans to add 100 new products this year, including granola chips, coconut oil, organic coffee pods, macaroni and cheese, juice boxes, organic popcorn, spices and frozen potatoes.

The True Goodness brand is slated to offer 325 total products by early 2016.

“We are committed to providing our customers healthier options at an affordable price, and are pleased to offer a growing assortment through the True Goodness brand,” Meijer Healthy Living Manager Shari Steinbach said. GN

BRIEFS Fresh Thyme Triples Down in Chicagoland Fresh Thyme Farmers Market, a rapidly growing Midwest grocer focused on healthy and organic offerings at affordable prices, held three grand openings in Chicagoland on October 14. The new locations Bucktown/Lincoln Park, Crystal Lake and Naperville.

Online Farmers Market, Farmigo, Raises $16 million in Series B Funding Farmigo, a fast-growing online farmers market, announced that it has raised $16 million in Series B funding. The financing was led by new investor Formation 8 Partners and includes participation from existing investors Benchmark Capital and Sherbrooke Capital. Farmigo has raised a total of $26 million in funding.

This funding will accelerate the company’s rapid growth and expansion in new markets.

Headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, Farmigo currently operates in New York, New Jersey, northern California and Seattle-Tacoma, making Farmigo the farm-to-fridge service with the largest footprint in the U.S. to date.

Kroger Names Scot Hendricks President of Delta Division Scot Hendricks has been promoted to President of Kroger’s Delta division, effective October 1.

Kroger’s Delta division is based in Memphis and operates stores in Western Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas and Missouri.

Hendricks, 57, replaces Tim Brown, who was recently named President of Kroger’s Cincinnati/Dayton division.

Grocery Outlet Bargain Market to Open 14 LA Stores Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, the nation’s fastest-growing, extreme-value grocery retailer, will open 14 stores throughout the Los Angeles area beginning this December, and continuing at a rapid pace throughout 2016. Unlike other discount grocers, Grocery Outlet offers namebrands such as Kraft, Kellogg’s, Tide, Tyson, Amy’s Kitchen, Naked Juice and many more with prices up to 60 percent off traditional supermarkets. This year alone, shoppers have saved more than $1 billion on products purchased at Grocery Outlet as compared to traditional grocery stores.

Eickhoff Supermarkets Improves Lighting Creative use of lighting has changed how the aisles of The ShopRite® at the Wishing Well Plaza are viewed and experienced by customers.

The supermarket has unveiled lighting that transforms and redefines grocery shopping for a new generation, drawing customers in with amazing visual clarity, precision, and mood setting. It’s a giant leap forward into the future for Eickhoff Supermarkets and ShopRite brands.

“Our spectacular new ShopRite is lit right by Amerlux,” explains Geoffrey Eickhoff, Vice President Operations/Owner, Eickhoff Supermarkets, ShopRite of Burlington, New Jersey.

SUPPLIER BUSINESS

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Supplier Business BRIEFS Hussmann Acquires Commercial Refrigerator Door Company and STYLELINE Door Products Hussmann Corporation has acquired Commercial Refrigerator Door Company based in Sarasota, Florida. Family owned and operated since 1975, Commercial Refrigerator Door Company offers a full line of STYLELINE products, including heated and energy-free glass door and frame systems for walk-in coolers and freezers and a wide range of shelving and merchandising accessories.

In addition to its display case and refrigeration system products, Hussmann is an innovative leader in developing and offering glass door products to the retail food industry.

The acquisition of Commercial Refrigerator Door Company will expand Hussmann’s ability to offer of a complete line of glass door solutions to its wide range of food retail customers.

Linde Appoints New Application Sales Engineer Linde LLC has named Ryan Wall as its new Application Sales Engineer for the food and beverage markets in Texas. He is responsible for sales and providing food manufacturing companies with food chilling, freezing, and modified atmosphere packaging solutions, typically using either carbon dioxide (CO2) or nitrogen (N2).

Wall began in the Marketing and Innovation Development Program at Linde in 2013. Before joining Linde, he worked as a design engineer at WSP Group. He earned his Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Gourmet Sausage from the Heart of Montana

BY LORRIE BAUMANN

Uncle Bill’s Sausages started with a breakfast burrito. Today, Uncle Bill’s Sausages makes 50 varieties of sausage that are sold in supermarkets across Montana.

That breakfast burrito came into the story when Bill Stoianoff went to San Francisco to attend the Winter Fancy Food Show. He was staying with a friend, and he thought he’d make her a nice breakfast burrito one morning to help show his gratitude for the lodging. To make his burrito, he says, you boil a potato the night before, and then in the morning, you cube it up, dice an onion and fry it, and you scramble an egg with some sausage in it. He’d bought some chorizo to put into it, but when he opened the package and looked at it, it scared him so badly that he just tossed it into the garbage. “It was one of those aha moments where you think, ‘I could do this better,’ and that’s what I do,” he says. “I said, ‘You know, I could make this from pork shoulder, and it would be better.’”

That started something. In 1987, he went

Today, Mars has entered into an agreement to acquire Grupo Turin, the manufacturer of highquality chocolates in Mexico since 1928 and owner of iconic brands such as Conejos and Turin. The transaction is subject to approval from the Mexican Antitrust Commission. The parties expect to complete the transaction in the first quarter of 2016 and will continue to operate separately until then.

Mars believes this acquisition, combined with the capabilities of its local team, will uniquely position the business unit in Mexico to take advantage of the projected growth of the Mexican chocolate category over the next decade.

Victoria Introduces New Organic Pasta Sauce Line Victoria Fine Foods is launching a new organic pasta sauce line that will hit shelves nationwide this fall. The new line features four varieties:Organic Pomodoro, Organic Tomato Herb, Organic Arrabiata, and Organic Toasted Garlic and will be packaged in 24-ounce jars.

The new products are certified USDA Organic, Non-GMO Project verified, and gluten free.

it’s also a US Department of Agriculture-inspected facility, which allows for commercial production. “Before that, I could only sell in the farmers market,” Stoianoff says.

“Now I can sell to grocery stores.”

“It’s just wonderful. I went to Bozeman to get more USDA training,” he says. “To do USDA, you have to be perfect. But once you’re certified, people will buy it because they know it comes from a completely clean situation.”

Stoianoff insists on using only high-quality ingredients. “No preservatives, no additives, no fillers, low fat, low salt, and I grind all my spices from whole just before I use them,” he says. “It’s made with pork shoulder. No noses, hoses or roses. They call that offal for a reason.” GN

Meatless Handheld Breakfast Options from Sweet Earth

BY LORRIE BAUMANN

Mars Acquires Mexican Manufacturer Grupo Turin

to New Orleans to take lessons in andouille. “I had a letter of introduction, and in the South, a proper introduction is everything,” he says. “I couldn’t get the good stuff, so I learned to make it.”

He came back to Montana from New Orleans, met up with a friend who was opening a Cajun restaurant and made up a batch of the andouille he’d just learned to make. “We were in business after that,” he says. “I used to make it in a teeny kitchen in the back of a bar that was about three phone booths big.”

Then after a few years, a butcher who was supplying him with his meat offered him the use of his kitchen, and Stoianoff made his sausage there for the next 15 years. “It’s just kind of the Montana way of things,” he says. “You just say, ‘This seems like a good idea,’ and run with it.”

For the past nine years, he’s been making his sausage in a commercial processing kitchen called the Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center in Ronan, Montana. It’s a hundred-mile drive from Stoianoff’s home in Missoula, but it’s worth the drive because

Sweet Earth Natural Foods, which makes award winning, all natural plantbased foods, is on a mission to persuade more Americans that plant-based foods can be an affordable, convenient and delicious way to eat less meat. “Our food is plant based, but not just for vegetarians and vegans - everyone wants to eat more vegetables and whole grains,” said Sweet Earth Natural Foods CEO Kelly Swette. “We want mainstream customers who are trying to eat less meat because they recognize it has a negative effect on their health and the environment. Plantbased foods are simply more sustainable.”

Sweet Earth offers a range of heat-andeat products made with plant-based meat alternatives that consumers will recognize as options for multiple day parts, starting with breakfast. They include burritos, veggie burgers, seed based energy bars and the company’s newest products, Farmstand Flaxbread Breakfast Sandwiches, which respond to the breakfastfood-all-day trend that fast food restaurants are embracing enthusiastically. “It’s nice for people to have a delicious portable option that doesn’t require

a spoon. And, that portability is what makes breakfast all day work,” Swette said.

“Breakfast sandwiches are also for people who want comfort convenient foods without compromising flavor,” she added. “We see that as one of the areas where we have been particularly innovative.”

The Farmstead Flaxbread Breakfast Sandwiches come in the kind of range you’d expect from a line of breakfast sandwiches, except that a plant-based meat alternative has replaced the sausage, bacon or ham you’d find in a conventional breakfast sandwich. One variety comes with cage free eggs, sharp cheddar and meatless Benevolent Bacon™ on a bun made with whole wheat, oat bran and flaxseed. This variety provides 14.5 grams of whole grains, 22 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber. Other varieties are similar, and there’s even a vegan version in which meatless Harmless Ham™, a spicy chickpea patty and a sun-dried tomato spread are sandwiched on the bun. Each variety is packaged as a two-pack that retails for $4.49.

Swette notes, “We have a version that’s vegan, but we also have egg sandwiches too. We’ve chosen mainstream flavors like ham and Swiss, bacon and Cheddar that

people love. We know that people are interested in protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals, but we also think they are increasingly looking for clean proteins, free of preservatives, hormones and antibiotics.”

Sweet Earth’s burrito line also hits the mark on portability and convenience.

There’s a line that’s designed around breakfast flavors and a range that’s based on food truck-type fusions of international flavors. The Peruvian Burrito, for instance, is filled with black beans, red quinoa, sweet potato, goat cheese, roasted corn and spirulina, while the Santa Cruz is filled with a classic Southwest blend of pinto beans, Monterey Jack cheese, oregano and a tangy salsa.

Sweet Earth’s products are, in general, not for the consumer who’s avoiding gluten. “That really isn’t our point of view,” Swette said. “We are more focused on what we put into the product: real vegetables, whole grains, and the natural consequences are more fiber, vitamins and inherently healthy food.”

Sweet Earth Natural Foods products are distributed by UNFI and are available in Whole Foods, Target, Kroger and other retailers nationwide. GN

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SUPPLIER BUSINESS

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Dry-Aged Beef, Charcuterie and Salumi at Home with UMAi Dry

BY LORRIE BAUMANN

UMAi Dry offers consumers the means of dry-aging or dry-curing their meats at home.

Originally targeted for foodservice professionals when UMAi Dry was launched in 2009, the product has attracted the attention of culinary consumers who are using it successfully to dry-age steaks and dry-cure charcuterie and salumi at home.

“Fundamentally, UMAi Dry is a moisture-permeable membrane for dry-aging meat in the refrigerator. It functions as a combination of the traditional dry-aging method and the modern wet-aging method.

It allows meat to be exposed to enzymatic activity, which enhances its rich texture and buttery flavor, just like old-fashioned dry-aging methods, but it does so with modern technology, to provide the food safety protection and ease that people need,” said Thea Lopatka, President of Drybag Steak LLC, which produces UMAi Dry. The company was founded by Lopatka, who then brought on college classmate Igor Pilko as CEO in 2013.

To cure a prosciutto, a pancetta or bresaola with UMAi Dry, the user rubs the cut of meat with curing salt and spices, refrigerates it for a couple of weeks to absorb fla-

vor and draw out moisture, then rinses off the salt and spices and vacuum-seals it into an UMAi Dry bag. The meat then goes back into the refrigerator for six to eight weeks until it’s lost 35 to 40 percent of its weight.

The company includes recipes with the kits and demonstration videos online for a wide range of salumi and charcuterie projects, as well as a wealth of information regarding how to dry age steak.

“We’ve noticed an increasing interest in capicola and in creating dishes like pancetta, which is rather simple to make because pork belly is now available everywhere,” Lopatka said.

Dry-aging a steak cut is even simpler: a whole subprimal ribeye will go into a large UMAi Dry bag that’s vacuum-sealed and placed in the refrigerator to age for four to six weeks.

“At a butcher or a warehouse club store, you can find the full subprimal piece in the processor packaging, so that it has all the fat attached and the muscle is intact.

Whenever possible, try to transfer from processor packaging directly into the UMAi Dry. During the aging process, the meat will develop a mahogany brown bark, and when that is trimmed off, it is best to strip

the parts that would be cut off anyway. You want to leave on the fat because that will develop the nutty, earthy taste that’s characteristic of dry-aged beef,” Lopatka said.

“After you’ve dry-aged the meat, trimmed off the bark and cut it into steaks, they can be individually sealed and frozen. They freeze beautifully.”

The secret to the process is the UMAi Dry bag, which is made of a special membrane that’s moisture-permeable and oxygen-permeable. This allows moisture to flow out of the meat and into the refrigerated atmosphere around it, and the result is the kind of product that’s usually only available from a specialty meat shop.

The products designed for the retail market have been selling well online since the brand launched them through a Kickstarter campaign that began in April. Those commitments have now been fulfilled, and the company is ready to expand distribution into retail stores.

There are currently three products for the retail shelf: the Artisan Meat Kit, the Charcuterie Pack and the Dry-Aged Steak Pack. The Artisan Meat Kit, which retails

for $170, includes a small appropriately designed vacuum sealer, a c h a rc u t e r i e pack for five items and a dry-aged steak pack that allows the user to dry age three full boneless ribeyes or strip loin subprimals (14-20 pounds).

The Charcuterie Pack retails for $30 and includes two large and three smaller UMAi Dry bags, enough curing salt to cure 30 pounds of meat, some juniper berries and VacMouse adapter strips that allow the UMAi Dry membranes to be sealed with the vacuum sealer. (Consumers can use basic model vacuum sealers or the one UMAi Dry offers). The Dry-Aged Steak Pack retails for $28 and includes enough supplies to dry-age three 14-20-pound strip loin or ribeye subprimals.

The kits are available online now, through Amazon and at shop.umaidry.com. They’re already in a few retailers and should be reaching many more store shelves by October. Visit www.umaidry.com to learn more. GN

Japanese-Style Gourmet Beef

BY LORRIE BAUMANN

The judges at this year’s sofi Awards were apparently very impressed by the beef products offered for judging by Lone Mountain Wagyu LLC, awarding the company a sofi and two Finalist statues at the 2015 Summer Fancy Food Show. Lone Mountain Wagyu beef products are made from 100 percent fullblood wagyu beef.

Wagyu refers the breed of Japanese cattle that are genetically predisposed to intense marbling and to a high percentage of unsaturated fat.

The cattle that produce the beef in the Lone Mountain Wagyu products are raised on a New Mexico ranch owned by Robert Estrin and his wife Mary Lloyd Estrin. The ranch has been in Mary’s family since her

parents bought it in 1965. After they passed away, Robert and Mary took over the ranch, which was running a conventional Angus herd. But after Robert tasted some Wagyu beef at a restaurant, he decided to convert the herd to wagyu operation. “He just fell in love and decided that was the direction to take the ranch,” said Nellie Stadtherr, Marketing Specialist for Lone Mountain Wagyu.

He traveled to Japan to learn more about wagyu cattle and how they are bred and managed in Japan. By 2008, Estrin had converted the ranch into a 100 percent wagyu operation. “His passion for authentic wagyu beef has supported the value of the brand, which is around raising the cattle in the most humane and traditional methods to produce the best quality beef possible,”

Stadtherr said.

The cattle are fed a mixture of grasses supplemented with grain feed, which is critical to develop the marbling that wagyu is so famous for. At about 1 year of age, they’re transferred to a Certified Humane feedlot where they’re fed a blend of grains specifically developed for wagyu beef until they’re harvested at 28 to 32 months. The long stay at the feedlot allows the cattle to gain weight in a natural, slow process, according to Stadtherr. “They’re not rushed to gain weight to slaughter, so they develop a more delicate marbling.”

In 2010 the ranch began offering its products direct to consumers on its website and started a restaurant program as well. A product line sold through specialty meat

shops and gourmet retailers was launched in January 2015 at the Winter Fancy Food Show with the Lone Mountain Wagyu 100% Fullblood Wagyu Beef Summer Sausage that won a sofi Award at this summer’s Fancy Food Show along with the 100% Fullblood Wagyu Beef Sausage Links and 100% Fullblood Wagyu Beef Jerky that were named sofi Finalists this year. Both sausages are the first and only 100 percent fullblood wagyu sausages on the market, Stadtherr said. The products appeal not just to the very affluent but also to other consumers who appreciate the gourmet quality of the product or who prefer to eat all-natural humanely raised beef that they can be sure contains no antibiotics and no hormones, she added. GN

Meat Alternative Appeals to Mainstream Consumers

BY LORRIE BAUMANN

Meat alternative Quorn, the market leader in the U.S. natural foods channel, is quickly gaining mainstream acceptance for a product line whose protein comes from fungi. “The specific type of fungi allows the mimicking of the taste of real meat with much better health benefits,” says Sanjay Panchal, General Manager of Quorn Foods USA. The Mycoprotein in Quorn products is a complete protein that’s naturally low in saturated fat and high in fiber, according to Panchal. “It has as much protein as an egg, as much fiber as broccoli,” he said.

The products contain no soy or GMOs, and the protein source is also environmentally friendly, with a carbon and water foot-

print that’s about 90 percent less than beef and 75 percent less than chicken, Panchal said. “In addition to the great health benefits and environmental benefits, our food just tastes amazing,” he said. “I’ve got three sons, age 9, 7 and 3, and we, probably once or twice a week, we replace their chicken nuggets with Quorn nuggets, and they Hoover them.”

Five products in the Quorn line are gluten free: Grounds, a product that substitutes for crumbled ground meat; Chik’n Tenders; Chik’n Cutlet, Turk’y Roast and Bacon Style Slices. “It gives folks looking for a gluten-free option another opportunity to use a food like ours in their recipes to satisfy their specific dietary restrictions,” Panchal said.

Quorn appeals to consumers who want to eat less meat but also want both convenience and the flexibility to adapt recipes that already work for them. “Our food doesn’t just attract vegetarians,” he added.

“What you’ll find is people like our family who are complete carnivores, but if they’re looking for a way to reduce the meat in their diet, for whatever reason, this appeals.

The appeal of a meat alternative, and Quorn specifically, is very broad and broadening.... Our growth rate year to date is 29 percent in sales versus a year ago and growing across all channels. We’re really pleased with our performance.”

The product line includes options like Grounds that will work for the consumer who has the time and the desire to cook

meals like spaghetti Bolognese from scratch but also includes heat and eat options like Jalapeno and Three Cheese Stuffed Chik’n Cutlets for the consumer who values speed and convenience. “It’s really easy to prepare on weeknights. It’s basically straight out of the freezer and into the pan or the oven,” Panchal said.

“With the nuggets, it’s 10 minutes to eating it.... With the Grounds, you mix it with a little water, taco seasoning and cheese and make it into a quesadilla. It’s a really simple food to make, and that’s why we like it as a family.”

Quorn products retail for $3.69 to $4.99 every day, depending on the retailer, for a package that serves four people. Quorn is distributed nationally. GN

16

NATURALLY HEALTHY

GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2015 www.gourmetnews.com

Naturally Healthy Quinoa with a Conscience

BY RICHARD THOMPSON

A southern California quinoa company is bringing about social reform in Bolivia as it works with the indigenous community to provide award-winning products to American tables. Andean Dream is a Fair Trade certified quinoa pasta, soup and cookie company that makes non-GMO, allergenfriendly products that range from Organic Fusilli and Organic Orzo to Coconut and Cocoa-Orange Cookies. The entire line is made from Royal Quinoa – the most nutrient-dense quinoa – and the products are free from hydrogenated oils and gluten along with being allergen-friendly, with no chance of cross contamination since they are made in a dedicated facility free of gluten, eggs, soy, corn and nuts.

“Free-from was what everyone was talking about, and we were the first to really do it,” says Andean Dream Founder and President, Ingrid Hirstin-Lazcano.

The cookies, which launched in 2006, are offered in Chocolate Chip, Coconut, Cocoa-Orange and Cafe Mocha varieties. Each contains only 2.5 grams of sugar, says Hirstin-Lazcano. “My personal favorite goes between the Cafe Mocha and Coconut, but the best seller in the line is Chocolate Chip.”

The pasta line includes Organic Fusilli, Organic Macaroni, Organic Shells, Organic Orzo and Organic Spaghetti. Each is made gluten- and corn-free, is vegan friendly, organic- and kosher-certified, is non-GMO and is produced in an allergen-friendly facility. Each 8-ounce box of pasta contains 24 grams of protein. “Our Organic Vegetarian Quinoa Noodle Soup was originally seasonal, but we’re bringing it back to the marketplace,” says Hirstin-Lazcano.

Andean Dream started out as an ordinary cookie company in 2006 but quickly blossomed into a specialty food/social justice project under the leadership of HirstinLazcano, who was inspired to practice conscientious capitalism to help bring jobs, medical benefits and retirement pensions to single mothers and disabled individuals throughout the poorest regions of Bolivia. “I wanted to create a value-added product that could aid indigenous farmers and workers in Bolivia,” she says. Already involved with the Bolivian community in Los Angeles, she learned of the circumstances regarding the poverty stricken re-

gions in Bolivia from her husband, Fernando Lazcano Dunn, a 25-year diplomat who worked as Consul General of Bolivia in Los Angeles at the time, and sought out a solution that aligned her personal with convictions.”They are close to my heart and I wanted to see everyone have an equal opportunity,” says Hirstin-Lazcano, “I wanted to help raise their standard of living.”

According to 2015 Central Intelligence Agency World Fact Book, 45 percent of Bolivia’s population lives under the poverty line (based on the international standard of two dollars a day) with three out of four people in rural areas living in poverty. The Rural Poverty Portal, a forum that discusses the difficulties of rural life in Bolivian regions, notes that women and young people are particularly vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity.

“I wanted to bring attention to the situation over there and provide single mothers that don’t have jobs – or are working menial labor – and help give them a regular respectable job,” says Hirstin-Lazcano.

Hirstin-Lazcano spent two weeks traveling through Bolivia in 2006 to find the right co-packer that could provide large scale manufacturing at a local level, offer jobs and provide advancement to native farmers. Hirstin-Lazcano says that she was able to find a co-packer that would work with locals as well as provide benefits such as medical care and retirement pensions that they wouldn’t have ever gotten before.

Currently, the co-packer that works with

Andean Dream is employing between 20 to 25 indigenous people for Andean’ Dream’s manufacturing, many of whom have received promotions to higher management positions. “There are always new opportunities as we grow, and as we grow our facility for production, many others will be hired for satellite locations,” says Hirstin-Lazcano.

One particular story that stands out for Hirstin-Lazcano is that of a deaf and mute woman who had been resigned to harsh janitorial work and would have been stuck there had it not been for Andean Dream’s project. Edith was hired and was eventually promoted into a supervisor position. “She would’ve never been able to do that before,” says HirstinLazcano, “Because of her employment, both of her sons are able to go to university.

One is studying to be a dentist, and the other an architect.”

In addition to the company’s social activism in Bolivia, Andean Dream was the Official Cookie Sponsor in the Special Olympic World Games, providing 48,000 cookies to athletes as well as regularly giving away products to local charitable foundations, food-banks and organizations focused on inner-city kids with economic challenges.

When asked about how her work makes her feel, Hirstin-Lazcano isn’t shy about answering: “We’re socially minded ... and helping to provide opportunities to individuals who need a better life is our Andean Dream.” GN

American Spoon: Local Before Local Was Cool

BY LORRIE BAUMANN

Thirty three years ago, the goal of American Spoon founders Justin Rashid and Larry Forgione was to make the best preserves in America using Michigan fruits.

The goal is the same today, Rashid says.

American Spoon is based in Petoskey, Michigan, a summer resort area with a remarkable microclimate that stretches along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, which buffers the extremes of temperature to make a growing season that allows local farmers to grow most of America’s crop of tart cherries as well as Haven peaches and, since the 1920s, a good share of America’s cultivated blueberries.

Rashid spent the summers of his childhood in the area and it was then that he learned to appreciate the local fruits. As he grew up, he learned to forage for wild mushrooms and fruits from the 30,000 acres of state forest lands that surrounded his parents’ summer cabin. “Any excuse to be out there in the woods,” he says. “It was what I loved to do, and I had a pas-

sion for it.”

He met Chef Larry Forgione, a pioneer in the farm to table movement when Forgione was looking for sources for wonderful ingredients to use in his restaurant menus and started supplying him with wild mushrooms and fruits. It wasn’t long before Forgione paid him a visit to see for himself where the wonderful produce that Rashid was supplying had originated. Once he saw the bounty available in Michigan, Forgione knew he wanted more of it in his restaurants. “He asked if I could provide fruit preserves for the River Cafe,” Rashid says. “We were both young, you know. I said, ‘I’m sure I could make preserves.’”

The two of them together founded American Spoon, which was incorporated in 1982. The name refers to the spoonability of the preserves, which are more suited to scooping onto bread or a cheese with a spoon rather than spreading them with a knife. Forgione developed the recipes, Rashid sourced the fruit, and together they set up a kitchen equipped with traditional

copper kettles and wooden paddles.

Today, American Spoon still makes its preserves in small batches the old-fashioned, labor-intensive way and sells about 85 percent of what the company makes directly to consumers in six retail stores, all located in destination resort towns along Lake Michigan. “We have developed a very significant direct mail and Internet business, so some of the same customers who discover us when they’re on vacation here in the summer become year-round customers at Spoon.com,” Rashid says.

American Spoon draws summer tourists from the small-town sidewalks of the resort towns into its shops with a sampling table where visitors can try everything the company makes. “The wonderful thing about our small towns here is that they’ve been around a long time, so they have smallscale, human-scale, walkable downtowns,” Rashid says. “People taste and they buy, and very often they buy a case. It’s like going to a vineyard and tasting the wine and going away with a case.”

“A company of ours is not supposed to be able to survive based on quality, quantity and price. You have to justify your existence by producing products that spoil people,” he says. “We have one chance, when they open that jar and taste it, to create a relationship. We’re not selling food as fuel.

We’re selling it to people who use it to entertain, for gifts, to celebrate.”

After 33 years in business, Rashid says that running American Spoon is still a lot of fun. These days, his son Noah Marshall-Rashid does all the marketing and runs many of the business details while Rashid himself is more involved in the production side of things. “I don’t suppose it would be as much fun if it were not that I have Noah here, who does most of the heavy lifting, so to speak,” he says.

“We have a great time meeting our customers in our stores, talking with them about food, sharing recipes with them....

The food business can be very rewarding because everybody eats, and it makes people happy.” GN

PRIVATE 2015 A

SPECIAL

ADVERTISING

SECTION

FROM

GOURMET

NEWS

Family-owned Klondike Cheese Excels in Traditional Greek-Style Feta

A New Retail Launch and Upcoming Organic Products from Carla’s Pasta

From Farm to Flavor with Tres Hermanas

Digital Color Inc. Elevates Food Brands’ Attraction

Luke Buholzer, Vice President of Sales at Klondike Cheese Company, spoke with us about his company’s approach to cheeses and Greek Yogurt.

An interview with Carla Squatrito, Founder and President, Carla’s Pasta Inc.

CS: We have a new retail launch and are working on developing organic products.

Each of the new products does not skimp on quality to reach the lowest price. We offer bold new shapes, flavors, and colors

In the sunburned heart of southern New Mexico, the Tres Hermanas Mountains rise from the horizon. Nearby, in the town of Deming, family homes, local business, and acres and acres of pepper farms sprawl out in their protective shadow. It is from these mountains that Tres Hermanas takes its name. It is from this community where Tres Hermanas is inspired.

Tres Hermanas believes that great flavor comes from great farms. This is why the company works diligently alongside farmers that have grown peppers for generations. Together, Tres Hermanas and its farmers cultivate the very best seeds and ideal growing conditions to raise delicious, uniquely New Mexican peppers. All jalapenos, green chiles and tomatillos are grown within a 30-mile radius of the company’s headquarters to ensure maximum farm-to-flavor freshness.

Each fall, these peppers are harvested by

Every specialty food producer has a true passion for the taste and quality of the food they offer. The appearance, texture, ingredients, and flavor details are all of utmost importance.

Yet, often these same producers do not place an equal emphasis on the product branding and packaging. For that reason, many consumers will never experience the product quality, because the marketing is not as appetizing as the food itself.

The creative team at Digital Color, Inc. works closely with specialty food companies to design attractive branding, packaging and labels, point of sale materials, ads and other marketing pieces.

“Our primary objective is to make the consumer feel very excited to pick up the package for the first time and try the food,” said Digital Color President Jim Kohlhardt.

“Consistent branding is also essential, from the packaging to the website and

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Private 2015: Tell our readers a little about your company. What’s your main line of business?

LB: Klondike Cheese Company is a familyowned business that is operated by the third and fourth generations of the Buholzer family. Ron, Dave and Steve Buholzer are the owners, and all three are certified Wisconsin Master Cheese Makers in Feta Cheese.

Traditional Greek-style feta is Klondike’s main line of cheese. Klondike produces feta in pails, vacuum packed loaves, and precrumbled forms in various retail and foodservice sizes. Klondike produces feta under the Odyssey® brand and also packs private label. In addition to Odyssey Feta Cheese, Continued on Page 20

Private 2015: Tell us about your company.

CS: Carla’s Pasta is a 37 ½ year old family business, and is headquartered in South Windsor, Connecticut. We specialize in making frozen pasta and pesto. In May, we received the Business of the Year Award from the South Windsor Chamber of Commerce.

Private 2015: What are you doing differently this year that’s different than last year?

Patent-Pending Packaging Protects Coffee Flavor

Private Label Chocolate Confections from Foley’s Candies

Baxters North America: Clean Label.

Clear Purpose.

Kings Food Markets Unveils Gourmet Private Label Line

For the first time in the history of coffee, there’s a packaging that will preserve the cold-brewed beverage without refrigeration.

Coffee concentrate packaged in a bag-on-valve system is shelf-stable for three years or more and comes out of the can with the same taste and aroma it had when it was freshly brewed, according to BOV Solutions Founder and CEO Paul Hertensen.

“The packaging is specifically designed for today’s cold coffee drinks,” he said. “It looks like an aerosol can, but it’s not aerosol. This is a pure, natural coffee product with nothing added. There are no preservatives. No refrigeration is required.”

Private Label Trade Show attendees will be able to taste for themselves in booth #F1136, where BOV Solutions will be serving Decaf, Regular, and Robust coffees throughout the show. “That’s the only thing we’re going to be doing in the booth this year; we’re going to be serving coffee,”

Diane Argent, Vice President of Sales for Foley’s Candies is discussing how her company’s expertise and SQF Level 3 certification are opening doors.

DA: At our Foley’s Candies booth, we have everything that you can cover with chocolate, including fruits and nuts from all over the world. We also have a brand-new item that no one else has, which is a Milk Chocolate Cocoa-Dusted Butter Toffee Peanuts. They are amazing!

We’re also focusing on one of the latest food trends, which is chocolate- and yogurt-covered fruits, with raspberry goji, mango mangosteen, blueberry pomegranate. We sell them in both bulk and

Retailers developing private label products have a partner with nearly 150 years of experience to help them satisfy consumer demand for clean-label, freshtasting foods.

Baxters North America, created from Baxter Food Group’s (Scotland) acquisition of Wornick Foods (Cincinnati, Ohio) early this year, combines great-tasting food and leading convenience-packaging technology, such as microwaveable pouches, trays and bowls, into one comprehensive development resource. For four generations, the Baxter family has been producing some of the U.K.’s finest soups, preserves, condiments, beetroot, chutneys and a wide range of other fine quality food products. With Wornick Foods’ convenience packaging leadership now on board, the potential for store brands to up their game in the center-store food aisles has never been greater.

Fundamental to the Baxters North

Kings Food Markets has unveiled its own line of gourmet foods and everyday favorites at an outstanding value. Kings Own brand is unique in its range to include both everyday essentials and specialty items that focus on quality and innovation.

Kings has procured a selection of domestic, local and international items with uncompromised quality, which shoppers have come to expect.

“At Kings, our passion for food drives us to bring shoppers the highest quality, the freshest and the very best ingredients, and now, through our own assortment of products, we’re able to bring our customers the perfect balance of quality and value, tailored for each product, making great food approachable,” said Judy Spires, President and CEO of Kings Food Markets. “That’s why our shelves are filled with amazing choices that turn everyday experiences into memorable events—and now we’re making it even better.”

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Private 2015: I see that your booth is divided into two sections; one for candy and one for ingredients for baking. Would you tell us more about what you have here in your candy display.

20

PRIVATE 2015

GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2015 www.gourmetnews.com

that help grab the consumers’ attention. If our products are noticed and tasted, it is clear that Cucina di Carla is different from the competition. Our 37 years in the foodservice industry has given us the knowledge of what our customers like. Now we are bringing to the retail market products that have a proven record of acceptable, interesting, different pastas and pestos that are found in restaurants across the country.

In addition, our line of pastas brings an ease of preparation. Some of our products are complete with sauce and microwaveable. Even though our products are easy to

prepare, they are full of flavor, making a perfect meal.

Now more than ever, we find our lives to be frantic and chaotic, especially during the week, when many of us juggle time between work and family. However, with our pasta steambags, it is easy to go home and prepare a good-tasting meal fast without making use of pots and pans.

Just add a tasty salad, and pronto – your meal is complete. So if you have to go to a sporting event, you do not have to eat a roller hotdog or popcorn, but you can have instead a satisfying, easy, good meal, even if the sports event was taking your son to swimming or your daughter to

Klondike Cheese (Cont’d. from p. 17)

unique?

we ventured on a new Odyssey producing Greek yogurt. It has been a great addition to our existing customers and has forged new relationships for us with others. This creamy thick and tasty Greek yogurt is available in foodservice, industrial and retail under the Odyssey brand and private label. We have been confident that the same high quality standards and care will be carried over into our Greek yogurt, as it has already won first place in the 2015 United States Championship Cheese Contest and the 2015 American Cheese Society Competition.

LB: We have a commitment to making great cheese, and truly have the knowledge and abilities to make the best feta cheese out there. This year my cousin Adam, a fourth-generation family cheesemaker, has received his Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker Certification, which is a program only available in the state of Wisconsin. We have consistently placed every year in cheese competitions, and this year is no exception.

By diversifying into Greek yogurt, we can encompass the Mediterranean cuisine, which will make us unique to some customers. For the industrial ingredient cus-

Carla’s Pasta (Cont’d. from p. 17)

Private 2015 What makes your company Digital Color (Cont’d. from p. 17)

every other touch point.”

Kohlhardt explains, “We really enjoy developing creative approaches that speak to the quality, health benefits and delicious taste of the product” Digital Color also understands the importance of quality imagery in marketing food products. The 15,000 square foot BOV Solutions (Cont’d. from p. 17)

Hertensen says.

BOV Solutions has partnered with the world’s largest coffee-brewing company, which is making the coffee concentrates that are packaged inside the BOV Solutions’ bag-on-valve cans. The coffee concentrate itself is enclosed inside a bag so that it’s in an oxygen-free environment and is never touched by propellants. Then the can is pressurized outside the bag, and that pressure provides the force that propels the coffee concentrate out of the can when the valve is opened. The can is made from 100 percent fully recyclable aluminum, so there’s no landfill impact, and shelf-stability tests have shown no change in the coffee after three years without refrigeration. “The flavor is still there; the aromas, still there.

It’s exactly the way it was when it was put Baxters North America (Cont’d. from p. 17)

America offering for store brands is a commitment to emerging consumer preferences and demand in two areas. First: wholesome quality. Taste and nutrition still matter most. Today, “quality” is increasingly associated with clean-label options, natural and organic ingredients and elimination of enhancers, fillers and preservatives from product formulations. No longer should

dance class.

Private 2015 What is an important cause that you are passionate about?

CS: Organic. I’m convinced that too much interference with the natural genes in products eliminates the wholesomeness and the goodness of that product. Also, it is proven that crops sprayed with pesticides and treated with certain chemicals is not good for our overall health.

Private 2015: Are you introducing any new products? What distinguishes this new product from others on the market? tomer, we have developed a few unique recipes that change the nutrition and body of the yogurt to adapt it for many different processes.

It is that family tradition and dedication that sets our products apart from other companies that may not have the same values.

Private 2015 Are you introducing any new products this year?

LB: Our latest excitement is of course the Odyssey Greek Yogurt that is currently available. We have a 0 percent and two percent and 10 percent Plain. Flavors available are Blueberry, Strawberry, Rasp-

CS: Yes, we are introducing new products and new shapes of pasta. Additionally, we have come out with Gluten Free Penne.

Over the past year, many consumers began to ask us if we offered a gluten-free option.

Over several months, we tried different grains and did a lot of research. We finally settled on a corn and rice base for our Gluten Free Penne. Our gluten-free pasta is special because it is egg- and dairy-free as well.

For more information, visit Carla’s Pasta Inc. in booth # F6419/6420 at Private Label 2015.

After the show, visit www.cucinadicarla.com or call 860.436.4042. GN berry, Peach, Black Cherry, and Vanilla.

We are moving forward with a Mango and a Pomegranate Acai which will be available first quarter 2016. With all the added health benefits of twice the protein and low fat you can’t go wrong with using our plain Greek yogurt as a sour cream or mayonnaise substitute. We also have mastered an amazing Feta-Greek Yogurt Spread available in Mediterranean Herb and Olive Blend flavors. As of the second quarter of 2015, we launched our new Odyssey design and feta packaging. It carries the same great high-quality recipe with a more up-to-date look in square containers to help maximize important shelf space in stores. GN

Digital Color photo studio features a complete kitchen environment for producing any food photo imaginable.

Kohlhardt also points out that three Digital Color photographers each have over 15 years of food photography experience.

The innovative Digital Color video team brings specialty food stories to life. Many clients are collaborating with Digital Color

to create both product marketing videos and recipe or how-to videos featuring best ideas for preparing entrees, snacks and meals.

“We are visual storytellers with a focus on food,” says Kohlhardt. “An effective video draws the consumer closer to the food producer and inspires trial and repeated use of the product.”

The Digital Color creative team features

writers, illustrators, videographers, music producers, voiceover talent, 3D artists and video editors working together to deliver the most engaging and inspiring message possible.

into the can,” Hertensen said.

Flavor stays the same because the sealed bag protects the coffee from the oxidation that changes the flavor of coffee as it sits in an open container. “Our coffee tastes the same from the first cup to the last cup with no changes whatsoever,” Hertensen said.

All the consumer has to do to prepare the beverage is to dispense a quarter of an ounce of the coffee concentrate into hot or cold water. “You absolutely need no equipment whatsoever. All you need is hot water or cold water or milk, whatever you use to make your coffee drink,” Hertensen said.

The coffee concentrate can also be used as a flavoring ingredient for foods like ice creams or baked goods. “It has no bitterness,” Hertensen added. “All the bitterness has been removed.”

The same technology can also be used to package tea concentrates. At-home prepa-

ration for those also requires just the dispensing of a quarter of an ounce of the concentrate into a glass of ice water or a cup of hot water. “Tea is also a cold-brewed process,” Hertensen said. “We get the pure flavor of the tea.”

The technology has patents pending around the world, Hertensen says. “What we actually patented was the ability to put a coffee or tea concentrate into a bag on valve. We also patented putting the bag-onvalve into a dispensing system.”

“This is the most exciting product I’ve ever had my fingers on by far,” he added.

“People are dying for us to get it onto the market.”

BOV Solutions’ profits from sales of the coffee and tea packaging will be donated to a new veteran’s organization that’s providing an outdoor recreational retreat area for disabled veterans and first responders. “It’s

a good cause. There are organizations helping these veterans get mobile, but there’s no place they can go to enjoy outdoor sports that has equipment modified for them,” Hertensen said. “It’ll be totally free of charge to the veterans. This is drastically needed for those who serve and protect us and have been disabled doing so. It’s a marvelous thing because it will help them feel whole again.”

The recreational facility will also be available to firefighters, police officers and other first responders who have become disabled through the performance of their duty as public servants, Hertensen said. “It’s a great organization.”

store brand value or convenience bring to mind a perceived trade-off in quality or nutrition.

The second factor impacting brand initiatives: convenience. Consumers have growing interest and expectations around “food-convenience” at home, at work or wherever and whenever it’s needed. Timesaving products requiring little to no prep or cleanup time are getting attention and offer new growth opportunity at retail. Baxters North America

stands for the idea that great taste and great convenience should work together, delivering the ease, nutrition and enjoyment consumers seek. Their diverse offering of ready-for-theaisle formulations, from soups and stews to ancient grains, meet what consumers want and what retail food brands need. Customization to a retailer’s desired specifications within the basic product platforms is also offered.

Baxters North America, originating from a family tradition of quality, is redefining

food convenience and quality for retailers and their customers. It’s about knowledge and innovation creating new opportunity for retailers, accelerating branding success with clean-label simplicity, great taste and unsurpassed convenience.

For more information, visit PLMA booth F6631, visit www.digitalcolorinc.com, email info@digitalcolorinc.com or call 262.251.9021. GN

For further information, visit booth # F1136 during the Private Label Show. After the show, visit www.bovsolutions.com or www.bestofbov.com. GN

For more information, contact Ken Waller, Director of Business Development - Store Brands, at 269.364.7206 or by emailing ken.waller@wornick.com. GN

24

PRIVATE 2015

GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2015 www.gourmetnews.com

Millennials Demonstrate Loyalty to Their Grocers A nationwide study of consumers in the allimportant 25 to 45 age group indicates that these shoppers are increasingly demonstrating loyalty to the stores they use for household grocery purchases.

The PLMA study, entitled “The Rise of Loyal Shoppers,” focused on 1,059 men and women ages 25-45, a segment which makes up more than one third of the U.S. adult population. The 81 million Americans in this key age group are of critical importance to retailers: their spending on household grocery products is considered to be the highest among all age groups as they engage in family formation and career building.

The study challenges conventional wisdom that consumers regularly shop at anywhere from three to five stores, chasing after promotions and the lowest prices.

“This latest study indicates that many long-held assumptions – shaped by years of market dominance by the Baby Boom generation – are no longer true,” says Brian

Sharoff, President of PLMA. “Buffeted by a severe recession, a revolution in communications, media and advertising, and a retail landscape that bears little resemblance to what existed less than a decade ago, today’s consumer is not the same shopper we used to know.

According to the PLMA study: These consumers shop often, but a majority does their regular grocery shopping at only two stores. The rate of shopping trips is high: more than eight in 10 of consumers ages 25-45 shop at least weekly. But patronizing just two stores for their regular household grocery needs is by far their most popular shopping regimen, and this pattern has been increasing as a habit overall during the past decade. This runs counter to the conventional wisdom that consumers are increasingly shopping across a growing number of stores for different products. In a 2006 PLMA study, a third of all consumers said they shop in two stores, but in the new

Store Brands Widen Growth Gap As national brands continue to struggle with lower growth year to year in supermarkets, drug chains and mass merchandisers, store brands sales in all the major retail channels continue their upwards trend, setting new records across the board for annual revenue.

When 2014 came to a close, store brands had accounted for nearly $3 billion in incremental sales overall, an increase of +2.5 percent over the previous year and more

than twice the percentage gain that was recorded by national brands.

Total sales of private label in the U.S. were $115.3 billion according to the 2015 Private Label Yearbook published by the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA).

As a result, store brand dollar share moved up across all outlets combined – consisting of supermarkets, drug chains, mass merchandisers, and the club and dollar store channels.

Foley’s Candies (Cont’d. from p. 17)

requested a custom product using organic sugar and sunflower lecithin. We were able to do that for them because we make all of our chocolate from scratch – we’re not just buying someone else’s chocolate and melting it.

packaged for retail sale. We do everything from stand-up gusset bags to seasonal tins to trays to tamper-proof containers.

Private 2015: And on your baking side?

DA: Here you’ll see that we do everything from milk, dark and white chocolate in both pure and compound forms. We specialize in custom blends. For instance, we recently developed a dark chocolate flavored raspberry chip for a customer, a lemon flavored chip for another one. Another example is that we worked with a company that makes nutritional bars, who Tres Hermanas (Cont’d. from p. 17)

hand, with each one carefully considered to ensure that only the best New Mexican peppers make it to your shelves – and your shoppers’ tables. The farmers and their families celebrate this pepper harvest by making a whirlwind of sauces and salsas, bringing age-old family recipes to life with Kings Food Markets (Cont’d. from p. 17)

Kings Own brand will continue to roll out a range of items across the store, providing customers with new options in every department. From household essentials like orange juice, syrup and eggs to organic

Private 2015: It sounds like you really know your way around private labeling.

DA: Absolutely! We have been in business for over 40 years. We’re privately owned, and our focus has been on private labeling. In the last four years, in particular, our private label division has grown to the point it represents almost 30% of our business.

study the figure has risen to 48 percent.

While they shop around, they are in fact very loyal to their favorite stores. The study refutes another piece of conventional wisdom: the image of the fickle American grocery shopper. Some observers contend that every time a new or revamped retail format debuts, consumers forsake their favorite store and rush to the new shop on the block. The survey casts doubt on that scenario. Rather, it reveals that these younger consumers have been loyal to their favorite stores for years. Six in 10 have regularly shopped at their grocery store as well as their mass merchandiser for more than five years. Half have shopped at their drug store for that long.

They are buying store brands more often than shoppers in previous studies.

About half of the respondents ages 25-45 buy store brands “always/almost always/frequently” in their supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers. This is a dramatic increase in the top rates of purchase when compared to PLMA studies over the past decade. In 2002, the corresponding figures for all consumers were: 36 percent in supermarkets, 22 percent in drug stores and 28 percent in large

discount chains/mass merchandisers. In 1991, the figure in supermarkets was only 12 percent.

Store brands may be the retailer’s best friend. Consumers 25-45, in increasing numbers, are trying store brands for the first time in product categories where they had previously only bought a national brand. Moreover, in overwhelming numbers they report the trial produced a satisfactory experience. In one of the most significant findings in the survey, more than 49 percent of respondents recently choose a store brand for the first time instead of a favorite national brand in a particular category. When later asked how they compare the store brand with their previous choice of a national brand, 28 percent reported “very favorably” and another 62 percent said “favorably.” A trend widely observed during the recession, such store brand trial is increasing: In the 2009 survey, 35 percent of all consumers said they engaged in the practice, and a year later the figure had grown to 43 percent; the post- purchase satisfaction rates expressed by consumers were as high in both earlier studies as it is in the new one. GN

Over a three-year period, store brands sales across the combined retail outlets have increased by $5.5 billion, moving store brand dollar market share from 17.3 percent to 17.7 percent. The run-ups are much the same in the individual channels. Over that period, the annual sales volumes for store brands have risen by $2.5 billion in supermarkets and risen by $200 million in drug chains.

The PLMA Yearbook utilizes data provided by The Nielsen Company for the 52 weeks ending December 27, 2014. The annual compilation has become the benchmarking standard for retailers and

suppliers, where Nielsen sales and market shares statistics are reported for more than 700 product categories.

The yearbook is published exclusively online, and access is free to PLMA member manufacturers, brokers and suppliers. Retailers and wholesalers can gain free access to the data and analysis, including new updates every quarter, by logging in at www.askplma.com and following the prompts for Private Label Yearbook. PLMA members can access the online yearbook via PLMA’s member services website at www.plma.org. GN

Private 2015: To what do you attribute the recent growth in your private label business?

warehouses across the country. We send everything across Canada in a temperature-controlled rail car and then LTL it into the U.S. by temperature-controlled truck. We have a large database of approved carriers that ship chocolate. This enables us to guarantee that the quality of our products when they reach their destination is going to be the same as they were when they left our hands. That’s certainly another explanation for our tremendous growth in private label over the past few years.

DA: We’re seeing greater awareness among retailers of what we have to offer. Retailers are excited to learn about our turnaround time for product development as well as our strong Quality Assurance Department.

We just recently achieved our SQF Level 3 certification, which definitely opens a lot of doors for us. That puts us above a lot of our competitors.

Private 2015: And where are you located?

DA: We’re in Vancouver, Canada, with

For more information, visit booths F3317 at the Private Label Show. After the show, email diane@foleyscandies.com. GN

flavorful fresh ingredients.

Tres Hermanas brings these traditional recipes to you with a full line of peppers and sauces. These peppers fill dishes with raw desert spices. Sauces run from sunset red to verdant green. All are imbued with a touch of something special that sparks the senses, something that transports anyone who enjoys their fla-

vor from their dining room to a sunsoaked plain outside Deming, where three gentle peaks rise to kiss the turquoise sky.

Inspired by the vivid flavors this community has enjoyed for generations, these cooking sauces make it easy to create truly authentic Mexican meals in only a few simple steps.

Call 800.323.4356 to get Tres Hermanas on your shelves. GN

and specialty products such as signature sauces and olive oils, imported gelato and chef-prepared foods, Kings is continuing to raise the bar by seeking out the most unique and rare finds. Kings is focusing heavily on organic offerings, as its shoppers are continuing to look for them more and

more. Kings Own offers a range of organic pastas, herbs and tomatoes, chips and beans, as well as a selection of honey flavors – to name a few. As the line continues to expand, the focus will shift to more specialty items to round out our offerings.

Each product has been carefully selected

to meet the Kings’ standard. For example, Kings Own Marinades and Sauces are crafted in small batches using all-natural, hand-selected ingredients and are available in a wide range of gourmet flavors, including Pineapple Jalapeno, Carne Asada, Sweet Bourbon and Carolina Gold BBQ. GN

So whether your shoppers enjoy spicy peppers, authentic sauces or both, everyone will love the dips, enchiladas, nachos, tacos, burritos and even pizzas they can make with the bold, farm-raised flavor of Tres Hermanas.

BUYERS GUIDE

GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2015 www.gourmetnews.com

29

BUYERS GUIDE WINES,

SPIRITS

&

COCKTAIL

MIXERS

Education, Variety Drive Craft Spirits Market

BY MICAH CHEEK

It’s time to raise a glass to America’s microdistilleries. Small distilleries producing craft spirits are cropping up all over the country, bringing a greater variety to retail liquor shelves. An extension of the microbrewery movement, microdistilling is seeing growth as microbreweries and winemakers try their hand at hard liquor.

“A decade ago, there were fewer than 50 craft distilleries in the country, and five years ago there were approximately 150 craft distilleries,” says Thomas Mooney, President of the American Craft Spirits Association and CEO of House Spirits Distillery. Today, there are more than 750 craft distilleries nationally, with the figure expected to pass 800 in the next year.

The retail market is still adjusting to the rapid increase in brands of craft spirits available. “Retailers have to be more educated than they ever had to be to be successful in this market,” says Jason Griffin, Craft Spirits Manager at Wirtz Beverages.

“It’s about having an informed staff that can

actually help the customer.” Offsite tastings have proven effective, especially when the person pouring can walk the customer through the differences between samples.

Spirits like bourbon can have very different tastes based on the grains used in production, and staff with knowledge on the subject are often needed to point out these differences to consumers. “Tastings are key; you have to get liquid to lips,” says Griffin.

“You have to be able to tell the difference between wheat, corn and rye.”

A wide variety of styles of spirits has followed the influx of microdistillery brands in the US. “Most states have between 5 and 10 local options for specific spirits,” says Chris Morales, Brand Development Manager at Treaty Oak Distilling Co. “There are so many gins. For a category that’s maybe 4 percent of sales, you start seeing all these options.” This wide assortment of gins has been fueled by the comeback of cocktail culture, giving cocktail makers more options for subtle flavor differences. The internet has provided a platform for small

distilleries to get the attention of the new era of discerning cocktail enthusiasts. “[The popularity] comes as part of the access and fluidness of the internet right now,” says Morales. “The people who were looking started finding.”

One factor that gives smaller distilleries an advantage is the ability to experiment.

New recipes of liquors can be given a limited release to sell a rare product and gauge public response. “If you have to sell 100,000 bottles, there’s not a lot you can do. If you only have to sell 100 bottles, there’s nothing you can’t do. You can always find someone to buy 100 bottles,” says Hletko. Few Spirits’ Breakfast Gin is one such example. After a positive response from a limited release, Few is in the process of releasing the product to a wider market.

This focus on local releases, combined with frequent off-site tastings, has been an effective strategy for Few. “Our product’s being very well-received,” says Hletko. “Our VPO at a certain retail chain is the highest of anybody in the organization.” GN

Cocktail Culture Incites Interest In Imports

BY MICAH CHEEK

The rapid growth of the spirits market has industry experts looking to imported spirits as an upcoming trend. “Brown goods will continue to rise because the market is there, but at some point we’ll reach saturation,” says Jason Griffin, Craft Spirits Manager at Wirtz Beverages.

Griffin says that the next big trend will be agave-based spirits like tequila and mescal. Gin has been highlighted recently because of the wide variety of styles and cocktail options, but brown liquors are seeing more interest. Chris Morales, Brand Development Manager at Treaty Oak Distilling Co., suggests that the thawing of tensions between the US and Cuba will push interest in agricole rum, a sugar cane spirit traditionally made in the Caribbean. “You’re getting a series of alcohol John the Baptists, saying, ‘What’s happening next?’” says Morales. “And they’re saying, ‘The Cubans are coming.’” GN

Website Provides Education and Advocacy on Wine Fraud Maureen Downey, named the “Sherlock Holmes of Wine” by Bloomberg and the “Wine Detective” by SF Weekly, has launchedWineFraud.com, the first of its kind resource for vendors, buyers and producers of fine wine.

WineFraud.com Founder Maureen Downey was instrumental in solving the now notorious case of the Kurniawan wine counterfeits, which were estimated to have

brought $130 million dollars of fake wine to auction and international markets.

When Thomas Keller’s the French Laundry had $300,000 of wine stolen from its collection last December, Downey was immediately consulted by the FBI to help crack the case. Bloomberg Business says, “For the past 10 years she has been on a one-woman crusade to rid the wine industry of counterfeit and stolen wine.”

Wine Mulling Spice Blend from eSutras Organics

eSutras Organics Wine Mulling Spice Blend is manufactured in an organic facility in Chicago. Artisan-made in small batches to retain its unique quality and flavors, this blend is a delicious combination of organic spices which makes ordinary cider, wine, tea and brandy into extraordinary spiced drinks. Available to purchase in small case sizes, it’s simple to place an order with eSutras Organics. eSutras Organic 773.583.4850 www.eswholesale.com

Gift Ideas from Tortuga Rum Cake Company

The aim of WineFraud.com is to raise awareness of wine fraud and counterfeiting issues in the wine trade and among consumers, and to educate its members on the core principles of wine authentication. The mission of the site is to make it difficult for wine fraudsters to thrive by raising awareness and knowledge, as well as increasing due diligence. The ultimate goal is to end wine counterfeiting and fraud, creating a

more transparent and authentic global wine marketplace.

WineFraud.com offers a subscription service that provides education and advocacy for wine collectors, producers and vendors through the largest anti-counterfeiting resource in the world. The site reports information about the latest breaking counterfeit scandals, and current wine fraud events and trends. GN

A New Recipe Idea from Wind & Willow

There’s a reason your customers keep Wind & Willow in the pantry at all times and tend to buy multiples when purchasing. They know they’ll be getting a consistent quality product, great shelf-life and a multitude of recipes for every mix. Since 1991, customers have been using Wind & Willow savory mixes for more than cheeseballs or spreads. They are the base for many favorite appetizers, side dishes, and even entrees. The latest recipe from the kitchens of Wind & Willow adds a new twist to a traditional favorite. Turn your traditional mac ‘n cheese into an upscale, super side dish with an unexpected Wind & Willow favorite. This time, a sweet dessert mix is used in a savory recipe by combining the Pumpkin Pie Mix with cheeses and cream over pasta. Savory Pumpkin Mac ‘n Cheese is a pleasant surprise that will once again have your customers stocking up. Follow Wind & Willow on Facebook to see new recipes each week: facebook.com/windandwillowfoods. You can also find recipes on the company website at www.windandwillow.com. Find great recipes and tips for every occasion on Pinterest: pinterest.com/cheeseballmix.

Tortuga Rum Cake Company is known world-wide for authentic and original Tortuga Caribbean Rum Cakes. Baked in the Caribbean from a generations old island family recipe, the cakes are made with the finest ingredients and special oak-barrel-aged Tortuga gold rum. Each cake is hand glazed and vacuum sealed, locking in the delicious freshness and giving the cakes a shelf life of 12 months. The company also offers Chocolate Rum Turtles with Sea Salt, Caribbean sauces, flavored gourmet coffees including single-serve coffee, rum balls and rum fudge. Tortuga is also now offering homemade Salt Water Taffy with Rum. It is made from a special recipe and with the finest ingredients. Sweet Salt Water Taffy will bring back memories from your travels to sea side destinations including the Caribbean. Each package includes eight unique flavors that are individually wrapped: TORTUGA Rum and Cola, TORTUGA Rum, TORTUGA Coconut Rum, TORTUGA Banana Rum, TORTUGA Mango Rum, TORTUGA Pineapple Rum, TORTUGA Orange Liqueur and TORTUGA Rum Punch. The taffy boasts a shelf life of 12 months and has received rave reviews on the delicious tropical, rummy flavors. This new treat is a perfect addition to the delicious gourmet products you offer year-round.

Wixon’s culinary innovation teams offer creative ideas for private label gourmet dry mixes and seasonings. Three core levels of service – product innovation, formulation development and processing and packaging – ensure products meet expectations at every step. A one-stop production system and a variety of packaging services complement the customizable packaging experience.

Tortuga Rum Cake Company 305.378.6668 or 877.486.7884 www.tortugarumcakes.com

Wixon 800.841.5304 www.wixon.com

Wind & Willow www.windandwillow.com

Wixon Private Label Dry Mixes and Seasonings

30

SMALL ELECTRICS

GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2015 www.gourmetnews.com

Small Electrics FOOD

KitchenAid 9-Cup Food Processor with ExactSlice System

Sponsored by

PROCESSORS

BLACK+DECKER Performance Food Processor

Cuisinart Elemental 11 Food Processor

The Kalorik 8-Cup Black Food Processor relies on a robust 500-watt motor to chop, slice, shred, mix and puree just about anything you put in its bowl.

Fast and easy to use, this versatile food processor incorporates seven attachments including a stainless steel grater, a slicer, a chopper, shredder discs, an emulsifier/egg beater, a dough maker and a citrus juice attachment. It also features in-bowl blade storage and dishwasher-safe parts for easy cleaning.

Suggested Retail Price: $99.99

The sleek, new Elemental 11 Food Processor allows home cooks to quickly and easily prep larger portions of ingredients for bigger meals. With an 11-cup work bowl, a stainless steel blade and two slicing/shredding discs, it’s the ultimate time-saver.

The rubberized touch pad with pulse control offers the ease of use and versatility that will make it a favorite of creative home cooks. Additionally, its exclusive, patent-pending SealTight™ Advantage System seals the bowl, while its patented BladeLock System keeps blades securely in place when pouring out ingredients. With removable, dishwasher-safe parts, the BPA-free Elemental is easy to clean, and is available in gun metal, silver or white.

Suggested Retail Price: $149

KitchenAid 800.541.6390 www.kitchenaid.com

Spectrum Brands Inc. 800.566.7899 www.blackanddeckerappliances.com

Kalorik 888.521.TEAM www.kalorik.com

Cuisinart 800.726.6247 www.cuisinart.com

A Special Advertising Section

GOURMET MARKETPLACE

The KitchenAid® 9-Cup Food Processor with ExactSlice™ System slices from thick to thin with one slide of the lever. This model has a 9-cup work bowl with a two-in-one Feed Tube and pusher for continuous processing. The externally adjustable ExactSlice System features optimized speeds, and an external lever that allows you to go from thick to thin with one slide of the lever. The 9-cup capacity is ideal for many home cooking needs, allowing chopping, mixing, slicing and shredding with ease.

Suggested Retail Price: $199.99

Top features of the BLACK+DECKER Performance Food Processor include the new Auto DICE™ which creates precise professional quality 8mm cubes and FlexiSlice adjustable slicing system which allows users to effortlessly adjust the thickness of their slices without changing blades. An extra wide mouth feed chute easily processes food of any shape or size and the extra-large 11-cup work bowl allows cooks to keep working without having to empty the bowl. Additional accessories include a shredding and grating disk, S blade for chopping, mixing and pureeing, and a dough blade as well as convenient storage case that organizes attachments and saves space.

Suggested Retail Price: $149.99

Kalorik Red 8-Cup Food Processor

Robert Rothschild Farm has spent over 30 years studying, refining and perfecting the way it makes insanely flavorful products. Each one is made from scratch with simple, whole ingredients.

Seth Greenberg’s Brownie Crunch is made with the best ingredients. Baked in small batches with whole eggs, vanilla from a company’s own vanilla bean orchards, creamery butter, pure cane sugar and cocoa selected for flavor and color. All natural, kosher and 120 calories per serving.

e Pacific Rim Gingered Carrot Soup Mix contains Indian-ai ingredients that give this gourmet soup its rich taste and texture. Crystallized ginger and eight spices season the red lentil base with a vegetarian preparation option.

Robert Rothschild Farm 800.356.8933 www.robertrothschild.com

Seth Greenberg’s Brownie Crunch 212.878.6677 www.browniecrunch.com

Frontier Soups 800.300.7687 www.frontiersoups.com

eSutras Organics Wine Mulling Spice Blend is a delicious combination of organic spices which makes ordinary cider, wine, tea and brandy into extraordinary spiced drinks.

XX. Fingers Bakeries is introducing two new additions to its lineup, Sticky Glazed Cinnamon Raisin and Glazed Maple Oat Scones.

Dilettante Chocolates® 5 ounce pouches are available in chocolate covered XX. Fruit Medley®, Cherries, Espresso Beans, Sea Salt Cashews, Mint Dropz® and now Dark Chocolate Almonds.XX

eSutras Organics 773.583.4850 www.eswholesale.com

XX XX Sticky Fingers Bakeries 800.458.5826 www.stickyfingersbakeries.com

XX Seattle Gourmet Foods 800.800.9490 www.seattlegourmetfoods.com

SMORGASBORD

GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2015 www.gourmetnews.com

31

SMORGASBORD CALENDAR

ADVERTISER INDEX ADVERTISER Aflac

PAGE WEBSITE 15

www.aflac.com

Baxters North America

21

269.364.7206

Blendtec

2

www.blendtec.com

BOV Solutions Inc Carla’s Pasta Inc

23 26

PHONE 800.992.3522

November 15-17

March 7-10, 2016

PLMA’s 2015 Private Label Trade Show

International Pizza Expo

Chicago, Illinois www.plma.com

Las Vegas, Nevada www.pizzaexpo.com

January 12-19, 2016

March 11-13, 2016

CoffeeFest New York

352.746.6731

The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market

860.436.4042

Atlanta, Georgia www.americasmart.com

800.253.6383

www.bovsolutions.com www.carlaspasta.com

New York, New York www.coffeefest.com May 5-7, 2016

Cyber Graphics

28

www.cybermemphis.com

901.369.5400

January 17-19, 2016

SIAL China

Winter Fancy Food Show

Shanghai, China www.sialchina.com

Digital Color Inc.

25

www.digitalcolorinc.com

262.251.9021

San Francisco, California www.specialtyfood.com

eSutras

30

www.esutras.com

773.583.4850

January 26-28, 2016

Sweets & Snacks Expo

International Production & Processing Expo – IPPE

Chicago, Illinois www.sweetsandsnacks.com

May 24-26, 2016

Foley’s Candies Ltd.

18

www.foleyschocolates.com

604.274.2131

Frontier Soups

30

www.frontiersoups.com

800.300.7687

Atlanta, Georgia www.ippexpo.com

October 8-11, 2016

IBIE: International Baking Industry Exposition

March 6-8, 2016

Klondike Cheese Company

19

www.klondikecheese.com

608.325.3021

Mad Will’s Food Compay

3

www.madwills.com

888.275.9455

Pastificio Felicetti

32

www.felicetti.it/en

39.0462.501225

Robert Rothschild Farm

30

www.robertrothschild.com

800.356.8933

Saltworks

11

www.seasalt.com

800.353.7258

Sarabeth’s kitchen

7

www.sarabeth.com

800.773.7378

Seth Greenburg’s Brownie Crunch 6, 30

www.browniecrunch.com

212.878.6677

State Farm

9

www.statefarm.com

877.734.2265

Sticky Fingers Bakeries

30

www.stickyfingersbakeries.com

800.458.5826

Stonewall

8

www.stonewallkitchen.com

888.326.5678

US International Media

22

www.mytreshermanas.com

800.323.4358

White Coffee Corp

27

www.whitecoffee.com

718.204.7900

Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation

Publication Title: Gourmet News Publication Number: 544-070 Filing Date: October 1, 2015 Issue Frequency: Monthly Number of Issues Published Annually: 12 Annual Subscription Price: Free Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: 1877 N. Kolb Rd., Tucson, Pima Co., AZ 85751 Contact Person: Tara Neal, Telephone: 520-721-1300 Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Office of Publisher: 1877 N. Kolb Rd., Tucson, Pima Co., AZ 85751 Publisher: Lee M. Oser, 1877 N. Kolb Rd., Tucson, Pima Co., AZ 85751 Editor: Lorrie Baumann, 1877 N. Kolb Rd., Tucson, Pima Co., AZ 85751 Owner: Oser Communications Group, LLC, Lee M. Oser, P. O. Box 30520, Tucson, AZ 85751 Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 percent or more of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities: None

Seafood Expo North America

Boston, Massachusetts www.seafoodexpo.com/north-america

Las Vegas, Nevada www.ibie2016.org

Stop & Shop Begins Conversion of 25 Former A&P Stores The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC began converting 25 A&P stores to its banner on Thursday, October 8. All of the conversions are expected to be completed

by Friday, November 13.

Pharmacies and banks within these locations remained open during the conversion process. While the extent of the remodels and addition of new amenities varies by store, each store is reopening as a Stop & Shop store refreshed with modern decor, updated refrigeration systems, new lighting, state-of-the-art technology, and other improvements. New and vibrant signage will show Stop & Shop’s low prices and exciting promotions.

“We are very excited to begin the store conversion process, and we will strive to minimize the inconvenience to customers,”

Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: September, 2015

Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months

Total Number of Copies (Net Press run) 26,583 Paid and/or requested distribution Outside County Paid/Requested Mail Subscriptions 12,829 In-County Paid/Requested Mail Subscriptions 0 Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and other Paid or Requested Distribution Outside USPS 168 Requested Copies Distributed by Other Mail Classes Through the USPS 0 Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation 12,997 Nonrequested Distribution Outside County Nonrequested Copies 12,477 In-County Nonrequested Copies 0 Nonrequested Copies Distributed Through the USPS by Other Classes of Mail 0 Nonrequested Copies Distributed Outside the Mail 854 Total Nonrequested Distribution 13,331 Total Distribution 26,328 Copies Not Distributed 255 Total 26,583 Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation 49.4% Publication of Statement of Ownership for a Requester Publication is required and will be printed in the November 2015 issue of this publication.

I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. /s/Lee M. Oser, Publisher 10-1-2015

No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 25,748

13,063 0 292

0 13,355

12,188 0

0 100 12,288 25,643 105 25,748 52.1%

said Don Sussman, President of Stop & Shop New York Metro Division as the conversions began. “Stop & Shop is committed to improving the overall shopping experience in these 25 stores to meet the quality, selection and savings that customers have come to expect from us.”

Stop & Shop’s signature fresh departments will be featured throughout the converted stores as key destinations. Produce departments will feature an assortment of fresh and locally-grown fruits and vegetables and a variety of organic produce. The Butcher Shoppe and Seafood Markets will feature Certified Angus Beef, 100 percent U.S.D.A. choice grade beef, all-natural pork, Grade A chicken and a vast selection of steaks, filets and shellfish. Deli departments will feature Boar’s Head products and specialty cheeses. Customers will also find ready-to-eat sandwiches and salads, fresh rotisserie chicken, pasta, soups and delectable entrees.

Peapod, the country’s leading Internet grocer, will also be available to customers.

Peapod recently expanded its service in the New York metro area and operates in all five New York City boroughs, in addition to Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut markets.

“Stop & Shop is committed to being a good neighbor in the communities where it does business,” said Sussman. “At each store grand opening event, Stop & Shop plans to make a charitable donation to a local non-profit organization that makes a positive impact on the lives of children.

We’re also pleased to welcome approximately 3,000 former A&P store associates to Stop & Shop, so shoppers should look forward to seeing many of the same friendly faces.” GN