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NATURALLY HEALTHY www.gourmetnews.com n SEPTEMBER 2018 n GOURMET NEWS N H 2 4 Blood Orange Juice from Dream Foods International Dream Foods International, founded in 1999 and located in Santa Monica, California, spe- cializes in award-winning organic citrus juices and natural ethnic foods. The com- pany began bottling juices near the Mount Etna volcano in Sicily where local growers and artisan factories batch-produce the com- pany's juices for distribution across North America. A recent partnership with Polenghi, USA has given Dream Foods International a wide variety of private label options and a larger branded selection for retailers. As one of the largest private label sources in Europe, it now processes 10 percent of the world's lemon juice supply. All of the citrus fruit used to make Dream Foods juices are harvested by hand and processed immediately. The products are or- ganic, non-GMO, kosher and made with not- from-concentrate juices. Every year, time is spent at Sicilian citrus farms to better under- stand seasonal variations as well as an aid to understand the environmental effects that Mt. Etna, an active volcano, has on citrus. This regular time spent at the farms provides an intimate knowledge of organic citrus, from farm to supermarket, in each and every product. Dream Foods is looking forward to the new horizons of the future. The company added a very strong dry grocery category when it introduced the Casa Mexicana line of authentic Mexican seasonings and rice dishes that feature top-trending flavor profiles. Building on the success of its current prod- uct lines, new products are being developed for the retail shelves that will continue to bring great flavor and taste. The company is attending the show to network in a direct manner with many existing customers and to introduce Dream Food's capabilities to po- tential customers. Growing the overall mar- ket potential is the goal for the show. Now that Dream Foods is partnered in Italy with Polenghi USA, it has become one of the largest worldwide suppliers of lemon juice. The partnership has also caused a strong expansion throughout the U.S. and has added great depth to its private label capabil- ities. Blood orange juice is back! After floods and torrential rains through- out Europe, which diminished the crops in 2016-17, this year's yield is abundant and readily available. Dream Foods has ex- panded lemon juice in both certified organic and conventional juices, as well as in larger foodservice sizes and portion packs. The company works with natural specialty grocers, mass retailers, club stores, private label and foodservice customers. Dream Foods is able to offer healthier choices, com- petitive pricing and a larger selection. For more information, visit booth #324, go to www.dreamfoods.com or call 310.315.5739. WORTHINGTON: Iconic Meat-Sub Category Leader Returns WORTHINGTON, the original mainstream leader in plant-based meats successfully re- turns to the alternative meats category with the launch of 15 meaty, savory and delicious Plant Powered™ products. WORTHINGTON's delicious new lineup of frozen vegan/meatless plant-based prod- ucts is being embraced nationally. New op- tions include the savory and delicious WORTHINGTON BURGER, DELI DOG and STAKELETS™. Deli-style options in- clude 4lb rolls and pre-sliced MEATLESS DELI SLICES - TURKEY, HAM, CHICKEN, CORNED BEEF. DINNER ROAST™, TURKEY ROAST and SAUSAGE LINKS are certain to delight the whole family of meat-lovers and vegetarians alike. Now for the first time, all WORTHING- TON products are made with non-GMO pro- tein, and contain no artificial flavors, no artificial colors and no artificial preserva- tives. The WORTHINGTON Research & De- velopment team is led by world-class food protein scientist Dr. James Chen. Dr. Chen has led major breakthrough ad- vancements in the latest plant- based meat technology with brands including Morningstar Farms, Gardenburger and Kashi. Since joining the company in 2017, groundbreaking new inno- vations in Plant Powered meat al- ternatives have been added to the WORTHINGTON lineup. In 2016, Heritage Health Food, led by President/Chief Executive Officer Don Otis, acquired the WOR- THINGTON brand from the Kellogg Com- pany and combined it with Cedar Lake Foods, a vegetarian foods brand/manufactur- ing facility. Several other industry leaders in the meat-sub category also joined Don in his mission of providing high- quality healthy and delicious plant-based products. Com- bined – Heritage Health Food is making a huge con- tribution to the national vegan and vegetarian Plant Powered meat alternative market with three national brands. To meet with a member of the team or to receive more information, call 888.237.0807 or email sales@eatworthing ton.com. Find the company online at its new website www.eatworthington.com or go to Instagram @worthingtonfoods or www .facebook.com/worthingtonfoods. GORP Energy Bar and GORP Protein Bar Ready Mix Once upon a time, there was a wannabe ath- lete mom and a farmer from Manitoba, Canada. They fell in love with a big idea: to use their professions, passions and crazy ideas to do some good in this world. Mom, Colleen, was training for triathlons and not finding anything worth eating that was nutri- tionally dense. She decided to try her hand at making her own, and that's how the GORP Energy Bar was born. Insert farmer here, and you have a bar packed with many local, Canadian, super- star ingredients like oats, flax, hemp, seeds and more. Mix it together with peanut butter, honey and a sprouted brown rice protein and you have yourself a nutri- ent dense and filling bar, with no weird af- tertaste. They hoped for great testimonials from professional sports teams who use the bars, but all that was received was, "It doesn't make me feel bloated" and "It tastes great!" Perhaps not the gleaming re- views that were hoped for, but proof that what Colleen created was a bar that was actually functional and appetizing. Fast forward five years on the GORP journey when Colleen's next part of the big idea comes to fruition. While listening to her customer's feedback for years, she realized there was a need for a more affordable and customizable energy bar. Taking a big risk, Colleen gives away the recipe to her beloved GORP bar and lets her customers make their own! GORP Protein Bar Ready Mix was the an- swer to many requests, as it makes 25 GORP bars for only $1.00 per bar. Not only that, but consumers can customize the recipe to suit their dietary needs. It is also a Nexty Award winner. One athlete, one farmer, one big idea! GORP provides a nu- tritional solution for people who are looking for convenient and healthy snacks. Visit GORP Energy Bars & Mixes at booth #8420. For more information, email info@ gorpworld.com or go to www.gorpworld.com. Hitting the Wall By Anna Marie Stauss, Chief Executive Of- ficer, Sinko Corp. What does it mean to "hit the wall" as a small manufacturing company that wholesales its own production? Well, let me tell you: it's in- spiring, painful and expensive. We are Sinko Corp. and home of Toockies ® brand products. We have pushed our little company as far as organic growth will allow. Our Toockies products are hand crafted out of 100 percent organic and natural plant fibers. We have three lines of product: housewares, bath and beauty and cleaning. Our Toockies have been well received by customers and our wonder- ful retailers for the last 10 years, but getting financing to hire the help we need to become profitable has been our greatest challenge. We cannot afford to hire ourselves, we have worked for 10 years without pay even though we continue to grow. This year we have continued to add more small independent gift, houseware and spe- cialty markets to our growing list of repeat customers as well as a handful of major re- tailers. We have had wonderful growth co- branding with our distributor in Denmark and have formed great working relationships with our online stores and with our distribu- tion centers in California and in India. Sounds great, and it has been. However, all that we have earned and gained has gone back into the business to fuel this growth. With the exception of a small line of credit and some credit cards, we cannot get financing from banks because we are still not big enough. How do small companies survive? They get acquired. I'm telling you this because I've realized that having a great product that checks all the boxes –hand- made, low priced, practical, useful, plant based, convenient, Fair Trade, environmen- tally and socially responsible – is not enough. The market now requires that we are also self-funded until we can clear a $200,000.00 profit. The offers to loan on in- ventory or on POs are plenty but the cost/risk is more than we can bear. The question is, if you are self-funding, how can you ever get there as a manufacturer and wholesaler with inventory? A strange question for a trade show magazine. Yes, it is, but if I don't pose it to our industry, who then? We have started from scratch and created three lines of product that are perfect for our time, minimal packag- ing, quality at a low price and sells well. Category disruptors, all of them, as they are so unique yet familiar to most customers from all over the world, especially whose culture have used knit products for centuries. We have amazing distribution out of Northern California and order processing that ships within 48 hours. We are writing this message to reach out to retailers who want a boutique line of their own and larger companies looking to acquire a gem. If you have any information that maybe useful to these ends, please email us at info@toockies.com. For more information, email info@ toockies.com.

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