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NATURALLY HEALTHY www.gourmetnews.com n SEPTEMBER 2018 n GOURMET NEWS N H 5 4 Grow Your Maple Category with Coombs Family Farms As the No. 1 organic maple brand in the U.S., Coombs Family Farms continues to work with grocers to grow their maple cate- gory. For seven generations, Coombs Family Farms has been committed to providing high quality, sustainably produced maple products to satisfy customers. Coombs Family Farms, with its strong consumer tested label, attracts shoppers who frequent natural and grocery channels for maple. With a 100 percent commitment to growing the category versus just stealing market share, it brings a variety of consumer segments to the shelf. As America's leading farmer owned maple company, Coombs Family Farms is verti- cally integrated for maximum efficiency. It sugars, packages, distributes and markets maple. Its unique sourcing model guarantees supply while also supporting its suppliers (over 3,000 small family farms) with equip- ment credit, educational seminars and advo- cacy. As an industry-leading voice for real ingredients and truth in labeling, Coombs Family Farms is committed to growing and protecting the maple industry. Coombs Family Farms truly is a best in class maple supplier that is also a partner brand that promotes to bring high value and tradi- tional maple consumers to your store. With its time tested package de- signed to attract and sell, coupled with forthcom- ing innovative new packaging to attract a new generation of shopper, Coombs has the complete maple lineup to grow your maple sales. For more information, call 888.266.6271 or email info@coombsfamilyfarm.com. Divine Chocolate's New Packaging Refresh Divine Chocolate, the only chocolate com- pany which is fair trade and co-owned by cocoa farmers, has redesigned its packaging for the first time in five years. The refresh is intended to make the company's bars stand out on shelves and communicate their brand story more effectively. The redesign includes a new embossed "Owned by Cocoa Farmers" seal on the bars. After extensive brand research, Divine Chocolate found that 1 in 10 consumers were more likely to buy Divine Chocolate because of its new seal. Troy Pearley, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Divine Chocolate North America says, "At the end of the day, the reason why people buy Divine Chocolate is because it's seriously good chocolate. Additionally, with our new pack design, we have a strong opportunity to in- spire consumers by highlighting the fact that the farmer ownership model is at the heart of our business." Other modifications to the front of pack design include changing the adinkra symbols to a uniform color so that cus- tomers can more easily navi- gate their range, switching chocolate bar's descriptors' color to white text for im- proved legibility, and placing cocoa percentages on the front of bars for consumers inter- ested in cocoa content. "High cocoa flavored bars have been growing fast as chocolate explor- ers discover new and exciting ways to enjoy the benefits of higher cocoa such as richer taste and lower sugar," explains Senior Mar- keting Manager, Liz Miller, about the choice to include cocoa percentages on the front of the packaging. The back of the bars also in- clude new certifications from The Vegan Society and B Cor- poration as well as new place- ment of the Non-GMO Project seal. Additional markers in- clude simplified product claims such as no artificial ingredi- ents, all natural, 100 percent pure cocoa butter, and no palm oil or soy. A recent analysis of market re- searchers at Nielsen have found that prod- ucts with non-GMO claims have seen a +18.2 percent boost in sales while products free from artificial colors and flavors have received a +16.2 percent increase in the last five years. Palm Oil Facts An interview with Kartik Kumar, Malaysian Palm Oil Council, Americas. GN: What is palm oil? KK: Palm oil is obtained from the flesh or mesocarp of the palm oil fruit. Like olive oil, palm oil is fruit oil. Palm oil should not be mistaken for palm kernel oil, which is ex- tracted from the kernel or seed of the palm fruit. Therefore, the oil palm fruit is unique. From the fruit two distinct types of oils are produced: palm oil and palm kernel oil. Both are edible oils but with very different chem- ical composition, physical properties and ap- plications. Each palm fruit produces about 90 percent palm oil and 10 percent palm ker- nel oil. Palm oil has a balanced composition of both saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Coupled with nature's gift of high vitamin E content, the oil is naturally very stable. Palm oil contains an equal proportion of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. It's par- ticularly rich in the saturated palmitic acid (44 percent), with substantial amounts of the monounsaturated oleic acid (40 percent), and smaller amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids (10 percent). Palm oil has had a history of food use for more than 5,000 years in more than 130 countries worldwide. GN: What food products contain palm oil? KK: Palm oil's semi-solid properties make it a favorite ingredient among food proces- sors. From palm oil you can have unlimited oil fractions for use of any kind of food ap- plications. The oil could be incorporated into a wide variety of food products, which in- clude cooking oils, margarines, noodles, shortenings, vegetable ghee, bakery prod- ucts, chocolates, hot bever- ages, coffee creamers and ice cream. Due to its excellent stabil- ity, it is the No. 1 choice in the world as frying oil for foods such as instant noodles, French fries, potato crisps, doughnuts and fried meats and snacks. The natural solid nature of palm stearin makes it most ideal for formulating solid fats such as vanaspati, margarine, shortenings and other bakery fats. More importantly, these palm fats are not hydrogenated and therefore are trans-fatty acids free. GN: Is palm oil a trans fat? Will palm oil consumption raise blood cholesterol levels? KK: No. Palm oil's natural semi-solid properties and the versatility of blending with its solid fraction, palm stearin, make hydrogenation of palm oil unnecessary. Therefore, food products containing palm oil as its sole or main ingredient are essen- tially trans-free. A re-examination of the data of some early published western studies that included palm oil showed that when palm oil replace the ha- bitual fats of Western diets, blood cholesterol levels in the subjects did not go up but instead were re- duced from 7 percent to 38 percent. GN: What's so special about red palm oil? KK: Red palm oil (RPO) is the only com- mercially available oil that contains substan- tial amounts of the natural plant pigments called 'carotenoids' (about 550 µg/g), as well as vitamin E (600 µg/g) comprising both to- cotrienols (65 percents) and alpha-toco- pherol (35 percent). Some of the carotenoids in RPO are converted to vitamins A in our body; the rest of the carotenoids, together with vita- min E (particularly tocotrienols), are re- ported to play a vital role in advanced nutrition, boosting the immune system, scavenging damaging reactive oxygen species in our body and are involved in complex mechanisms which have evolved to protect the body from chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancers of the breast and skin. For more information, visit mpoc.org.my. Fruit Bliss Adds Tart Cherries to Organic Dried Fruit Line Fruit Bliss is excited to announce the expan- sion of its organic dried fruit line to include soft and juicy rehydrated Tart Cherries. "After the success of our current line of or- ganic dried fruit, we are excited to add Tart Cherries to the list," said Susan Leone, Founder and Owner of Fruit Bliss. "Our Tart Cherries are great for a healthy snack right out of the bag, or for an extra flavor zing in any recipe or smoothie." Fruit Bliss Tart Cherries are picked at the height of ripeness and sun-dried, and then undergo a rehydrating process that leaves them juicier and softer than traditional dried fruit. Like all of Fruit Bliss' prod- ucts, these Tart Cherries are or- ganic, Non-GMO Verified, gluten free and contain no preservatives. They will be available in 4 ounce re-sealable pouches on Amazon and in mar- kets around the country. "Compared with other dried fruits, ours are soft and juicy, with no added sulfites," said Leone, a Brooklyn mom who decided to start Fruit Bliss to fill the gap in 100 percent healthy snacks on the supermarket shelves. "Fruit Bliss really is dried fruit reinvented and a truly healthy snack or addition to many dishes." For more information, go to www.fruitbliss.com, call 646.225.6565 or email info@fruitbliss.com.

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