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GOURMET NEWS SEPTEMBER 2018 www.gourmetnews.com SUPPLIER NEWS 2 0 How to Have Your Paleo and Your Pancakes Too BY LORRIE BAUMANN Birch Benders recently launched frozen Toaster Waffles as the latest extension to the company's range of just-add-water pan- cake and waffle mixes, adding convenience to the breakfast menu for a fan base that in- cludes Paleo eaters and gluten-free follow- ers as well as those who just want the comfort of Saturday morning breakfast eaten at the kitchen table in jammies and fuzzy slippers. The new Birch Benders Toaster Waffles are offered in four varieties from the freezer case: Homestyle, Butter- milk, Paleo and Protein. All inspired by Bel- gian waffle recipes without being too thick to fit into the toaster, they're crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, and they can be enjoyed with or without a hearty glug of maple syrup. They add extra conven- ience while keeping Birch Benders' insis- tence on feeding a craving for a tall stack with clean ingredients and the re- spect for structured eating plans that ordi- narily don't allow carbohydrate-heavy glutenous breakfast options. The line of just-add-water mixes includes familiar American flavors: Classic Recipe, Butter- milk, Chocolate Chip and Blueberry for those who crave comfort but are not tied to the rigors of a structured diet plan. They're Protein, Peanut Butter Protein, Paleo, Pumpkin Spice Paleo, Banana Paleo and Gluten Free for those who are following Paleo or gluten-free regimes, and Pumpkin Spice and Six Grain Cinnamon for those who have something else in mind. They're all the brainchildren of Birch Benders co-Founders Lizzi Ackerman and Matt LaCasse, wife and husband who started their company in Boulder, Colorado not long after they graduated from college. "The original idea of Birch Benders stemmed from hunger. Matt opened his fridge one day, craving pancakes, and all he had was eggs. So he thought, 'What if I could crack an egg over a griddle, but in- stead of getting an egg, I could get a pan- cake?'" Ackerman said. From there, the idea took charge, and the two went to work to figure out how they could package pancake mix into an egg-shaped package and then discarding that idea in favor of putting a mix into a glass jar that was, in spirit, an egg shell, and fi- nally deciding to let go of the eggshell idea altogether in favor of a professionally de- signed stand-up pouch. That evolution took them about three years from the time they incorporated their company in 2011 until they launched their brand into the national market at Natural Products Expo West in 2014. Their 2014 national launch at Expo West garnered in- terest from the market and some funding that allowed them to rebrand a bit, but the product line of just-add-water mixes was essentially as it is today. "After Expo West, things really took off – it was a rocket ship," Acker- man said. "One of the areas where we've seen incredible success is with our functional mixes, includ- ing our Paleo, Protein and Gluten Free varieties. We were first to mar- ket our Paleo Pancake Mix and Paleo Toaster Waffles." Paleo has turned out to be more than the flash-in-the-pan it seemed when it was popularized by Loren Cordain in 2002, and Ackerman says that the trend shows no sign of fizzling, and Birch Benders' sales of the Paleo pancake mixes are strong and still growing as they're picked up by main- stream grocers. "Consumers are looking to enjoy their favorite foods and not feel guilty afterwards," Ackerman said. "As a brand, we're trying to let you eat like a kid again by offering delicious foods that are truly guilt free. Everyone loves pancakes or waffles, but as adults, we feel the need to cut back on them for health reasons. Now we don't have to cut back." The same sensibility is behind this year's frozen waffles launch. "In this busy day and age, convenience is everything. We've had a lot of customers tell us that they love our mixes but only eat them on weekends be- cause they don't have time to make them on weekday mornings. Our frozen waffles are even more con- venient than our mixes – you just pop them into the toaster and you're good to go," Acker- man said. "It's been really exciting to watch those take off. The frozen waffle category was one that we thought was re- ally ripe for innovation. The space is dom- inated by local legacy brands, and we saw an exciting opportunity to come in with more delicious classic and functional vari- eties. We're shaking the category up, the same way we did with pancakes." Birch Benders just-add-water pancake and waffle mixes are sold in pouches that range in weight from 10 ounces to 16 ounces, depending on the variety, that re- tail from $4.99 to $5.99. A few staple vari- eties are offered in 24-ounce pouches that retail for $3.99 on the shelves of conven- tional grocers. Birch Benders Toaster Waf- fles are sold in boxes that contain six or eight, depending on the flavor, and retail at $3.99. They're currently sold by more than 8,000 retailers across the country. GN Rango Honey Offers the Taste of the Desert Southwest BY LORRIE BAUMANN Rango Honey offers all-natural high-end honey from Arizona's Sonoran Desert to the nation. The company, founded in 2015, is unique in that all of its profits go to benefit assisted living facilities for autistic adults. "One of the owners decided to get a cou- ple of hives to provide his family, including his autistic son, with the natural health ben- efits that come from honey, and it started from there," said President Jason Zimmer- man. The company has grown from its two- hive start and now gathers honey from 1,500 to 2,000 hives and distributes it nationally, with its products currently reaching con- sumers in about 20 states. "We're growing," Zimmerman said. "It's a true start-up with a great mission. We're growing like crazy and have a lot of fanfare out there." The sense of mission behind the com- pany comes from the personal experience of one of its owners, who has an 18-year- old son with autism. The owner got inter- ested in honey bees and the health benefits of natural raw honey, so he decided to get a couple of hives and try raising bees him- self. It didn't take long before those two hives, coupled with Rango Honey's owners' previous experience building health-care facilities, suggested that if they could ex- pand the honey operation, it could generate funds to build and operate safe and nurtur- ing homes for autistic adults, according to Zimmerman. "They're creating and build- ing that environment," he said. The com- pany is currently funding two homes in the Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan area – one in development and one functioning as Alpine House with half a dozen adults liv- ing there. Rango Honey is offered in four varieties: Sonoran Orange Blossom, with a flavor that's influenced by the desert southwest; Sonoran Mesquite; Sonoran Clover Alfalfa, and Sonoran Desert Bloom, which is pro- duced by facing the beehives toward open land populated by native wildflowers and cactus blossoms. "That's the one where we let them roam," Zimmerman said. The honey is pure and all-natural, raw and unfiltered, thicker than most honey be- cause it's produced in the desert. It's processed and packaged in the company's facility in Tempe, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. The honeys are sold in bottles ranging from 6 ounces to 5 gallons. The top seller is the 12-ounce bottle, which retails for $9.99. Distribution is national. For more information, visit www .rangohoney.com. GN Bubba's Offers Paleo Snacks in Single Serve Packets Bubba's Fine Foods new release of single serve packets hold a snack that will appeal to paleo eaters because they're gluten-free, grain-free and free of refined sugars. Bubba's Fine Foods is all about delivering simple real-food ingredients with an addic- tive crunch and taste. Bubba's single serve packets satisfy the pickiest eaters, provide balanced energy and manage portion sizes. The packets include three of Bubba's best-selling products within each product line: Sa- vory Original Snack Mix: a twist on the classic snack mix with pecans, cashews and dried green bananas with a buttery blend of olive oil and spice; Blazing Buf- falo 'Nana Chips: crunchy low-sugar ba- nana chips flavored with real buffalo wing spices; and Bourbon Vanilla Un- Granola: non-GMO coconut flakes, cashews, and sliced almonds, a kick of Bourbon vanilla and a subtle touch of honey. Bubba's Fine Foods snacks are proudly made in America in the heart of Loveland, Colorado, and are paleo, grain-free, gluten-free, soy free, dairy free, non-GMO and free of refined sugars and arti- ficial flavor- ings. They're avail- able for pur- chase at www .bubbasfoods.com, Amazon, Natural Gro- cers, Sprouts, Whole Foods, The Fresh Market, King Soopers and more national retailers at a retail price of $1.99 each. For more information about Bubba's Fine Foods, visit www.bubbasfoods.com. GN

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