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Produce Show Daily 5 7 Friday, October 19, 2018 and vegetables including prunes. Research suggests that eating 5-6 prunes each day may help to prevent bone loss. This supports previous research that found eating 10-12 prunes every day for one year helped to increase bone mineral density and slow the rate of bone turnover. Prunes contain micronu- trients including potassium, magnesium and vitamin K, all of which are important for bone health. The convenience of prunes as a portable, delicious snack make them perfect for getting these essential nutrients on a daily basis. Prunes have other important health benefits as well. Sunsweet Amaz!n Prunes are an all-natural source of fiber, with 3g of fiber per serving, and only 100 calories. Sunsweet Amaz!n Prunes have no added sugar. Compared to other dried fruits, prunes are lower in naturally- occurring sugar and have a low glycemic index of only 29. This means they are digested and absorbed slowly by the Sunsweet (Cont'd. from p. 1) body, which helps to sustain energy over a longer period of time compared to foods with a higher glycemic index. One serving of prunes (4-5 prunes) is a great way to get one of your daily servings of fruit. Sunsweet Amaz!n Prunes are known as the Feel Good Fruit because they offer so many benefits, all in a sweet and juicy morsel. Recognizing World Osteoporosis Day provides a reminder of the impor- tance of bone health. "Nutrients found in prunes – vitamin K, phosphorus, boron and potassium and polyphenols – con- tribute to bone health. Paired with calci- um, vitamin D and weight bearing exer- cise, people of all ages can protect them- selves," says Shirin Hooshmand, PhD, Associate Professor of Nutrition at San Diego State University. Hooshmand has been involved in founding research related to prunes and their effect on bone health. For more information, visit booth #1453, or go to www.sunsweetworldosteoporosis day.com or www.sunsweet.com. application. "At SWM, we are committed to the continued development of more sustain- able packaging options," said Bart Sistrunk, Global Commercial Director for Packaging. "The creation of fully compostable packaging options was a natural step toward our goals." While many organizations in the past have found the conversion to com- postable packaging to be cost prohibitive, recent technology advancements at SWM have fostered the creation of cost- neutral compostable alternatives for cus- tomers. "Many of our customers and part- ners have been searching for a com- postable solution for years, but found themselves unable to afford the signifi- cant increase in cost. Now, however, using proprietary blends that take advan- tage of the latest advancements in com- postable resin technology, our develop- ment team has created products that are SWM International (Cont'd. from p. 1) more affordable than ever, and with increased performance properties," said Sistrunk. SWM International is a leading global provider of engineered solutions and advanced materials. SWM's resin and fiber-based materials enhance per- formance for a range of products in food- related and consumer packaging applica- tions. From protective mesh netting to food containment packaging, SWM pro- vides specialized engineering and manu- facturing solutions for food and beverage producers. The company wants to be its cus- tomers' first choice when they are look- ing for products and solutions that embrace innovation to fuel their growth. That's why SWM's people are always innovating and driven to develop new ideas and products to help customers build strong and competitive brands. Visit SWM International at booth #2253. For more information, go to www.swmintl.com. ripening rooms, Thermal Tech has been providing that same ripening guarantee with every one of its TarpLess ® ripening room installations since it patented the system over 25 years ago. That extends to more than 3,000 room installations worldwide, including 18 of the Top 20 retailers in North America. At the company's 80,000 square- foot manufacturing and corporate head- quarters facility outside of Columbia, South Carolina, towering stacks of evap- orators and bustling assembly lines are impressive indicators of global demand. Even more impressive are these towering 42-pallet capacity rooms in action at a nearby TarpLess ripening room installa- tion. That's when the full magnitude of Thermal Tech's ripening guarantee strikes home. "What clearly sets these rooms apart from other systems is our commitment to fruit-centric engineering and control," says David Byrne, Thermal Tech Vice President of Sales. "By making fruit quality the driving force behind all tech- nological innovation, we not only build a better ripening room, we avoid the pit- falls of over-engineering we see when technology is given precedence over the fruit. This goes for our control system as well. While other systems rely on air- temperature to dictate conditions, we have always used actual pulp tempera- tures as the primary basis for room con- trol. "Humidity is another great exam- ple. In rooms lacking proper humidifi- cation, the naturally occurring moisture contained in the fruit slowly evaporates Thermal Technologies (Cont'd. from p. 1) during the ripening process, increasing peel sensitivity, reducing fruit weight and shortening shelf-life. The TarpLess ripening room's humidification system maintains these natural moisture levels, minimizing weight loss while extending shelf-life up to 12 additional hours, reducing retail shrink. The result is increased sales, a faster return-on- investment and unbeatable long-term profit." With 25 years of successful installa- tions, most of Thermal Tech's original rooms are still in operation today. "We view every installation as a lifetime commitment," says Byrne. "The interac- tive partnerships we have developed with our clients as well as the unparal- leled emphasis we have placed on help- ing them properly maintain their sys- tems for peak performance have enabled us to advance ripening technology to an unprecedented level. This enables us to make sure our clients continue to maxi- mize their results through education, upgrades and retrofits as well as new room installations." Seeing these results and listening to the folks in charge of regional fruit qual- ity for one of the industry's largest retail- ers makes it easy to see why the TarpLess ripening room has gained such a well- deserved reputation. The entire experi- ence gives you a lot more respect for what it takes to have great looking bananas on display at your local grocery store. Visit Thermal Technologies at booth #1101. For more information, contact David Byrne at 803.461.7980 or go to www.gotarpless.com. Lantana Foods Delivers Hummus for Breakfast By Lorrie Baumann With its first hummus launched in just 2011, Lantana Hummus has become one of the top brands in the category by turn- ing the whole definition of the product on its head. Everyone knows what hummus is, but for those who need a dictionary defi- nition, Merriam-Webster provides one. By that definition, hummus is "a paste of pureed chickpeas usually mixed with sesame oil or sesame paste and eaten as a dip or sandwich spread." To which, the three foodie friends who founded Lantana Hummus, all with a background of working for some of the larger producers in the space, said some- thing like, "A pulse is a pulse. A bean is a bean," according to Matt Gase, CEO of Lantana Foods since 2016. "What's sacred about the garbanzo bean? ... Let's create something that is culinary, some- thing that is fun and bright and flavor- ful." And from that thought, they created a line of hummus that uses beans other than chickpeas, and they exercised culi- nary ingenuity on additions of vegeta- bles and toppings. "Every one of their SKUs is like its own creation — it's not just the same hummus coming off the line with a different topping on it," Gase said. The result is a range of eight wild- ly inventive creations that offer bright colors, bold flavors and certifications that appeal to health-conscious con- sumers. Sriracha Carrot is a top seller that offers the color and sweetness of carrots and the zing of sriracha in a white bean hummus that's topped with sunflower seeds and dried apricots. White Bean Hummus has a topping of pine nuts and herbs, and Cucumber is a hummus made from white beans and edamame and topped with cucumber and dill. The three newest flavors, launch- ing this year, are Hatch Chile, Cauliflower, and Strawberry. They each start with a white bean hummus base. Hatch Chile is made with New Mexico Hatch chiles and topped with diced green chiles. The Cauliflower Hummus offers cauli- flower blended in the hummus and pickled carrots, cauliflower bits and caramelized onions as a topping. That brings us to Strawberry, which was born out of market intelligence that informed its creators that consumers were using Lantana's Black Bean Hummus as an ingredient in breakfast burritos. If consumers want to eat hummus for breakfast, why would it have to be savory? "We'd had such success introducing vegetables into our hummus, why not fruit? Can we pull it off?" Gase explained the thinking. The result is a Strawberry Hummus, with some basil for an herbal counterbalance to the sweetness and a topping of strawberries, basil and bal- samic vinegar. The company's market research says that con- sumers are interested in using it as a replacement for cream cheese. "We've had feedback that people are replacing jelly in a peanut butter and hummus sandwich — sort of a protein bomb there," Gase said. Following the success of Strawberry, Lantana Hummus is rolling out other fruit-for- ward hummus concoctions with white bean bases. Blueberry hummus is made with white bean hummus topped with hibiscus, mint and dried blueberries. Cherry has sweet cherries and a topping of sweet and smoked cherries and sunflower seeds. Mango includes cilantro in the base and a topping of chile lime mango and pineapple. All of the Lantana Hummus prod- ucts are gluten free and vegan friendly, and most are non-GMO. The 10-ounce tubs retails for around $4.49. For more information, visit www .lantanafoods.com.