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Produce Show Daily 4 7 Saturday, October 20, 2018 Green Chick Pea Goodness from Fresh Nature By Lorrie Baumann Fresh Nature is ready to introduce Americans to bright green hummus and falafel. Founded in 2012, the brand offers a line of products made from green chick peas. The line includes frozen Falafel Cakes and Southwestern Cakes that make a convenient meal option, hummus in four flavors and snack packs with mini-chick pea cakes and a sauce in which to dip them. The snack packs are offered in two flavors – Spicy Cakes that come with four cakes and 2 ounces of a tangy chipotle dip and Falafel Cakes that come with four cakes and two ounces of a creamy tahini dip. They're both vegan, and the four- cake package is enough for a hearty snack or a light lunch. They'll retail for $4.99. The Fresh Nature Falafel Cakes and Southwestern Cakes are offered in pack- ages of eight for the freezer case. Each cake is a serving for a convenient plant- based entree that can be prepared for the table in a microwave oven, on the stove- top or in a conventional oven. They cook from frozen in just 60 seconds in the microwave, although the conventional oven will bring out extra flavor in 10 to 12 minutes of cooking time. Because the chick pea cakes are made from the young green chick peas, they're moister than traditional falafel made from mature dried chick peas. There are four flavors of Fresh Nature Hummus: Classic, Falafel, Roasted Garlic and Jalapeno. Eight- ounce tubs retail for $3.99 to $4.99. Because the hummus is made from green chick peas rather than dried mature chick peas, it's not just bright green – it's also creamier and has a fresher taste than traditional hummus. The green chick peas in the products are sourced from farms owned by Fresh Nature and 15 other family farms in southeastern Washington and northeast- ern Oregon. Ryan Davenport is Fresh Nature's President. His farm has been in his family for four generations, and Davenport himself returned to the farm in 2010 after spending time away. The farm began planting chick peas as a rotation crop in wheat fields to provide a natural source of nitrogen to help replace nutri- ents depleted by nitrogen-hungry wheat. "It was all about trying to keep hold of our sustainable farm practices," he said. That was before hum- mus had exploded in popu- larity in the American mar- ket, and it wasn't easy to turn chick peas into a prof- itable crop, so the company started work to develop marketable products for its chick peas. From the early to mid-2000s, Davenport's family farm was working on how to harvest and preserve green chick peas. Once that process was dialed in, the family launched Fresh Nature to intro- duce its green chick pea products into a market that had discovered chick peas as a tasty source of plant protein. "We're finding that more and more of our cus- tomers are wanting plant-based, organic and all-natural foods," Davenport said. "So many people are looking for pro- tein." For more information, visit www .freshnaturefoods.com. Something New Under the Greek Sun By Lorrie Baumann It's not often that a story about a food product for the American market begins with an ancient Greek philosopher, but this one does. That's because a Greek philosopher, Theophrastus, who lived between 371 and 287 B.C. wrote a book in which he told us how the Greeks prop- agated olives. Which means that the Greeks have been taking olives seriously as a food crop for at least that long. That's important today because a new entrant into the olive category, Alive & Well Olives, have introduced olives into the American market using the same tra- ditional methods that might have been observed by Theophrastus. Unlike other olives on supermarket shelves or in olive bars today, Alive & Well Olives are natu- rally-cured by lacto-fermentation, the same process that turns cabbage into sauerkraut and milk into cheese. As a result, Alive & Well Olives contain natu- ral probiotic lactobacillus cultures that remain active in the olive flesh and in the brine. "There is something new under the sun, even if it's something that existed a thousand years ago," says Greg Leonard, a Founding Partner of Alive & Well Olives who's intent on livening up a cat- egory that even he is used to thinking of as totally mature. Ancient, even. Leonard and four other partners start- ed the company two years ago with the idea that they wanted to bring a product to market that would fit with the values they'd espoused through their careers in the natural products industry. Leonard himself spent over 40 years as a senior executive for Tree of Life, a natural and specialty foods distributor that's now part of KeHE. "I certainly understand the challenges of going to market and enjoy navigating that path thoughtfully and in a collaborative way with retailers to get to the consumer," he says. "If you had asked me three years ago when this notion of developing a branded product line came up in conversation, olives probably wouldn't have made the list.... What we quickly came to realize was how little we – or most people who enjoy Mediterranean food – really understood about how virtually all olives today are grown and processed. Our 'aha moment' was the realization that ... in the 50s and 60s, the traditional growing and process- ing techniques were replaced by chemi- cal-based processes designed to speed time-to-shelf and extend shelf life." Most commercially produced olives found on grocery shelves or in olive bars are pasteurized and often lye- cured to accel- erate the fermentation process, according to Leonard. Black olives are either dyed using ferrous gluconate or subjected to rapid cures that are accelerated through artificial means. "Speeding up the process reduces the cost and the curing time to weeks instead of the months required by natural fermentation," Leonard says. Alive & Well Olives are grown in Greece on small family farms and village farming cooperatives. The olives stay under the care of the same group of growers throughout the curing process until they're packed. In contrast to com- mercially produced olives, Alive & Well Olives are organically and sustainably grown, non-GMO verified, harvested by hand, naturally fermented and probiotic, and authentic and traceable back to the groves in which each olive variety is grown. Alive & Well Olives are packaged in the original mother brine in which they were cured. "The mother brine itself is loaded with probiotics and can be used in salad dressings, or in pasta dishes. It adds a nice, round olive flavor to the dish, and you're getting those additional health benefits that come with the probiotics in the mother brine," Leonard says. "To a large degree, it was the fact that these olives had such a robust story and long list of on-trend benefits that caused our team, Legacy III Partners, to go into this partic- ular product category." In contrast with most of those other olives, Alive & Well Olives still have the pits in them, which improves their flavor and prevents the tissue damage to the olives that occurs when the pits are removed. Alive & Well Olives, packaged in glass jars, are sold in the fermented foods section of the refrigerator case. They're offered in six varieties: Kalamata, which offers pungent earthy aromas and the supple nutty accents of the classic Kalamata flavor; Chalkidiki, a firm green olive with crispy, savory and peppery notes that pairs well with sweet accompa- niments; Atalanti, which has a complex balance of sweet and savory flavors; Green Rovies, with a rich and buttery fla- vor with a long finish and a bitter after- taste; Black Rovies, which offer subtle fla- vors of peach and pear and end with acidic and balsamic notes that balance out the richness; and Green Mix, which includes a blend of Kalamata, Atalanti, Chalkidiki and Green Rovies. The company guaran- tees a minimum of six months of shelf life from delivery to retail. Bolthouse Farms Launches Plant Protein Milk As consumer appetite grows for more nutritious plant-based, dairy-free prod- ucts, Bolthouse Farms, the largest pro- ducer of baby carrots in North America, has combined over 100 years of farming tradition with modern nutrition to devel- op Bolthouse Farms ® Plant Protein Milk. Refrigerated and non-dairy, Bolthouse Farms Plant Protein Milk contains 10 grams of pea protein per 8-ounce serving, versus only one gram of protein in almond milk, and has 50 percent more calcium than dairy milk. A protein-packed, delicious alterna- tive that appeals to both traditional dairy and alternative dairy milk drinkers, Bolthouse Farms Plant Protein Milk is a nutritious option everyone can enjoy. With a creamy consistency and clean flavor, Bolthouse Farms Plant Protein Milk is vegan, non-GMO and does not contain common allergens like dairy, nuts and soy, or intolerances like lactose and gluten. "Current alternative milk options don't address the needs of more than 40 percent of people seeking great tasting, nutrient rich, allergy-free options," said Suzanne Ginestro, Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer, C-Fresh, the division of the Campbell Soup Company that owns the Bolthouse Farms brand. "Our Plant Protein Milk was created to satisfy the growing number of consumers seek- ing plant-based pro- teins, as well as tra- ditional dairy milk drinkers looking for better food choices that are also rich in calcium." According to recent data from Information Resources, Inc., the non-dairy milk segment is expected to grow to $4 bil- lion by 2020. Bolthouse Farms Plant Protein Milk will drive the plant-based alternative milk category forward by align- ing with consumers demand for great-tast- ing, better food choices that connect with their nutrition and lifestyle needs. Bolthouse Farms is committed to making great-tasting, nutritious products more accessible and convenient to con- sumers nationwide. Bolthouse Farms Plant Protein Milk is available at retailers nationwide including Kroger, Safeway East and Shaw's among others. Plant Protein Milk is available in four deli- cious flavors — Unsweetened, Original, Vanilla and Chocolate — and can be found in the refrigerated dairy section in a multi-serve 48-ounce bottle with a sug- gested retail price of $4.99. It can be enjoyed like a traditional dairy milk or almond milk – straight from a glass or in smoothies, cereal, coffee and in recipes. For more information about Bolthouse Farms Plant Protein Milk and local avail- ability visit www.bolthousefarms.com.