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GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2018 www.gourmetnews.com Naturally Healthy NATURALLY HEALTHY 1 6 New Noodle Bowls from nona lim BY LORRIE BAUMANN nona lim introduced new grab and go ramen bowls as well as a new Shiitake Beef Bone Broth this year, with the Shiitake Beef Bone Broth took home the National Restau- rant Association FABI Award. The three new noodle bowls are the nona lim Thai Coconut Lime Noodle Bowl, the Green Curry Noodle Bowl and the Chicken Pho Noodle Bowl. Sold from the refrigerator case, they're all made from scratch with fresh ingredients and are free of dairy, gluten and preservatives. All three are Non- GMO Project verified. The Shiitake Beef Bone Broth is an exten- sion of nona lim's line of Heat & Sip Cups that includes Turmeric Chicken Bone Broth, Ginseng Chicken Bone Broth, Miso Broth, Vietnamese Pho Beef Bone Broth, Thai Coconut Lime Bone Broth, Carrot Ginger Soup and Tomato Thai Basil Soup. The Vietnamese Pho Bone Broth won a bronze sofi Award last year. nona lim's Thai Coconut Lime Bone Broth won a gold sofi Award in 2015. Nona Lim founded her company in 2014 after leaving a previous meal kit delivery business behind to focus on packaged goods. "Right from the beginning, it was, how can you get better-for-you products that are convenient and flavorful?" she said. "Everything I make is, how can I make clean, convenient and better for you?" Nona Lim's Shiitake Beef Bone Broth Cup uses organic, grass-fed beef bone broth that has simmered for more than 24 hours, whole dried shiitake mushrooms and per- fect spicing. The chicken for the Chicken Pho Noodle Bowl is antibiotic free and cage free, and the Green Curry Noodle Bowl of- fers a vegan option. All of her products are functional, draw- ing on the Chinese tradition of food as medicine, she said, and the cup packaging for her Heat & Sip Cups, a year in devel- opment, is an example of the way she's turned a traditional Asian comfort food into a convenient snack or meal that meets the needs of on-the-go consumers. De- signed like a coffee cup, the consumer peels the seal, mi- crowaves the broth cup for 90 seconds, snaps the lid back on, and the broth is ready to sip. The new noodle bowls are a take on the ramen bowls she grew up with, Lim says, but they're made with bone broth and gluten-free noodles. They're non-GMO and offered in compostable packaging. "We're trying to do things better for the environ- ment," she said. "We thought, how can we design a package that's innovative, beauti- ful and doesn't take too much plastic?' The Bone Broth Heat & Sip Cups hold BY LORRIE BAUMANN Soom Foods really started with a question about why the tahini that Shelby Zitelman tasted in Israel was so much better than the tahini she'd tasted in the United States. Today, she and her two sisters are answer- ing that question by bringing their own brand of tahini pressed and manufactured in Israel so that Americans can taste the dif- ference for themselves. Soom Foods offers two products to the American market. Its Tahini is the tradi- tional paste made from roasted and pressed sesame seeds that's one of the main ingre- dients in traditional hummus. Its Choco- late Tahini is a direct competitor with spreads made with cocoa and nut butter. Zitelman is the oldest of three sisters, and she had the chance to taste the tahini that Israelis were eating when she went to Israel to visit her middle sister, who was liv- ing in Israel and dating a man who sold tahini. He introduced the product to her. "I had never had tahini quite like this," she said. "I wanted to know why it was so good and why it tasted like peanut butter." She discovered that the tahini she was enjoying was made from a particular vari- ety of white sesame seed grown in Ethiopia and processed in Israel. "Like coffee, the seeds can have a very different effect de- pending on the varietal," she said. These particular seeds could be ground into a very smooth paste with no bitter flavor. Once she had the answers she was look- ing for Zitelman used her business school education to form a company with her two sisters, Amy and Jackie. Jackie is now mar- ried to Omri, the date who introduced Zitelman to the product, and she's also now Soom Foods' Vice President of Interna- tional Sourcing as well as a company co- Founder. She's responsible for managing Soom's manufacturing relationships and coordinating exports from Israel. Amy, the youngest of the three sisters, is the com- pany's Vice President of Business Develop- ment as well as a co-Founder. She is responsible for managing client and cus- tomer relationships and the sales cycle and process. Zitelman is the company's CEO, overseeing the company's finances and re- lationships with con- tractors and developing strategy for the business. Their two products are made and pack- aged in Israel from sesame sourced in Ethiopia. The tahini is then shipped from Is- rael to the U.S., where the company is headquartered in North Philadelphia. Soom Foods Tahini is sold in 11-ounce jars that retail for $6.99. As well as its use as a primary ingredient in hum- mus, it's also used in marinades and in salad dressings. "It's also appearing in baked goods as an alternative to nut but- ters," Zitelman said. "Anywhere you'd see almond butter or peanut butter, you could consider tahini instead." That's particularly true because sesame is both a drought-resistant crop that uses less water than almonds, and one of the best non-animal sources of protein, calcium and iron, she added. "In this world of being very sen- sitive to nut allergies, it can be a wonderful sub- stitute for nut butters for allergy purposes as well as for flavor purposes." Soom Foods Choco- late Tahini is sold in a 12- ounce jar that retails for $8.99. Dairy-free, nut-free and with no added oils, it also has half the sugar of competing nut butter- chocolate spreads, according to Zitelman. "That's a big selling point, especially for families with young kids and those who are concerned with sugar intake," she said. For more information, visit www .soomfoods.com. GN Soom Foods Offers a Smoother Tahini Avocados From Mexico Plans Vigorous Marketing Campaign Avocados From Mexico (AFM), the number- one selling avocado brand in the U.S., show- cased its new robust year-round shopper communication platform, initiatives, and partnerships at the Produce Marketing Asso- ciation's Fresh Summit Convention & Expo- sition held in October in Orlando, Florida. This year, Avocados From Mexico is making a stronger connection with shop- pers through the launch of its "Savor Every Moment" shopper communications plat- form focused on elevating engagement, ex- panding usage, and increasing basket size. This platform increases shopper's path to purchase, gets avocados on the shopping list and drives impulse purchases in-store, according to Avocados From Mexico. The trade show presentation outlined a year of campaign activities planned to pro- mote avocados in the U.S., including part- nerships with consumer packaged goods brands including Ritas ® , Tabasco ® Sauce, Smithfield ® Bacon and Tostitos ® Tortilla Chips to support campaigns around fall football and its post-season playoffs, bas- ketball championships and Cinco de Mayo celebrations. The presentation also in- cluded an assortment of branded, semi- permanent, portable displays that can be utilized year round to drive incremental sales and consumption. This fall, Avocados From Mexico will be offering a salad-inspired digital hub. A first ever for produce, this e-commerce targeted site will incorporate shoppable salad recipes, user-generated content, recipe re- view capabilities and partnerships with Fresh Gourmet and The Incredible Egg. Avocados From Mexico will also be part- nering with The Incredible Egg to focus on registered dietitian outreach, to connect with consumers by supporting Heart Health Month and National Nutrition Month, as nutrition is the top category driver for avocados. Additionally, AFM will introduce the "Ready When You're Ready" education pro- gram, which focuses on picking, ripening, preserving and serving techniques, to build confidence and value with consumers. Through a partnership with Glad, the brand will also reinforce preserving techniques. GN 10 ounces and retail for $4.99. They have a 20-week shelf life in the grocer's refrigera- tor case. The noodle bowls are 14.5 ounces and retail for $7.99. They have a 10-week shelf life in the refrigerator case. For more information, visit www .nonalim.com. GN

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