Oser Communications Group

9 December 2018 SNACKING NEWS SNACKING NEWS Snack Makers, Retailers Give Back to Communities They Serve BY ROBIN MATHER Whether it's millions of dollars, tons of food, or help producing documentaries, the generosity of snack makers and retail- ers is making powerful changes in the communities they serve. Some, like the PepsiCo Foundation, can donate millions of dollars in a single gift, as the foundation did last summer when it gave $4 million to the Robin Hood Foundation to help lift more than 20,000 girls and women ages 13 to 24 out of poverty in the Bronx, New York, the city's poorest borough. The Robin Hood Foundation gift will provide women with high school equiva- lency, college prep and graduation support, as well as skills and job training and schooling in economic security topics. "We are energized and excited to work with PepsiCo toward a day when every young woman and girl in the Bronx has the opportunity to fulfill her full potential," said Wes Moore, Robin Hood Founda- tion's CEO when the gift was announced. When Hurricane Florence struck Florida in September, the PepsiCo Foundation stepped up again, making $500,000 grants to the American Red Cross and the Salva- tion Army to as- sist in providing 350,000 meals to families who suffered in the storm. The Founda- tion's generos- ity is part of PepsiCo's Per- formance with Purpose pro- gram, which has a number of goals, including support- ing diversity, respect for human rights, sourcing sustainability, zero waste to land- fills and halving wasted food. The Per- formance with Purpose program operates across all segments of PepsiCo. Like PepsiCo, the W.K. Kellogg Foun- dation often makes generous gifts. Rather than direct donations, however, the Kel- logg Foundation has developed a new kind of community development initiative called a program-related investment. A $1 million low-interest, 10-year loan made the Paul Robeson Community Wellness in South Los Angeles, California, possible. The center's first floor includes a pro- duce market, a café serving healthy food, a commercial kitchen and a market distri- bution center. The second floor has a com- munity meeting space, and there's an urban farm on the grounds and on the rooftop to supply the market with fresh produce. "The center increases the community's access to healthy food and will serve as a national model for other communities," said Cynthia Miller, director of WKKF's Mission Driven Investments. "It helps children learn more about healthy foods and wellness. That means they'll be more successful, with healthier lives." On a Smaller Scale Nutiva, located in Richmond, California, sells culinary oils, nutrient add-ins such as hemp and chia seeds, and nut-based spreads. The company created the Nutiva Foundation in 2013 to assist programs or projects that support sustainable agricul- ture. The Foundation is funded with one percent of Nutiva's profits and since 1999, the company has donated more than $3 million to various programs. "We are excited about the foundation because we can support initiatives we care about and contribute in real ways," a Nu- tiva spokesperson said. The Foundation focuses on four areas: sustainable agricul- ture, food and environmental activism, trees and gardens and healthy communi- ties. "Two projects we have supported that address a better way to eat are the docu- mentary GMO OMG and Urban Tilth's urban gardens," the spokesperson said. Retailers Get in on the Act BJ's Wholesale Club, headquartered in Westborough, Massachusetts, makes its gifts through BJ's Charitable Foundation. Last summer, the foundation gave $50,000 to Feeding America Southwest Virginia, a food bank, to provide meals to children and their families over the summer, when children lose access to meals at school. Working in partnership with the Feeding America network of food banks since 2009, BJ's Charitable Foundation has se- cured more than 70 million pounds of do- nated food and its team members have helped distribute more than 58 million meals through the foundation's Feeding Communities ® program. n grams of protein for about 90 calories. It's available in three flavors – Mild Spicy, Cracked Black Pepper and Teriyaki – and comes in a 3.5-ounce pouch with a sug- gested retail price of $5.99. The company will soon launch a one-ounce single-serve size, but its suggested retail price has not yet been decided. All its products are non- GMO. "We started in 2007 and our business has increased because people are looking for alternative ways to sustain their health," Campos says of the company, which is based in Los Angeles, California. "We've had people come up to us and tell us that our jerky is even better than meat jerky." She says she is astonished at Unisoy's customers' creativity. "Some people cut up the cracked black pepper flavor and use it in burrito bowls, or to season a popcorn snack," she says. "Our jerky has a good texture, a good 'tear.' It's a good transition to plant-based snacking." On the other coast, Cocoburg Coconut Jerky is also doing well, says Meg Cac- cavale, Marketing Manager. Cocoburg, based in Brooklyn, New York, has been making coconut jerky since 2016. The company upcycles the flesh of young coconuts that are used in the mak- ing of coconut water. "It's super high in healthy fats, high in fiber, and all-natural ingredients. We use organic ingredients and will be applying for certification with the Non-GMO Project next year." Cocoburg comes in a 1.5-ounce bag with a suggested re- tail price of $3.99. It's available in three flavors – Original, with gar- lic, onion, salt and pepper; Chili Lime; and Ginger Teriyaki. Each serving has 130 calories, with eight grams of fat, two grams of protein and six grams of fiber. Caccavale says the company decided to call the product "coconut jerky" instead of dried coconut because it wanted to convey just how different their product is. "It was a really big thing for us to convey the sa- vory nature, because people think of dried coconut and automatically think 'sweet.' But in stores, we're positioned with the meat jerky," she says. Cocoburg's jerky appeals to all kinds of people, she says. "It's a really clean prod- uct, and a great alternative to super-high- processed snacks. The health benefits are higher than with a traditional beef jerky product." There's something important to remem- ber, she says: "Even though the product is vegan, the eater doesn't have to be." Some vegan jerkies use seitan, a cooked wheat gluten product, and mushrooms to pro- vide the meaty umami of traditional jerkies. That's the approach that Primal Spirit Foods uses in its Primal Strips vegan jerky. Primal Strips are available in six flavors, with six to 11 grams of protein per serving. The flavors are Hickory Smoked, Hot and Spicy, Mesquite Lime, Texas BBQ and Thai Peanut Sauce. Some fla- vors are gluten free, and all are GMO free. Pan's Mushroom Jerky of Portland, Oregon, uses organic shiitake mushrooms as a base. Available in four flavors – Ap- plewood BBQ, Original, Sea Salt and Pep- per and Zesty Thai — each serving has about 130 calories and one gram of pro- tein. All are gluten free, paleo friendly and high in fiber. Watermelon Road, based in Brooklyn, New York, makes its vegan jerkies from fruit. Available in four flavors – Apple Pie, Pineapple Mojito, Watermelon Lemonade and Mango Margarita – all are free of dairy, nuts, soy, refined sugar and gluten. Suggested retail price starts at $5.99 for each single-serve 0.8-ounce bag. n Vegan Jerkies Continued from Page 1 products. "Consumers are seeking out these types of plant-based proteins through prepared meals and 'meat' such as burgers and sausages, which food manufacturers are also noticing," he says. "As the popularity of meat alternatives increases, brands are emphasizing 'plants' and 'plant protein' as ingredients on packaging." Players big and small are entering the vegan jerky market, and they have many reasons for doing so. "We want to make a sustainable prod- uct, because the meat industry has grown with the population," says Crista Campos, Marketing Coordinator for the modest start-up Unisoy Foods, which makes Unisoy Vegan Jerky. "By making a plant- based snack, we're reducing the amount of land needed to raise meat." Shifting to plant-based snacks can re- quire some learning, she says. "We have been made to believe that we have to eat meat. Now that we're at 7.2 billion hu- mans on the planet, people are looking to substitute more." Unisoy Vegan jerky uses a soy textur- ized vegetable protein (TVP) as the foun- dation for its products, seasoning it highly. Each serving offers more than seven

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