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GOURMET NEWS APRIL 2019 www.gourmetnews.com NATURALLY HEALTHY 1 4 ZenBasil Floats the Idea of Basil Seed Beverages ginning with a mission-based bottled water brand. Now she's one year in with ZenBasil, and she's taken it to the past two Winter Fancy Food Shows. The brand is still in its early stages, mostly working on communicat- ing the nutri- tional values of basil seed as an ingredient in drinks and other foods. Typically, basil seeds are hy- drated because they're other- wise too hard to eat. Once hy- drated, the tex- ture is much like chia seeds, except even slimier and puffier, almost like boba. Niazi explained that's be- cause there's more fiber in basil seeds than chai, with about half the daily value of fiber in a serving. Niazi added that basil seeds have twice the calcium, fiber, iron and potassium of chia. ZenBasil sells four flavors of its basil seed beverage: Strawberry, White Gummy, Healthy Greens and Touch of Honey. Niazi said new flavors, Coconut Milk and Pome- granate, are set to come out soon. The beverages contain only five ingredi- ents at the most, with no added sugars, cit- ric acid, or flavoring. The seeds are hydrated with organic juices, which is where each beverage gets most of its flavor. That simplicity is central to the brand's philosophy, said Niazi. "I believe Mother Nature makes the best type of product," she said. "I'd like to move away from process- ing and creating products that, under the umbrella of healthy and good for you, in- clude a lot of added ingredi- ents." She explained how single ingredients labeled "natural" aren't so natural at all. "Under the umbrella of healthy, you might be getting something labeled zero calo- ries, zero everything, but then you're get- ting the flavor of apple juice with no apple juice!" said Niazi. "You have to ask your- self: 'How did you get this to taste like apple juice?' It's this one little ingredient called flavor of apple, but it's really made of up to 100 ingredients manufactured in chemistry labs." That isn't the way she wants to do things. "The way things are grown naturally, made in a normal human kitchen, is how we should be consum- ing products, not things that are processed and manu- factured," she said. ZenBasil also do- nates 2.5 percent of all profits to VitaWa- ter, Niazi's brand that helps with water projects that provide access to clean water around the world. The suggested re- tail price for a 10- ounce bottle of the ZenBasil beverage is $3.99. ZenBasil also offers 14-ounce resealable pouches of basil seeds for a suggested retail price of $19.99. For more information, call 415.355.4281. GN BY GREG GONZALES Basil seeds have been part of healing tradi- tions in Afghanistan for as long as 5,000 years, and also part of Chinese and Ayurvedic medi- cine, but the seeds are only now mak- ing their way to the West. Shakira Niazi, co-Founder of ZenBasil, saw this as an opportu- nity to introduce a family beverage recipe from her former home in Afghanistan and launch a new busi- ness here in the U.S. Niazi runs Zen- Basil with her two sons. As a child, she fled her home in Afghanistan in the middle of the night, she said. "I migrated and was adopted by the U.S., grew up in the Bay Area. After getting my master's, I went into banking and finance, spent about 15 years there. That's when I felt like I had a bigger purpose." So she went into business for herself, be- B.O.S.S. Introduces Reformulated Superfood Bars B.O.S.S. Food Co. ® is repackaging three of its recently reformulated superfood bars to highlight key clinically-researched, func- tional ingredients in a playful way that in- stantly lets consumers know about each bar's specific nutritional benefits, which in- clude sports nutrition and energy, cognitive performance, and mood lift and focus. The new packaging and reformulated bars launched this year at Natural Products Expo West. The new packages have a brightly-col- ored solid background with a somewhat retro feel, and each features a lighthearted illustration of the bar's functional proper- ties using key ingredients, according to An- drea Spirov, B.O.S.S. Founder and Chief Executive Officer. Prominent call-outs let consumers know the grams of protein and fiber each bar contains and that they have no added sugar. To distinguish the flavors on the shelf, each is packaged in a different color: blue, yellow or magenta, in addition to artwork that quickly communicates each 1.7-ounce bar's nutritional benefits, Spirov said. A cy- clist wearing an almond "helmet" and whose bicycle wheels are raspberries illus- trates the prop- erties of the Move Fit En- ergy™ bar with functional ingre- dients selected for sports nutri- tion, workout fuel, post-work- out recovery and energy without stimulants. The Think Brainpower™ bar for cognitive per- formance, attention and concentration fea- tures a light bulb with a walnut inside that also looks like a brain, and the Smile Up- beat Focus™ bar for mood lift and five- hour focus without caffeine has a banana slice with a smiling face. "Our flavors have always been fruit dom- inant, and it we love seeing the star ingre- dients humanized, providing a connection between these nutritious, plant-based in- gredients and the people who will benefit from them," Spirov said. "There was a temptation to make a serious clinical package for these bars, but we want superfoods to be accessible to everyone." The reformulated bars are non-GMO, grain-free and paleo. They have no added sugars, 7 to 10 grams of complete vegan protein contain- ing all 20 amino acids, 6 to 9 grams of pre- biotic tapioca fiber and MCT (medium- chain triglycerides) oil, a beneficial fat associated with energy, feelings of satiety, athletic performance and brain health. Other researched ingredients include an ancient peat and apple extract clinically shown to build ATP (adenosine triphos- phate), the body's own energy-boosting compound, spearmint extract clinically shown to help with multitasking and con- centration and galanga extract for mental alertness and focus. The reformulated bars will be available in the second quarter of this year. Sug- gested retail price for the 1.7-ounce bars is $2.99 to $3.99, and they ship 12 to a case and 144 to a master case. More in- formation about B.O.S.S. is available by calling 800.344.8584 and at www.boss foodco.com. GN 150 Years of Milling Experience at Central Milling Central Milling is expanding its offerings of whole grain flours, mixes and blends with a mill dedicated to those products. The employee-owned and operated com- pany has three mills in Logan, Utah, that employ dozens of hard-working families and support farmers and families in Utah's Cache Valley as well as providing ingredi- ents to bakers from coast to coast. The company was founded in 1867 with a mill built in 1867 on the Logan River, and today it operates much as it did 150 years ago, powered by electricity generated with its own water turbine. That means it's one of a few organic flour mills in the U.S. that's committed to renewable energy sources. Central Milling mills all types of flour from a broad spectrum of grains and spe- cializes in custom flours. Certified organic blending facilities produce customized dry mixes for a variety of customers. In addition, Central Milling operates a West Coast distribution center, Keith Giusto Bakery Supply, in Petaluma, California, that houses a bakery that's used for research, de- velopment and training. The bakeshop has all the amenities that an artisan bakery needs to create exceptional products and a ware- house full of ingredients under the same roof. Workshops at the facility are offered to bakers of all levels for bakers who are inter- ested in learning new techniques or polish- ing the skills that they're already using. GN

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