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SWEETS & TREATS SHOW EXTRA www.gourmetnews.com n MAY 2019 n GOURMET NEWS ST 1 0 Seasonal Candies Take Center Stage By MaDonna Schmitz, National Sales Manager, Abdallah Candies Abdallah Candies shares its heritage as it produces an amazing seasonal line of holiday candies – candies created that evoke childhood memories. Every detail and care are incorporated in the hand decorated pumpkin pie truffles, brightly decorated peppermint bark and thin nut filled brittles. These perfect indulgences are created for anyone who can remem- ber sitting around the holiday table with family. Abdallah Candies creates the cen- ter of all of its truffles with fresh whip- ping cream, and then adds just the right mix of ingredients to create exquisite seasonal truffles. Abdallah Candies is known for its wide variety of tradition- al and delicious everyday candies; however, during the holidays, seasonal candies such as truffles and barks are highlighted. Hand crushed pepper- mints to create melt-in-your-mouth bark is one of the many items Abdallah is known for. Seasonal candies are packaged in gift packs as well as offered in many bulk varieties. Abdallah creatively produces a wide variety of seasonal specialties, including holiday non- pareils, marshmallow treats and amazing caramels as well as many other handmade confections. Seasonal candies are packaged and adorned with colorful bows and many are offered with colorful hand-wrapped giftwrap. Every care is put forth to evoke memories of family gather- ings and love centered around the season. Abdallah Candies is a fourth generation, family owned company producing quality confections since 1909. Visit Abdallah Candies at booth #883. For more information, go to www.abdallahcandies.com, call 800.348.7328 or email service@ abdallahcandies.com. Divine Chocolate Introduces New Organic Line Featuring 85 Percent Dark Chocolate This year, Divine Chocolate expands its lineup with an innovative organic line. The new collection contains four 2.8- ounce bars, each made with Fairtrade cocoa sourced from São Tomé. The four variants include Lemon, Turmeric & Ginger, Cocoa Nibs, and Blueberry & Popped Quinoa. The introduction of these products reflects consumer demand for healthful, tasty treats. Divine also capitalizes on an underdeveloped market for flavored high-percentage cocoa bars. For con- sumers seeking chocolate that is low in sugar and high in quality, this line meets their needs. Chocolate lovers will particularly delight in the fact that the range is certified by the Non-GMO Project, certified by the Vegan Society, certified organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Certified Fairtrade. For Divine Chocolate, this is its first organic chocolate line, and it's the com- pany's first time partnering with a new cocoa co-operative: CECAQ-11. CECAQ-11 is a Fairtrade and organic cocoa farmer co-operative in São Tomé. São Tomé is a beautiful, forest-covered volcanic island off the west coast of Africa. When paired with sister island Príncipe, the two were once the biggest producers of cocoa in the world. In fact, this earned them the collective title of "Chocolate Island." Over the last half-century, how- ever, cocoa farming there collapsed. Today, the CECAQ- 11 co-operative works to rejuvenate the country's reputation for high-qual- ity cocoa. It's the members' aim to promote the re-discovered secret of spicy and woodsy São Toméan cocoa beans. Divine Chocolate is the only Fairtrade chocolate company co-owned by farmers. A co-op in Ghana called Kuapa Kokoo, made up of over 85,000 farmers, owns 44 percent of Divine and shares in its profits. With the introduction of the new organic line, cocoa farmers in São Tomé enjoy the benefits of Fairtrade prices and pre- miums, and Divine Chocolate continues to deliver income to farmers in Ghana through its busi- ness model. As a result, Divine Chocolate con- tinues to show its commitment to its mis- sion – creating equitable and empower- ing trading relationships with smallhold- er farmers in Africa and around the world. The bars are available for sale as of March 1, 2019. For more information, email sales@divinechocolateusa.com or visit booth #2164. Cheese Straws and Cookies from J&M Foods J&M Foods proudly continues its fam- ily tradition and passion for good food by providing its customers with the best tasting cheese straws and cookies in the market. As a family-owned busi- ness operating for roughly three decades, J&M Foods is happy to bring a little joy to its customers' eating experience. J&M Foods currently offers 21 vari- eties of cheese straws and cookies as well as additional seasonal offerings. Working with various combinations of cheeses, chocolates, nuts, grains, fruits and spices, there's never a dull moment. Its products are great for everyday pleasure and make the perfect gift. In addition, the company is always exploring new possibilities to tickle the taste buds and provide some- thing new. In keeping with the 100-year-old family recipe that inspired the great tasting Original Cheese Straws, J&M Foods is committed to maintaining its heritage of providing great products made from the finest ingredients avail- able. All of its products are trans-fat free and baked with care. The company's latest creation, and something it's very proud to add to the Janis & Melanie line of products, comes in the form of a large, soft-baked cookie (3 inches in diame- ter). They're made with butter, whole egg and a whole lot of love. Varieties include Chocolate Chunk, Brownie and Oatmeal Cranberry. Each carton contains eight 1- ounce cookies, which are individually wrapped. Enjoy them with milk, coffee, tea, ice cream or by themselves anytime as a snack. J&M Foods enjoys being flexible enough to handle all its customers' needs. Located in a 32,000 square foot facility resid- ing on 21 acres, the com- pany has room to grow along with you. Centrally located and nationally rec- ognized, J&M Foods is an award-winning market leader within the specialty foods indus- try. For more information or to discuss a pri- vate label need, visit booth #1382 or call 800.264.2278. Sweet, Meet Savory: Snackers Love the Combination By Robin Mather First, there was salted caramel nearly everything. Now, there is a whole range of snacks that hit both sweet and savory notes to attract customers. The trend has been on point for sev- eral years, says Sally Lyons Wyatt, Executive Vice President at IRI, a market research firm based in Chicago. "Consumers often find they want some- thing that is both sweet and savory, and there are now a number of options that fit that desire," she says. Chocolate-covered salty snacks – including items like Genesee Candy Land's chocolate-covered bacon and Hershey's Take 5 Bars, with pretzels, caramel, peanuts and chocolate – may lead the way. The sweet-salty combina- tion may be alluring to consumers whose palates have become more sophisticated, she says. Wyatt notes that chocolate-cov- ered salty snacks showed an 11.3 percent rise in sales in 2016. Colleen McClellan, Director of Client Solutions for Datassential, a mar- ket research firm in Chicago, credits con- sumer concern about sugar as one reason. But, she says, "consumers are just exploring a more diverse flavor palate. We can see it in the rise of bitter flavors, sour flavors, brines and some items with vinegar as well." As examples, she cites ginger-basil beverages, "drinking vinegars" such as Up Mountain Switchel's Original Swizzle, and Grainful's Steel Cut Meals, which are steel cut oatmeal bowls with flavors such as Tuscan bean and kale, Thai curry and cheddar broccoli. Sweet-hot is another aspect of the blending of sweet-savory in snacks. KIND's sweet & spicy bars offer 10 grams of plant-based protein in flavors such as roasted jalapeno, thai sweet chili and sweet cayenne bbq. Wise has intro- duced Hot & Honey Puffed Cheez Doodles, and Werner offers Sweet Hot Crunch Mix, a snack mix of peanuts, sesame sticks and sesame seeds. Chip maker Utz has added Southern Sweet Heat BBQ to its potato chip line. Sweet-hot flavor profiles are also showing up in meat snacks. Jack Link's and Dick Stevens both offer Sweet & Hot flavor in their beef jerky lines. Frito- Lay's Baken-Ets Chicharrones has a Sweet Southern Heat BBQ, while Southern Recipe Small Batch pork rinds and pork cracklins has added Pineapple Ancho Chile, Honey Chipotle and Blackberry Habanero flavors to its line. Some sweet-savory snacks are like music mash-ups. You Love Veggies's green leather is made with spinach and kale, but also gains sweetness from kiwi, pineapple, banana and mango. Millennials, in large part, have driv- en this flavor trend, says Jeff Fromm of Forbes' CMO Network. "Millennials' quest for adventurous flavors is much higher than with previous generations. They place taste and enjoyment as more important than health. They forego rou- tine and seek out what is new and differ- ent, preferring bold and spicy flavors and culturally diverse options," Fromm says.

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