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Supplier News BRIEFS GOURMET NEWS JULY 2019 www.gourmetnews.com SUPPLIER NEWS 1 4 Baking Mixes from the Heartland local farmers market. When she started branching out, she asked her Mon- tana family for recipes. Her dad brought the recipe for the bannock bread back from a hunt- ing trip. "They just put that in a frying pan and backed that up to the campfire, and that's how they had bread at the hunting camp," Tihista says. Once she had the recipe in her hands, she developed variations for sweet, which has cinnamon in it, and savory, which of- fers garlic and herbs. Her business has grown out of her home kitchen, but every batch of her mixes is still made by hand by Tihista herself. Her Stone Trapper Fry- bread Mix is her best seller. "If we go to shows and cook the fry bread, which we do, we just sell a whole lot of that," she says. The frybread, a traditional favorite across the West, can be cooked in a deep fryer, but a deep skillet with enough high smoke-point oil in it to cover the bread dough will work just as well, according to Ti- hista. "You run that up there pretty hot," she notes. The bannock bread dough is traditionally cooked in a cast iron skillet over the campfire or in the oven, but it'll also cook on a sheet of aluminum foil laid over the barbecue grill, she says. "If you come home at 5:30 and want hot bread at 6:00 for supper, you can have it, because it just takes 20 minutes," she says. "They're not as easy as grabbing a loaf of bread off the shelf, but they're close – and you have hot bread." For more information, call 406.785.2321 or visit www.montanagrasslandmixes.com. Gift-boxed assortments are available. GN BY LORRIE BAUMANN Montana Grassland Mixes offers a line of salad dressing and baking mixes based on authentic recipes from hunting camps and home kitchens of Montana. The prod- uct line includes Garden Gate, a salad dressing and dip mix that was Founder and co-Owner Patsy Tihista's first creation for the commercial market; Stone Trapper Fry- bread Mix; Justice Coulee Biscuit Mix; Por- cupine Creek Pancake Mix and Prairie Walker Sweet Bannock Bread Mix and Prairie Walker Savory Bannock Bread Mix. Each of these products represents a lifestyle: "When you cook at home in the country," Tihista says. "These things are just the way we cook here.... They're all ex- tremely easy. The fry bread takes a cup of water. The bannock takes a cup of milk, and the others are easy too." She started her product line six years ago at home in her kitchen with a salad dress- ing that comes from a mix of herbs and spices that she originally just whipped up in a jar with some mayonnaise. Her friends and neighbors loved it, so she started mix- ing up the dry ingredients and dosing them out into plastic bags that she'd sell at the United Natural Foods, Inc. Reports Third Quarter Results UNFI reported that its net sales increased to $5.96 billion, including $3.24 billion from SUPERVALU. Gross margin for the third quarter of fiscal 2019 was 13.22 percent of net sales compared to 15.41 percent of net sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2018. The largest driver of the decline in the gross margin rate was the addition of SUPERVALU at a lower gross profit rate. Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of fiscal 2019 was $168.2 million, compared to $111.9 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2018. The increase was predominantly driven by the addition of SUPERVALU. Salty Wahine Gourmet Hawaiian Sea Salts Wins 9 Scovies The 2019 Scovie Awards judging panel of top culinary experts honored Salty Wahine with four first-place awards, three second-place awards and two third-place awards. The first- place awards went to Salty Wahine's Island Curry, Hawaiian Rub, Fiery Dragon Fruit Rub as well as to Salty Wahine itself for its website. Second-place awards went to Island Curry and Island Volcano, which received two second- place awards in different categories. The third- place awards went to Mango Java Steak Rub and Passion Fruit Orange Guava Pepper. The 2019 Scovie Awards Competition had 676 entries, up from 588 in 2018. A total of 124 companies entered products, of which 101 companies won at least one award – a winning percentage of 84 percent. The entries came from 34 states in the US and 10 countries, including Swaziland, England, Slovakia, Hungary, Germany, China, and Australia. Canned Wine Seizes Organic Cachet Bringing together two surging categories in American wine — organically farmed grapes and canned wine—Bonterra Organic Vineyards has launched California's first nationally available organically farmed wine in cans. The new collection of 250ml cans, which includes popular varietals Bonterra Sauvignon Blanc and Bonterra Rosé as well as stylish newcomer Bonterra Young Red, delivers on the growing demand for organically sourced wines and eye- catching, convenience-driven packaging. Available nationally, Bonterra's four-packs of 250ml cans are priced at a suggested $19.99. Mountain Valley Spring Water Commits to Glass Ardagh Group, Glass – North America, a division of Ardagh Group, has signed a long-term supply agreement to be the exclusive supplier of glass bottles for Mountain Valley Spring Water. Bottling spring water since 1871, Mountain Valley was the first to deliver bottled water coast to coast for U.S. consumers. Using water that rises naturally from a spring in the Ouachita mountains, Mountain Valley chooses to bottle its award-winning premium spring and sparkling waters in glass to preserve the quality and taste. Ardagh Group manufactures Mountain Valley Spring Water's unique green glass water bottles for its Spring Water, Sparkling Water and Sparkling Essence varieties in 333ml, 500ml, 750ml and 1L sizes. Rumiano Launches Redwood Coast Cheeses The Rumiano Cheese Company, Califor- nia's oldest family-owned cheese company, continued its centennial celebration last month with the launch at the IDDBA Show of two new globally-inspired fla- vors in its expanding Red- wood Coast line of cheeses. Seoul Spice, a blend of Korean spices and Mon- terey Jack cheese, and Is- land Fire Dance, a creamy Havarti loaded with bits of mango and habañero pepper, join Sriracha Jack, the first variety released earlier this year, in the Rumiano Redwood Coast lineup. The complex spices and contrasting textures in Seoul Spice and Island Fire Dance are well balanced and harmonized with Rumiano's nutrient-dense and high-fat creamy cheeses. The two new Redwood Coast flavors will be available in 8 ounce blocks at natural food stores and major grocery chains regionally be- ginning this summer. "Our new Redwood Coast line is influenced by emerging flavors and the diverse global cuisines that resonate with our customers," said Joe Baird, Rumiano Cheese Company's Chief Executive Officer. "From ethnic flavors and exotic spices that delight sensories and palates to botanicals and functional nutrients, we will continue to experiment and explore a variety of in- novative and better-for-you ingredients and new formats for a number of our products." Rumiano Redwood Coast rich and deli- cious cheeses are crafted with locally- sourced, fresh milk from small, pasture-based family farms that go the extra mile for grass-fed milk production. Year-round access to pastures and natural grazing of coastal grasses in northwest Cal- ifornia allow the cows to roam freely, mak- ing for happy cows and some of the best-tasting, highest quality dairy products that have increased amounts of nutrients and are higher in both omega-3 fatty acids and beta-carotene. GN B.O.S.S. Repackages 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 Ex- ecutive 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 properties of the Move Fit En- ergy™ bar with functional ingredients selected for sports nutrition, workout fuel, post-workout recovery and energy without stimulants. The Think Brainpower™ bar for cognitive performance, attention and concentration features a light bulb with a walnut inside that also looks like a brain, and the Smile Upbeat Focus™ bar for mood lift and five-hour focus without caf- feine 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. GN

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