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Gourmet News August 2019

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BY LORRIE BAUMANN American producers of fine chocolates are working on plans to raise their profile and grow their industry – largely by mak- ing even better chocolate, accord- ing to Bill Guyton, Executive Director of the Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA), a trade association with more than 350 members across the country. Those members include choco- latiers, people who make confec- tionery from chocolate that they obtain from processors, as well as chocolate makers, the people who make bean-to-bar confec- tions. The fine chocolate that FCIA members want the rest of us to appreciate is different by a matter BY LORRIE BAUMANN Cincinnati, Ohio, residents con- sider the city's Hyde Park neigh- borhood and, especially, its central square, an oasis of peace, history and beauty within one of the fastest-growing economic powers of the Midwest. Five miles from downtown Cincin- nati, Hyde Park was incorporated in 1896 as a community designed to preserve natural and architec- tural beauty. Hyde Park Square is home to the Kilgore Fountain, a locally famous landmark; an art festival that's been held every fall for more than half a century; and, since 1996, Hyde Park Gourmet Gourmet Food and Wine with a Side of Cincinnati History Continued on PAGE 12 Continued on PAGE 14 Continued on PAGE 9 Food & Wine, co-owned by sis- ters Evelyn Ignatow and Sylvia Levine. The store is located on the ground floor of a five-story build- ing across the street from the is- land park and fountain that are the heart of the Square in a neigh- borhood that's noted for its walk- ability as well as its array of specialty shops, farmers market and the economic and ethnic di- versity of its residents. Hyde Park Gourmet's long, nar- row space was a defunct deli- catessen when the two sisters, Sylvia, with a background in re- tail, and Evelyn, with a culinary and business background, de- cided to convert the premises into a specialty food store with high- quality, unique products from around the world. "It was Sylvia's idea to open the store, but it was my idea to sell food and wine," Igna- tow said. They gut- ted the former deli's interior, in- stalled an open merchandiser cheese case and stocked new shelving with gourmet ingredi- ents ranging from bulk chocolate for baking, dried mushrooms, sauces and condiments, pickles and crackers, olive oils and balsamic vine- gars from all over the world. In addition, they curated what one shopper de- scribed as "a massive collec- tion of wine," all arranged in 1,500 square feet of sales floor. The emphasis is on Dryland Farmers Prosper with Organic Pulses Fine Chocolate Appeals to American Consumers of degree from mass market chocolate, and the working defi- nition developed by the FCIA in- cludes various attributes: flavor, texture and appearance, a high percentage of cacao that's had minimal processing and that's eth- ically sourced. "If you buy your chocolate bar, and sugar is the first ingredient, followed by a long list of ingredients, it is not fine chocolate. Fine chocolate typically is high in cocoa content and low in sugar," Guyton said. The association's strategic plan includes defining industry stan- dards for chocolate and develop- ing a stronger supply chain for ethical sourcing of cocoa and other ingredients that go into chocolate. "Over the next five years, we will work through part- nerships in cocoa-growing coun- tries to improve cocoa quality and provide a consistent supply to fine chocolate companies to use in their products. We also are working with our members to de- velop direct trade, which shortens the supply chain," Guyton said. A Love Affair with Chocolate Consumers buy chocolate be- cause they love it, and while the percentage of them who buy fine chocolate exclusively or almost exclusively is just a small part of a very large market, those con- sumers will go where they need to go and pay what they need to pay BY LORRIE BAUMANN A snack can be more than just a small meal to stave off hunger when the mid-afternoon dol- drums hit hard but there's still work to be done before dinner, says Robert Ehrlich, Chief Exec- utive Officer and Founder of Vegan Rob's, his brand of chips, puffs and popcorn, since 2013. Vegan Rob's snacks include Pro- biotic Dragon Puffs, Brussel Sprout Puffs, Probiotic Cauli- flower Puffs, Turmeric Chips, Spinach & Matcha Kettle Chips and Vegan Pop. If the names Continued on PAGE 14 A Snack Brand for Comfort and Compassion sound more like "health food" than "junk food," well, that's not an accident. "We are positioned in snack foods, which is the most visible prod- uct in any situation of retail and c o m m e rc e . They're very a f f o r d a b l e grab-and-go nutrition with no preparation necessary other than opening the bag," he said. "Most people buy snacks for stress and anxiety. They don't buy them be- cause they're hungry. We're on the forefront of creating sensory snacks.... We're onto something huge here. It's a whole new fron- tier of creating sensory snacks to calm people's nerves and to cen- ter them – using techniques of BY LORRIE BAUMANN Timeless Natural Food offers a gourmet line of heirloom certi- fied-organic lentils, peas, chick- peas and specialty grains. Grown in Montana and its neighboring states, the pulses that Timeless offers in both re- tail packaging for specialty gro- cers and in 10-pound and 25-pound packages for foodser- vice use come from a group of organic farming pioneers on a mission to preserve Montana's family farms by rebuilding soils subjected to a century of indus- trial monoculture wheat pro- duction. "We are not alone on this planet, and we have an obliga- tion for stewardship, not only to our fellow human beings, but also for the environment," says company co-Founder and Presi- dent David Oien. "Through the business that my three friends and I have created, called Time- less Seeds and the brand name Timeless Natural Food, we really have been instrumental in sup- porting many other farmers around Montana to convert some or all of their acreage to certified organic production to allow their family farms to survive." VOLUME 84, NUMBER 8 AUGUST 2019 n $7.00 www.gourmetnews.com SUPPLEMENT: SFF Wrap-Up SEE PAGE 15 HOT PRODUCTS: Better Foods SEE PAGE 20 NATURALLY HEALTHY: Hippie Snacks SEE PAGE 13 NEWS & NOTES n Specialty Food Market Goes Mainstream PAGE 6 RETAILER NEWS n New Convenience Store Concept Opens in Florida PAGE 9 SUPPLIER NEWS n Parmacotto Partnership Promises Prosciutto Proliferation PAGE 10 NATURALLY HEALTHY n Crunchy Granola Goodness in a Portable Snack PAGE 13 SUPPLEMENT n SFF Wrap-Up PAGE 15 News ..............................................6 Ad Index .......................................22 Calendar.......................................22 G OURMET N EWS T H E B U S I N E S S N E W S P A P E R F O R T H E G O U R M E T I N D U S T R Y ®

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