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NATURALLY HEALTHY www.gourmetnews.com n SEPTEMBER 2019 n GOURMET NEWS NH 3 2 La Preferida: 70 Years Later, Still Going Strong From La Preferida's humble beginnings as a small family grocery store in 1930s Chicago to the nationwide brand it is today, one thing remains the same: listening to its customers. In the age of consumer transparency, La Preferida is proud to showcase its new eco- friendly packaging, as well as line expan- sions in key categories, such as organic, low sodium, vegetarian and kosher, while main- taining its commitment to authentic Mexican ingredients. By offering competitively priced organic products and alternative packaging, La Preferida's goal is to empower the con- sumer to have healthier choices without pay- ing more to do so. At the forefront for La Preferida's eco- friendly packaging initiative is its Tetra Pak ® line, featuring pinto beans, black beans, kidney beans and lentils, available in organic and low sodium options. Its beans in Tetra Recart ® packaging are the first of their kind in the Hispanic food category in the U.S., following the trend in Latin and Central American countries. La Preferida's unique packaging boasts recyclable materi- als made from renewable resources, easy- open and reclosable packaging, improved shelf utilization by 30 percent, and it is lightweight. La Preferida's recently launched Organic Seasoning line, which includes Organic Al Pastor Seasoning, Organic Taco Seasoning and Organic Fish Taco Seasoning, has proven to be an e-commerce hit, with sales increasing exponentially month over month, fol- lowed by Organic Salsa Verde and Organic Pico de Gallo. All products are free of MSG, additives and artificial preserva- tives. Spearheading this surge in product development is La Preferida's corporate chef, who is hands-on in the manufacturing process and also creates recipes for health-conscious consumers. His adaptations on traditional Mexican dishes focus on fresh produce, lean proteins and low-fat alternatives, helping to breathe new life and flavors into these old classics. You can find his many innovative ideas like piña colada rice pudding and baked fajita wings on La Preferida's website. Despite bouts of economic uncertainty in the CPG business, the resiliency of La Preferida continues to shine through. Its Spanish Rice (canned) and Organic Diced Green Chiles are the No. 1 seller on Amazon and its canned bean business contin- ues to be a high volume cate- gory for the brand. The versatility of La Preferida's products as ingredients means customers can incorporate these items into a variety of dishes outside the Mexican food realm. Building upon its strong roots in the Mid- west, La Preferida is continually working to strengthen its relationships on the East and West coasts, so distributor/broker inquiries are always welcome. La Preferida is grateful and excited to be celebrating 70 years in the food industry in 2019, and looks forward to many more to come. Visit La Preferida at booth #1110. CBD Packaging Options from Alpha Packaging By Marny Bielefeldt, Vice President of Mar- keting, Alpha Packaging If you operate in the health, wellness and beauty sector, you cannot ignore the impact cannabidiol (CBD) products are having on your market. From beverages to beauty aids, supplements to sleep aids, and from pet products to insect repellents, CBD is finding its way into all the products we make and buy. Sales of CBD products hit $591 million in 2018, and the market for CBD-containing products is expected to grow dramatically with the passage of the U.S. Farm Bill. Alpha Packaging has more stock packag- ing options to serve the emerging market for CBD products than any other manufacturer. Whether you have liquid CBD oils for pain management, tablets to help you sleep more soundly, ointments for topical pain relief or CBD sprays for repelling mosquitos, we have you covered with a wide array of light-pro- tective, clear or colored plastic bottles and jars available right now. We also have a line of plastic jars that is designed to mate "flush" with child-resistant closures for an attractive and compliant way to package all of your prod- ucts that require child-re- sistant packaging. When you need something en- tirely unique, Alpha's in- house design and engineering team will work with you to cre- ate memorable custom packaging that sets your brand apart. We are particularly good at using existing PET preforms to minimize up- front tooling costs and get your packaging into production as quickly as possible. When you're catching the front end of a trend as big as CBD, you don't want anything to hold you back from a rapid product launch. All of Alpha's plastic bottles and jars are made from recyclable materials, and we can also make bottles from 100 percent post-con- sumer (recycled) resin and select bioresins. If you have a corporate sustain- ability goal for your pack- aging, please speak with an Alpha sales representative about the many options we can offer, from recycled content to light-weight packaging. We can help you find the best packaging solution to meet your sustainability goals and get your products to market quickly. Visit Alpha Packaging at booth #2929. For more information, go to www.alphap.com, call 800.421.4772 or email marny .bielefeldt@alphap.com. Bellucci's Impact on the Food Tech Sector The food industry may not be the first to come to mind when someone uses the phrase "disruptive tech." Though many ways in which technology has already shaped our world are obvious, some ways in which the ripple effect of big tech is causing movement are just starting to be discovered. Businesses who are leveraging technology in small ways can make a significant impact in the food industry. The days of paper trails and manual processing are giving way to the innovative application of technologies orig- inally developed for other industries. From the ground up, precision agriculture is leveraging advances in satellite, GPS and even photographic equipment to improve the efficiency of food production. The in- dustry has already progressed from using tech to measure and track crop yields and soil levels, to monitoring weather patterns and water usage, and how these factors af- fect harvest. Now, the agricultural industry is beginning to see the positive impact of technologies and AI to differentiate between crop plants and their neighbors, for in- creased efficiency in the application of fer- tilizers and pesticides. Health, wellness and au- thenticity are a strong pull towards technology for Bel- lucci. As a leader in the pro- duction of high-quality extra virgin olive oil, the company launched its Trust Through Traceability cam- paign in 2014, creating its own consumer app to provide a transparent look into the food supply chain. Using a unique code printed on the label of every bottle, consumers can verify the authenticity of their extra virgin olive oil, as well as trace their bottle of Bellucci straight back to its source in rural Italy. Bellucci has taken it one step further with the implementation of blockchain technology to pro- vide even deeper insight into its process. Each actor in the supply chain creates and shares a permanent, unalter- able record of the product journey from bottling to distri- bution to a distributed open ledger. The ultimate goal is to provide future consumers with complete transparency, from grove to grocer. This is just the beginning, and Bellucci is dedicated to bringing food and tech closer to- gether in order to drive innovation. Visit Bellucci at booth #339. For more infor- mation, go to www.belluccipremium.com. trEAT4u Snack Bags trEAT4u is a line of 1-ounce snack bags that are a healthier grab and go option. Specially developed to meet a 10-point nutritional cri- terion, they are ideal for retailers looking for better-for-you snacks. trEAT4u is available in seven flavors of nuts, dried fruit and trail mixes. All flavors in the line offer no artifi- cial ingredients, less than 200 calories and 20g sugar with no cholesterol. The line in- cludes Almonds, Fiber Crunch Delight, Fruit Bowl, Moonburst, Perfectly Fit, Sun- shine Blend and Triple Treat. Whether your customers are looking for a quick pick-me- up in the afternoon or a mid-morning snack, trEAT4u has a taste your customers will keep coming back for. Available in 24 and 120 count boxes. For more information, go to www.trulygood foods.com/treat4u. White Coffee Introduces Niwri Niwri is a unique beverage cold brewed from green tea and coffee cherries, also known as cascara. Cascara, which means "husk" or "skin" in Spanish, is the dried skins of coffee cherries. These pulped skins are collected after the seeds (i.e., the coffee beans) have been removed from the cherries. People often inquire whether cascara is a coffee or tea. It's something in between; cas- cara does not come from coffee beans or tea leaves but from the fruit of the coffee tree. However, even though it comes from the cof- fee plant, it does not taste like coffee. Cascara has a sweet, fruity taste with notes of rose hip and hibiscus. The essence is sim- ilar to a superb blend of fruits in- cluding raspberry, currant, cranberry and cherry. Aside from its taste, cascara is reputed to have many great health benefits. The coffee cherry fruit has higher antioxidant levels than many other fruits high in antiox- idants. For more information, call 718.204.7900 or 800.221.0140, email info@whitecoffee.com or go to www.whitecoffee.com.