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WORLD OF BAKING www.gourmetnews.com n SEPTEMBER 2019 n GOURMET NEWS WB 1 0 SAATI Keeps on Belting Out the Classics Since 1935, SAATI has produced a diverse range of precision woven synthetic mesh with a clear specific focus on the food mar- ket. SAATI has been a proud partner with many major food companies and has over 50 years of experience in belt fabrication for a wide range of dry and wet food processing. SAATIbelt for fresh cut products is the ded- icated line for washing, dewatering, trans- porting and processing of fresh cut fruits and vegetables. The high precision weaving and finishing processes allow SAATI to supply a stable product with uniform pore size and air permeability. Each belt is custom fabricated based on the exact specifications of cus- tomers. This allows SAATI to produce cus- tomized belts to fit any type of equipment. SAATI's research team has successfully de- veloped a highly resistant special construc- tion synthetic edge on finished belts, providing excellent mechanical resistance. Food compliance is SAATI's priority for all food applications. SAATIbelt fabrics in- tend to have direct food contact. It is FDA polymer approved and compliant with EU 10/2011. SAATIbelt drying features include: me- chanical and thermal stability for optimal belt tensioning, product distribution and long product life; hydrolysis resistance – in- creased lifetime and better re- sistance to drying and wash- ing processes; smooth surface – prevents clogging and im- proves dryer productivity; FDA polymer approved; and compliant with EU 10/2011. SAATI can custom fabri- cate belts ready for installa- tion. This key aspect allows SAATI to control all traceability, from the yarn raw materials to the finished product. Each belt component is customized based on the final application. This ability to be flexi- ble in fabrication ensures the finished prod- uct can meet the specific needs of the customers' technical requirements. Edge treatment is available in a variety of polymers and compositions, in- cluding PET for wet applica- tions, hi-temp for dryer belting and many others. Joint closures are available in different configurations: stainless steel, close ring, PET and PEEK. Guide system options include the newest trapezoidal and notched PET guides designed for small radius cylinders and low temperatures. SAATIbelts are engineered to achieve the best performance, be the most reliable, easy to install and made to last. For more information, stop by booth #4871, call 800.431.2200, email info.us@saati.com or go to www.saati.com. Elements Truffles Brings Balance to Indulgent Chocolate By Greg Gonzales Stopping to take a breath now and then can help us pay attention to our inner voices. That's how Alak Vasa, co-Founder of Ele- ments Truffles, says she found her way to making chocolate. She left a career on Wall Street to follow her passion, and now she and her team make truffles and chocolate bars with a mission in mind. Vasa spent more than a decade on Wall Street before she quit to train at Financier Patisserie in Manhattan. A friend had intro- duced her to meditation, which enabled her to understand herself better, she said. While she appreciated the chance to learn a new craft, she still didn't feel at home. That inner voice kept getting louder, she said, telling her she had to create something of her own. In 2015, she got to work finding the right product. "I never thought I would be making choco- late," said Vasa. "When I quit my job I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I did know I wanted to do something with food and with good food – food that you can trust, food that you can give to your child and not worry about what they're eating – and to build a company with values, in terms of the partner- ships, the sourcing of ingredients, the packag- ing, the people. When we decided we wanted to build the company, we wanted to be mind- ful, to make it a human-centric company." The brand makes chocolates in small batches that are raw, organic and dairy-free, with no refined sugars, preservatives or emulsifiers. Each of its products is made in its New Jersey facility, where they're sweet- ened with local honey that makes each bite melt slowly. Elements Truffles mixes essen- tial oils, ginger, black pepper, beet root, turmeric and lavender into its products. The result is a new kind of flavor experience, and a bar that's less likely to end in a sugar crash. Much of the inspiration for these flavors comes from Ayurvedic eating, something Vasa and her husband learned as kids in Ahmedabad, India. She explained that where most diets are about do-and-don't thinking, Ayurveda is about bringing balance to the diet. "For example, in the fall the air element is dominant, which means that element can go off balance in you very quickly," she said. "So that's when you eat more grounding foods, like beets, sweet potatoes, foods that grow in the ground. You eat warm spices too." Beyond providing nutrient-dense, deli- cious chocolate to customers, Elements Truf- fles also donates 25 percent of its profits to the Care for Children project by the Art of Living Foundation, a non-profit. The project helps educate underprivileged kids in India. It's not just chocolate bars at Elements Truffles. The company also sells Turmeric- Infused Drinking Chocolate, truffles infused with flavors like turmeric or cardamom or lavender, and gift boxes that contain an as- sortment of all the company's products as well as smaller bars in the Pantry Edition line. All the bars come in a cardboard box, with a fabric label hand-stitched onto the box, col- ored with vegetable ink. On the back, con- sumers can read about Ayurveda and Ayurvedic doshas, right above the nutrition facts. Suggested retail prices are $6.99 for the bars, $4 for Pantry Edition bars, $12 for drinking chocolate, $12 for a small box of truffles and $35 for a large box of truffles. Smitty Bee Honey: A Sweet Success Story For over 95 years, Smitty Bee has been pas- sionate about producing and packaging high quality honey. That passion has helped create one of the most respected honey packaging businesses in the industry. Louis Henkelman, who always had a love for honey, started producing honey from a single colony hobbyist kit from Sears and Roebuck. In those days, honey could only be obtained by raising your own bees. At this time, honey was a novelty item and not mass marketed like it is today. It wasn't until the 1940s when sugar was rationed to support the war effort, that honey was turned to as an alternative sweetener. The popularity of honey grew, and the industry was born. Throughout the next 30 years, Louis grew his family orientated business into one of the most respected honey producers in southwest Iowa. Lavern Schmitz worked for his father- in-law, Louis, after returning from the Korean War. Lavern saw the opportunities with honey early on and started his own producing opera- tion in the mid 1950s. Nicknamed "Smitty" in grade school, he named his new business Smitty Bee Honey. The business grew through the 1960s, '70s and '80s. Doug Schmitz, Lav- ern's son, worked beside his father, learning the trade as well. Doug then started his own oper- ation in the late 1970s, which he grew into a lucrative honey producing business throughout the 1980s and '90s. In the early 1990s, com- mercial agriculture changed the natural land- scape and honey production yields decreased every year, as the majority of southwest Iowa was converted to corn and soybeans. To further diversify, Doug and his family turned their at- tention to packing honey for farmer's markets and craft shows. The packaging business grew strong through the 1990s, while honey produc- tion struggled. Over 20 years, Smitty Bee grew from a small honey producer and packer to one of the nation's fastest growing honey proces- sors, packaging over 20 million pounds of honey per year. Smitty Bee Honey packages different types of honey for all industry sectors. These mar- kets include commercial food manufacturing, foodservice and retail. Honeys are carefully selected from specific botanical or geograph- ical areas from around the world and blended to match customer specifications. Exotic and rare varietals such as Washington Raspberry, California Sage and Mexican Avocado honey are just a few of the honeys that can be sourced. Recent trends show that customers are looking for new and trendy honey items that will stand out from the rest. American Baking Systems Launches Small Footprint Rack Oven American Baking Systems (ABS), a family- owned business located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa has been proudly serving the U.S. bak- ing industry for decades. Its management staff has more than 60 years of combined service in the baking industry of America. To ensure the highest quality equipment at the most reasonable prices, ABS has formed manufacturing and distribution alliances with manufacturers located throughout the world. The company is an international dis- tributor of quality bakery equipment de- signed for artisan bakeries, family-owned bakeries and supermarkets with scratch bak- eries. Its equipment line consists of spiral mixers, planetary mixers, dough rounders and moulders, stone hearth gas and electric deck ovens, rack ovens, convection ovens and proofers – all with ETL and ETL Sani- tation approvals. ABS has partnered with companies around the world to ensure its customers have access to the latest baking technologies and methods, as well as provid- ing new products that will help grow busi- ness. ABS is at the show, says Scott Farrington, Manager, in order to introduce new equip- ment, meet potential dealers, make industry contacts and acquire new cus- tomers. Its customers are artisan bakeries, pizzerias, restaurants with in-house bakery production, pastry producers and supermarket bakeries. This year ABS is introducing a new rack oven with a small footprint built by Macadams International. Macadams, a part- ner company to ABS, has been in business for over 100 years. Also being introduced at the show is a new line of proofer and proofer retarders that offer an alternative to the current units on the market. The new line features insulated floors and gentle humidity production, as well as new low priced, entry-level dividers and sheeters. The company takes pride in providing high-quality equipment at affordable prices, making new equipment attain- able both for customers already established as well as for those just starting out. ABS opens doors to new businesses by pro- viding quality, well-supported equipment at a reasonable price. The company's long-standing track record of supporting scratch baking with large su- permarket chains is also high on the list of accomplishments. The cornerstone of ABS is its high quality, low prices and customer service. Its equip- ment meets the test of time and sets new standards in the durability of industrial bak- ing equipment. For more information stop by booth #1427, go to www.abs1.net or call 319.373.5006.