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18 Good Food Award finalist Red Clover, all in- digenous to the Chicago, Illinois, area. They don't add any preservatives, oils or sweeten- ers. The bitters come in 4-ounce bottles for a suggested retail price of $18, 0.5-ounce tional channels over the past couple of years. "One thing that all chocolate consumers have in common is their absolute love of choco- late – it is a beloved treat," she said. For the purposes of her survey, she asked consumers about three different classes of chocolate: the kind of fine artisan products made by the FCIA members, often character- ized in their marketing by terms like "small batch" or "handcrafted;" premium chocolate, which includes brands like Lindt and Ghi- rardelli; and mainstream chocolate, which minis for $8 and gift packs for $35. Email mixit@11thorchardbitters.com. Bitter Love's four female Founders took bitters a little somewhere different, making them into a shelf- stable, ready-to- drink form. Their products are made with bitter herbs like ashwa- gandha, gentian root, artichoke and wormwood, along with sparkling water and a dash of fruit juice. Bit- ter Love is a low-sugar alternative to soda or a tart cocktail mixer, with only 40 calories. Flavors include Tart Cherry, Toasted Pineap- ple and Grapefruit, all in 12-ounce bottles. Email alex@relevantnatural- brands.com. Fee Brothers isn't a new brand ― it's been around since the 1800s ― but it's been getting creative with bit- ters flavors as well. It offers fla- vors like Celery, Rhubarb and West Indian Orange, available in 4-ounce and 5-ounce bot- tles. The company also offers Molasses Bitters, made with blackstrap, the darkest mo- lasses left from sugar cane ex- traction, combined with nutmeg and coffee. Email info@feebrothers.com. At The Bitter End, attention to detail is what makes good bitters, with no extracts, flavorings or preserva- tives. The company of- fers Mexican Mole Bitters inspired by the traditional mole poblano, blending cocoa, sesame, allspice, oregano and cinnamon with a cayenne kick, perfect for dark spirits, tequila, cognac, bring- ing complexity to win- ter and fall cocktails. Other flavors include Thai, Jamaican, Mem- phis and Moroccan, all of which come in a 2- ounce bottle for a suggested retail price of $20. Email info@bitterendbitters.com. KN KITCHENWARE NEWS & HOUSEWARES REVIEW • SEPTEMBER 2019 • www.kitchenwarenews.com BITTERS BOOM Cont. from page 17 includes brands like Snickers and Baby Ruth. "Most consumers don't buy just one kind of chocolate," she said. "Most everybody, at some point, buys mainstream." Only about 3 percent of American choco- late consumers regard themselves as exclu- sively or almost exclusively consumers of fine chocolate. They tend to be young – "older Millennials pop very high," said Roerink, and to live in very urban areas. They have above-average incomes, and they spend more than av- erage on their gro- ceries. "They love variety; they love in- novation; they love trying different items, trying differ- ent chocolate mak- ers. They are very e n v i ro n m e n t a l l y, corporately and so- cially responsible and engaged, and they are willing to shop to find what they are looking for," she said. "If they go to your store, and you don't have it, they will go online; they will go to farmers markets; they go wherever they need to go to find the fine chocolate that they are looking for." Fair Trade in Demand What they're craving is chocolate with a high cacao content, and they want it to have been ethically sourced, with 44 percent of those surveyed saying that Fair Trade certification influences their purchase decisions when they're buying chocolate. Fair Trade is the fastest growing package claim on chocolate, with 70 percent growth over the past three years, with non-GMO and or- ganic certification from U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture also growing in im- portance to consumers, according to Roerink. "When we look at responsible labor practices, which overlaps, at least in part, with Fair Trade, you see that number at 62 percent – much higher than the 44 percent who wanted Fair Trade," she said. "When you look at sustainable sourcing, avoiding deforestation, you see very high numbers, and the difference in that was that Boomers cared very much about these production practices – they just didn't necessarily care about the certification that was behind it." The consumers who care about these is- sues are willing to pay more for products that meet their standards, and more than half of consumers now say they're willing to pay a little bit more when they see the certifica- tions they care about in place. That number jumps to 74 percent for the fine chocolate consumers, Roerink said. "People are really and truly putting their wallets where their mouth is in terms of these certifications," she said. Although a lot of fine chocolate is made by small producers that don't carry these certi- fications, it's worth remembering that most chocolate consumers, whether they buy fine chocolate almost exclusively or only now and then, also buy chocolate in mainstream or premium categories when the mood for chocolate hits them, and when they're buy- ing in the mainstream or premium category, they are, according to Roerink, "definitely looking for certification." KN FINE CHOCOLATE Cont. from page 17 fections; limited edition flavors of Starburst chews; nearly two dozen fla- vors of gummy bears; marsh- mallow unicorn poop, giant gummy foods ranging from watermelon to eggs and bacon; Charleston Chews; Pop Rocks and Razzles they loved when they were kids; PEZ dispensers cuter than the ones that swal- lowed their allowance when they were kids; stuffed toys shaped like candies; t-shirts celebrating the joys of sugar; exclusive "Stranger Things" products from IT'SUGAR's continuing partnership with Netflix; and funny greeting cards that might be tucked in with a 5-pound gummy bear for a birth- day gift. "When anyone gets a gift that someone purchased from IT'SUGAR, it was given to them to make them laugh," Rubin said. "IT'- SUGAR is meant to elicit laughter." One of the best-selling items is Marshmal- low Madness, a big cereal box filled with nothing but little square marshmallows. "We try to create products that are very funny and entertaining, versus a traditional con- fectionery retail store," Rubin said. "Over half our sales come from exclusive, curated products." Another recent hit has been IT'SUGAR's line of nine cocktail-flavored gummy bears called Beary Buzzed. The new line is non-al- coholic, but the fun cocktail flavors include Cosmopolitan, Gin & Tonic, Limoncello, Maple Bourbon and Margarita. They're sold in custom fillable shakers, with a full shaker retailing for $9.99. "We just had to place an emergency re-order because they're selling faster than we ever imagined," Rubin said. "We have our own box of gummy bear ce- real. It's part of an unbalanced diet," he added. "It's an un- apologetic message that sugar delivers. IT'SUGAR sells sugar. It doesn't hide from it. We're providing an escape from all the rules of society that every- body must live by. IT'SUGAR kind of does that through its humor. Popular as gummy worms may be, they're still outsold by the bears," Rubin said. "Maybe it just has to do with tradition," he speculated. "Although I will tell you we've come up with some interesting different shapes, but at the end of the day, bears are still what people gravitate to. When you say the word 'gummy,' you almost expect the word 'bear' to follow." KN IT'SUGAR Cont. from page 17 "One thing that all chocolate consumers have in common is their absolute love of chocolate – it is a beloved treat.... If they [fine chocolate con- sumers] go to your store, and you don't have it, they will go online; they will go to farmers mar- kets; they go wherever they need to go to find the fine chocolate that they are looking for." -- Market researcher Anne-Marie Roerink, Principal of 210 Analytics "In the fine chocolate space, you have producers who want to experiment and try different things. Consumers want that too." -- Bill Guyton, Executive Director, Fine Chocolate Industry Association

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