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Produce Show Daily Saturday, October 19, 2019 4 6 Bare Snacks Offers New Fruit Chip Medleys By Lorrie Baumann Bare Snacks ® , which makes a line of baked fruit chip snacks that the company calls Snacks Gone Simple ® , launched a pair of new products driven by customer demand this year at Natural Products Expo West. Bare Medley Pineapple Chips & Coconut Chips and bare Medley Apple Chips & Strawberry Chips are spin-offs from a similar snack chip med- ley that has sold well over several months in a Starbucks stores market test, prompt- ing requests from customers who wanted to know where they could buy the prod- uct elsewhere, said Bare Snacks Chief Executive Officer Santosh Padki. "After the test launch, everybody in the office knew we were onto something," he said. "We used to get phone calls in addition to inbound inquiries on the website." After the success of the Starbucks market test, which involved a medley of banana, pineapple and strawberry chips, the company began thinking about how they could create a product that would offer the same multiple-fruit appeal but that would also be uniquely different from the Starbucks offering, Padki said. Pairing up two Bare Snacks favorites was an easy first answer to that question. "There's a lot of consumer love that's been going into the apple and coconut chips over the years," Padki said. Apples for the chips, which are baked to a crunch with no added sugar or fat, come from farmers in Washington and Oregon, while the strawberries are grown in North America. "It's not a freeze-dried strawberry," Padki said. "It's a real baked strawberry that preserves the color and the flavor notes of a real straw- berry." For the bare Medley Pineapple Chips & Coconut Chips, Bare Snacks went farther abroad to source both pineapples and mid-matu- rity coconuts in Asia. Using coconuts at their mid-maturity stage makes for a coconut chip with a smooth and silky mouthfeel that still has the crunch that American consumers want in a chip, Padki said. Younger coconuts are more water than coconut meat, but as the coconut matures, it develops more meat. As it ages beyond the mid-maturity point, there's even more coconut meat, but it can become dry and fibrous, according to Padki. "The consumer says it's just too dry and unpleasant too eat," he said. Bare Snacks then infuses the toasted coconut with natural flavor from a little bit of cane sugar and some sea salt to make chips that are then mixed with baked pineapple chips to cre- ate a snack that's a good source of fiber as well as the fun crunch. "Everything we do is done with a unique baked process. We absolutely focus on simple ingredients, simple processes," Padki said. "We package them the right way in different sizes to bring them into the retail channels." Like all Bare Snacks products, the bare Medley Pineapple Chips & Coconut Chips and bare Medley Apple Chips & Strawberry Chips are certified by Non- GMO Project and have no artificial col- ors, flavors or preservatives. They're offered in 1.6-ounce to 1.8-ounce single- serving stand-up pouches, which are resealable so they can also be enjoyed over a couple of snack occasions. They'll retail for $4.29, in line with the rest of the company's product line. For more information, visit www .baresnacks.com. capabilities and one in Mexico with ther- moforming and injection molding capa- bilities. PSD: Tell our readers about the new facility in California. Any other expan- sions? AL: We're really excited about open- ing a West Coast facility. We bought seven machines and moved them to a building with 100,000 square feet, allowing extra space for inventory and whatever comes next. California offers an opportunity to reach more food companies and expand our reach for our customers. We are constantly adding new equip- ment to keep up with demand and main- tain our speed to market, cost competi- tiveness and flexibility. Our Massachusetts campus has been very busy; in 2018, we added five new ther- moformers including a high-speed dedi- cated K Cup line for high barrier, polypropylene recyclable cups. We also added another PET extrusion line, a cup sleeving line and an additional 45,000 square feet. 2019 has also been a big year for us, adding four additional thermo- formers, a labeling line and an additional K Cup line. Lacerta (Cont'd. from p. 1) PSD: What would you say makes your business unique? AL: Our ability to help our customers get to market much faster than our competi- tors, with a lower capital investment. Customers are often surprised at how quickly we can get their product to shelves. Our flexibility and ease of doing business makes us unique. Customer service is core to our culture. Our cus- tomers can be dependent on us. We go to extremes to get things done for them and will do whatever we can if possible. PSD: Are you introducing any new prod- ucts this season? AL: Yes, a lot of new tamper evident containers from our Fresh n' Sealed line. We are focused on unique containers with sleek lines. We have added more snacking containers, handheld multi- compartment packages and smaller sizes for a quick snack. We're also adding more sandwich packaging for pinwheels and wraps. PSD: What products do you see as being hottest this year? AL: Prepared food options. We think our ultra-clear microwavable tamper evident containers are the perfect fit. Food secu- rity offers peace of mind with improved clarity; customers trust and enjoy being able to see the product. A container should enhance the customer experience and show off the product. We also see grab n' go containers to continue to grow. Snacking is very popular and with every- one's busy schedules, convenience is key. For more information, go to www .lacerta.com, call 508.339.3312 or email sales@lacerta.com. and 10 pound presentation. Rainbow carrots and baby carrots come in vacu- um sealed bags (5 or 10 pound) to ensure quality throughout transit. All of the fields and packing house facilities in Guatemala are certified with Global Gap and HACCP every year. If you are looking for a more tai- lored presentation than the ones men- tioned above, either specific size/weight or even private labeling, Growers Are Us is set up to evolve to your needs. With growers in several countries, Growers Are Us wants you to think of it as your own personal farm. The compa- ny is easy to work with; whether it be communication or follow through, Growers Are Us makes sure to gets the job done the right way. Some of the core items on which the company was founded consist of sugar snaps, snow peas, English peas, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, baby corn, broccolini and asparagus. Based out of Miami, Growers Are Us is located centrally for South and Central American imports. This enables the company to ship throughout the entire United States and Canada on any given day. As Growers Are Us has continued to prove itself in this ever-changing industry, the company seeks new part- nerships where it can help add to your ongoing business. Its mission is to con- nect the world together and make your life easier. For more information, call Dan Wahl at 305.606.2675 or Dave Fernandez at 954.303.8121, or go to www.growers areus.com. Growers Are Us (Cont'd. from p. 1) Numi Tea Latte Concentrates Numi Organic Tea introduced its Tea Latte Concentrates at Natural Products Expo West 2019. The new Tea Latte Concentrates are available in Matcha Green Tea Latte and Turmeric Chai Golden Latte™. With just 6 grams of sugar per serv- ing, these tasty blends contain up to 50 percent less sugar than competing prod- ucts and are made with only organic, eth- ically-sourced, non-GMO plants and spices. Matcha Green Tea Latte is a smooth blend of premium matcha with a touch of cinnamon and ginger. Turmeric Chai Golden Latte contains organic, Fair Trade-certified turmeric from Madagascar and is blended with warm- ing chai spices: cinnamon, ginger and cardamom along with black pepper. Numi's Tea Latte Concentrates launched Feb. 14, and have a suggested retail price of $8.99 per 32-ounce recy- clable bottle. For more information, call 866.972.6879 or go to www.numitea.com.