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GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2019 www.gourmetnews.com SUPPLIER NEWS 1 4 Certified Angus Beef Brand Celebrates Growth For the 13th straight year, Certified Angus Beef LLC reported record sales of its sig- nature Certified Angus Beef ® brand. It's also the 15th consecutive year of growth for the original brand of premium Angus beef. Nearly 19,000 processor, foodservice and retail global partners marketed 1.25 billion pounds in fiscal 2019 (ending Sep- tember 30), a 3.1 percent increase over fis- cal 2018. That growth, said brand president John Stika, was made possible by "an entire community of Angus farmers, ranchers and feeders being extremely intentional over several years in how they breed, raise and care for cattle with a focus on quality." It starts at the farm, but Stika credited everyone from gate to plate who brings product to consumers. "It takes a great number of people filling different yet connected roles for this growth," he noted. "Fortunately, there is a lot of room at the brand's table, where in- tegrity and a passion for quality are shared by everyone who pulls up a chair." Propelled by strong demand and rela- tively steady prices, the brand set records in nine months of fiscal 2019; 6 months ranked among the all-time top 10. Sales of premium steaks (middle meats) grew 3.8 percent, end meats by 3.4 percent and ground beef by 2 million pounds. The Certified Angus Beef brand Prime product extension grew 36.6 percent – made possible by historically high avail- ability of the most marbled product. Once marketed primarily in foodservice, retailers enhanced their offerings to appeal to their most discerning customers. Consumer choice also propelled sales of the brand's Natural line, raised on a vegetarian diet with no antibiotics or added hormones. Global sales of the brand reached a record 207.5 million pounds. Leading the way in growth was Japan, followed by Tai- wan, Colombia and the Dominican Repub- lic. Retail sales increased 8.8 percent to a record 537.5 million pounds. In addition to Prime product driving sales, grocers in- creasingly featured the brand on the front page of their circulars. Promotions focused on grilling, tailgating and roasting also cap- tured attention. Marking a decade of consistent growth was the foodservice division, with a 4.6 percent increase. Upscale fine dining, steakhouses, gourmet burger and barbecue restaurants drove this growth. Branded value-added product sales set a new record, exceeding 33 million pounds. Processors responded to increasing con- sumer demand for high-quality conven- ience products; 18 of 21 product categories experienced growth. Family farmers' efforts to raise cattle meeting the brand's 10 exacting standards enable processors, distributors, restaura- teurs and retailers to meet consumer de- mand for premium beef. They continued to build on a years-long focus on quality. The rate of Angus cattle eligible to earn the brand rose to a record 35 percent, a collec- tive improvement that translated into in- creased supply of 470,000 head. "That increase represents the focus of an entire community, which came about di- rectly through the economic signals gener- ated by the additional demand for the Certified Angus Beef brand among con- sumers," said Stika. GN Theo Chocolate Continued from PAGE 1 in the company's new packaging design that's the result of a year of customer re- search, Harty said. "We now have beautiful new packaging that has a more contempo- rary and fresh look, and brings to life the delicious product and ingredients," he said. "We will always be fair trade and ethically sourced and always or- ganic, and none of that has changed." The new pack- aging includes the brand's iconic logo, with its image of a cocoa pod inside Theo's "o," and now in- cludes a swash – a hand-painted brush stroke that reveals the ingredients within. "It shows the actual squares of chocolate and the texture – that comes through," Harty said. "Clear and apparent flavor is important." The new packaging and products con- tinue to reflect Theo's ethos as a Fair for Life-certified company making wholly or- ganic products. Most of the company's chocolate is sourced in the Democratic Re- public of the Congo, where Theo works di- rectly with a local trading partner to source beans directly from the farmers, who supply their produce on annual contracts at above-market prices, Harty said. "They can rely on us through the year," he said. "I was there on an origin trip at the end of last year... They're small-scale farmers. When I visited, I met a lot of these farmers – it's all family-owned." They harvest the beans, open the pods and ferment the cacao there on individual farms. From there, the beans are transported to Mombasa, Kenya, where they're loaded on a ship for export to the U.S. A portion of the beans goes instead to Amsterdam, where they're processed into cocoa butter that's then shipped to the U.S. Once the ingredients arrive in the U.S., they're shipped in railroad cars to Seattle, Washington, where Theo makes them into its bars and cups in a former trolley barn in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood. "That's where 100 percent of all the Theo chocolate bars you see on the market are made – in that building," Harty said. In addition to its Fair for Life certifica- tion, which applies as much to its own workforce as to the farmers, Theo is also a member of the Climate Collaborative, a San Francisco, California-based coalition of natural products companies ded- icated to reversing climate change. In accord with its com- mitment on that issue, the com- pany is taking steps to improving its carbon footprint, starting with improvements to its flexible packaging with a goal of transitioning it to a plant- based material by 2021. "We're working on a great material and are studying the impacts it would make. There's no silver bullet," Harty said. "Consumers want convenience, but they also want to minimize their im- pact. We need to have shelf life and food safety. There is no easy solution. We admit today that our flexible packaging needs to improve, and we're working on it." GN Barry Callebaut AG, the world's leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, is rolling out a new range of products called Cacaofruit Experience. According to the company, Cacaofruit Ex- perience celebrates the fresh, fruity taste and natural richness of the cacaofruit and marks the creation of a next-generation food and drink category. Whereas normally 70 percent of the cacao fruit is discarded as waste, Cacaofruit Experi- ence products make use of the entire fruit: its beans, its nutrient-dense peel and its fresh and fruity pulp and juice. This results in a range of high-quality ingredients that can be used in applications such as juices, smoothies, frozen desserts, bakery and pastry products, as well as snacks all the way to chocolate. Callebaut believes that these products will appeal to consumers who earnestly want to live a happy, healthy life, in symbio- sis with the world around them. Cacaofruit Experience responds to their need for food and beverages that are tasty and nutritious for them and also good for the planet and its people, according to the company. These products have the fresh and fruity taste of the cacao fruit along with fiber, protein and magnesium. At the same time, they are good for the planet and its people because the entire cacaofruit is utilized. "Innovation is one of the pillars of our growth strategy. Our unparalleled knowl- edge has enabled us to break new ground, unleashing the full power of the cacao fruit, which the Mayans cherished as 'food of the gods,'" said Antoine de Saint-Affrique, Barry Callebaut's Chief Executive Officer. "We are looking forward to starting a new journey with our customers and discover- ing the completely new range of applica- tions that Cacaofruit Experience and whole-fruit chocolate will make possible." SnackFutures, the innovation and ven- ture hub of Mondelēz International, the world's largest snacking company, is the first company to introduce Cacaofruit Ex- perience in a consumer product under its new CaPao brand. CaPao is piloting two cacaofruit snack products – Smoothie Ball and cacao fruit Jerky Strips – with select re- tailers in Los Angeles, California. GN Barry Callebaut Launches Cacaofruit Experience Stonewall Kitchen has completed its acqui- sition of the Vermont Village brand of or- ganic applesauces and apple cider vinegar products. "We're thrilled to expand our family with this partnership," said John Stiker, Chief Executive Office of Stonewall Kitchen. "Vermont Village is a leader in various apple and vinegar products, with excep- tional offerings like their signature Organic Unsweetened Applesauce, just recently voted the number-one best-tasting apple- sauce in an independent taste test of 28 dif- ferent brands by Epicurious. As fellow New Englanders, we're looking forward to com- bining the strength of our business with the Vermont Village brand to grow together in product innovation and distribution." "This is an exciting new chapter for us at Vermont Village," said Joseph Sheperd, the Owner of Village Cannery of Vermont. "Since our early days way back in the 1970s, we've dedicated our work to suc- cessfully launching products which nour- ish our customers, community and environment. We're ready to accelerate the growth of our brand, and by joining Stonewall Kitchen, we look forward to leveraging our combined product, sales and marketing expertise to do just that." Concluded Stiker, "Our acquisition strategy focuses on partnering with pre- mium quality brands that are leaders in their respective categories. We also look for brands that can benefit from our ex- pertise in product development, market- ing and omni-channel distribution, and which also help us enter new categories, customers and channels we may not have been able to enter previously. The addi- tion of the Vermont Village brand is a perfect example of this, and we're really excited to continue the growth of that brand." GN Stonewall Kitchen Acquires Vermont Village

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