Oser Communications Group

NATURALLY HEALTHY www.gourmetnews.com n MARCH 2020 n GOURMET NEWS N H 2 4 New Oregon Orchard Hazelnut Seasoned Snacks Hazelnut Growers of Oregon (HGO) has re- cently launched its product line of new Ore- gon Orchard ® seasoned snack products. This line of 8-ounce re-sealable pouched snacks is now available at the Oregon Hazelnut Marketplace and all Wilco Farm Stores in Oregon and Washington. Oregon Orchard's seasoned hazelnuts are currently selling on- line at www.oregonorchard.com for $8.99. The five seasoned flavors are: Himalayan Salt, Southwest Chili Pepper, Sweet & Spicy Barbecue, Rosemary and Cinnamon Sugar. Hazelnuts are a good source of vitamins B6 and E and are keto-friendly. All Oregon Or- chard snacks are produced with HGO mem- bers' hazelnuts, which are steam pasteurized in small batches at the SQF (Safe Quality Food) Level 3 Certified processing facility in Donald, Oregon. Greg Thorsgard, Chief Operating Officer of Hazelnut Growers of Oregon, said the new snack options fulfill a growing demand for locally produced, nutritious, natural and flavorful snacks. "We're excited to release the first new prod- uct line under our new Oregon Orchard logo," Thorsgard said. "These products fill a niche in the continually growing and expanding desire for savory, spicy, ethnic and floral flavors by the younger generation of consumers." According to Specialty Food Association's 2018 State of the Industry report, "Specialty foods' characteristics – quality ingredients and production, interesting flavors – are re- quirements rather than luxuries with con- sumers, younger ones particularly. Based on Mintel's research, … the iGeneration (ages 18 to 23) embrace specialty foods' attributes some- what more strongly than generations before them." About Hazelnut Growers of Oregon Founded in 1984, Hazelnut Growers of Ore- gon, a business unit of farmer-owned coop- erative Wilco, has more than 180 growers who collectively own more than 20,000 acres of prime hazelnut orchards. Oregon's Willamette Valley has the ideal climate for growing the world's highest quality hazel- nuts. It is in this special corner of the world where temperate ocean, mountain and river climates meet with rich volcanic soils to cre- ate prime hazelnut- growing country. In 2016, Hazelnut Growers of Oregon merged with Wilco and by 2018 com- pleted its 120,000 square-foot state-of- the-art hazelnut process facility in Donald, Oregon. HGO processes both in-shell and kernels and serves food service supply com- panies, confectionaries, snack food makers and bakers around the globe. The new pro- cessing plant also has 30,000 square feet of storage space. In 2018, HGO processed more than 15,000 U.S. tons and anticipates about the same volume this bi-annual year. The Oregon hazelnut industry is expected to dou- ble in the next five years. For more information, go to www.wilco.coop/hazelnuts. Warrell Creations: Your Partner of Choice Looking for a partner to bring your snacks to market? Warrell Creations ideates within the following manufacturing processes: nut clus- ters, chocolate enrobing and panning, fire roasting and brittles. Its R&D team is ready to assist you in bringing new life to your brand. Warrell Creations can serve as an exten- sion of your organization's product devel- opment team. Coupled with its rapid prototyping methodology, skilled staff and dedicated project managers, Warrell Cre- ations delivers on-trend, quality products that taste great. Outcomes are often indul- gent treats with a twist of functional capa- bilities, such as truffles coated with cocoa nibs, clustered tree nuts with dried fruits and ancient grains, protein isolate centers enrobed in protein-enhanced, chocolaty coating rolled in almond pieces, and brit- tles made with granola. Its experienced R&D team is very clever at finding ways to enhance your brand and develop new products. New projects are brought to life through a structured Stage Gate Evaluation Process. These ideations are ini- tiated from market-re- search white spaces, as well as product profiles that form the founda- tion of a new idea. In both situations, ideations enter the Stage Gate Funnel to en- sure that new products are commercialized as efficiently as possible. This robust process allows Warrell to deliver gold standard qual- ity and innovation at an exceptional speed- to-market. With 55 years of experience, Warrell Cre- ations has forged a go-to- market strategy that has labeled it as Your Partner of Choice ® for private label and contract manu- facturing solutions. A competitively advan- taged Quality Manage- ment System, a breadth of manufacturing capabilities, a demon- strated willingness to invest and a team of dedicated project managers is capped with Warrell Creations cornerstone strength: We Innovate for You ® . For more information, go to www.warrell corp.com or email sales@warrellcorp.com. Salsa God Launches Grab & Go Chips & Salsa Combo Pack Believe it! The wait is finally over. Chips and salsa, together in one package. Salsa God's mission is to showcase the de- licious flavors of authentic Mexican salsas. The tortilla chip stands alone as the best way to enjoy salsa on the go, so the company de- cided to invent the single-serve, Grab & Go Chips & Salsa Combo Pack by combining a 4-ounce cup of smoky, fire-roasted medium heat salsa with a 3-ounce bag of crunchy, white corn tortilla chips in one package. Chips and salsa is the official state snack of Texas, so leave it to a company with proud Texas roots to invent the Grab & Go Chips & Salsa Combo Pack. Salsa God is based out of Fort Worth, Texas, so you know that Salsa God's Combo Pack is authentic and deli- cious. Now, customers can satisfy their chips and salsa cravings without having to buy a large jar of salsa and a big bag of chips. The Combo Pack is perfect as a large snack or even as a meal-replacement snack. Salsa God wanted to create a Texas- sized snack that will satisfy chips and salsa cravings, and it also wanted to have the perfect ratio of the quan- tity of chips to the quan- tity of salsa. The 4-ounce cup of medium heat salsa is the perfect amount for a 3-ounce bag of crunchy tortilla chips. This is the perfect snack to add to your kids' lunchbox or to take along on road trips, hiking trips or to the office for a midday snack. Salsa God's Grab & Go Chips & Salsa Combo Pack will have your customers com- ing back for more. This product will work perfectly in conventional/specialty grocery stores, a grab & go section, convenience stores, point-of-sale displays, hotels, movie theaters, sporting events, air- lines and more. New flavors of the Combo Pack will be launching shortly. Watch for Salsa God's Chips & Sriracha Salsa Combo Pack and Salsa God's Chips & Hot Salsa Combo Pack. Salsa God salsas are proudly Made in America. Visit booth #N434 and mention code "Be- lieve It!" to get 20 percent off of your order placed during the show. Visit Salsa God at booth #N434. For more information, call 1.844.SALSAGOD, email info@salsagod.com or go to www .salsagod.com. Essential Eyes from RidgeCrest Herbals By Nichole Carver, Marketing Director, RidgeCrest Herbals When we are young, our eyes generally serve us very well. As we grow older, our eyes can, metaphorically, stab us in the back. (I specify metaphorically because this is physically quite impossible – the shape of the human eye prohibits achieving an effec- tive stabbing technique.) With age, the eyes can become subject to a host of normal, age-related conditions which may cause deterioration in our vision. In our modern society, eye health is strongly affected by how much technology we con- sume. These days, some of the most signifi- cant threats to vision include consistent ex- posure to UV and blue light from screens, followed closely by zombie aesthetics and cat memes. Other factors that may affect eye health include poor nutrition, eye drops that could decrease blood flow to the capillaries in the eyes, certain chemicals (such as chlo- rine in a pool), and poor lighting while read- ing. While UV light from the sun reaches only the front parts of the eye, blue light reaches the more complex and delicate parts of the eye. Blue light comes from many sources in modern society. It is emitted from energy-ef- ficient light bulbs and various electronic de- vices most of us use daily, such as TVs, computers, tablets and cell phones. As our lives revolve more and more around technol- ogy (she says as she squints at her computer screen and won- ders why LASIK at 20 is no longer serving her at 37) it is in- creasingly crucial that we take active steps to protect our eyes from the potential effects of blue light. One way to do this is by using RidgeCrest Herbals' Essential Eyes™. This award-winning Essential Eyes formula takes a nutritive approach to sup- porting eye health, keeping in mind the stress placed on our eyes through the overuse of electronics while strengthening supporting systems. Winner of the Nexty New Hope award for the "Best Condition-Spe- cific Product" at Expo East 2017, this innovative product contains Lutemax 2020, a patented, award- winning eye-support ingredient sourced from marigolds, which con- tains lutein, zeaxanthin and meso- zeaxanthins in a 5:1 ratio. Designed to increase circulation to the eye and provide it with crucial nutrients to support regeneration and eye health, Essential Eyes helps the body put on internal "sunglasses" to combat the macula's constant exposure to blue light from technology. Visit RidgeCrest Herbals at booth #4237. For more information, go to www.rcherbals.com.

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