Oser Communications Group

4 GENERAL NEWS GOURMET NEWS DECEMBER 2013 www.gourmetnews.com General News AmericasMart Atlanta Names Gourmet Market Best of Show Winners Their tastes are outstanding. Their packaging is creative. They impressed both buyers and experts. And now they have been named the Best of Atlanta. AmericasMart Atlanta announced the winners of its annual Best of Atlanta awards, celebrating the top gourmet food products in its permanent and temporary collections. The awards were adjudicated during The Atlanta Gourmet Market, held Sept.17-19. Winners were determined based on taste, overall appeal, as well as packaging and presentation. The selection committee included industry experts Melissa Libby, founder of Melissa Libby & Associates, Hil Harper, founder of Gentleman South and Deborah Geering, columnist and local food expert for Atlanta Magazine. The Best of Atlanta awards are divided into several categories. The Orchards Gour- met was victorious in two categories, winning Best Candy Non-Chocolate for its Glazed Pecans and Best Chocolate for its Pecan Peanut Butter Meltaways. Captain Rodney's won in two categories as well. Its Jezebel Sauce won Best Condiment and its Boucan Glaze won Best Snack. Stonewall Kitchen won Best Salsa for its Mango Lime Salsa. In the Dessert Category, Grits Bits/Strawberry Patch took home the gold for its Sweet Cream Butter Cookies. The Fire and Ice Pickles from Fat Mama's Tamales won Best Pickled Product. Robert Rothschild Farm's Hot Pepper Peach Preserves won Best Jam. Old World Gourmet's Instant Milling Spices won Best Beverage. And ZuZu's Joy's Tennessee Farm Country Gourmet Enchiladas Soup Mix won for Best Soup. "We are so happy our delicious Mango Lime Salsa won this award," said Janine Somers, Director of Marketing for Stonewall Kitchen. "Our Mango Lime Salsa's spicy, fruity blend makes it a great addition to any dish, especially seafood!" This was the first time Stonewall Kitchen was named a winner at the Best of Atlanta awards. This year, for the first time, AmericasMart buyers cast their votes for a Fan Favorite Award by posting a photo of their favorite product on Twitter, on Facebook or on Instagram, accompanied by the hashtag #BOAatlmkt. Wine-A-Rita's Peach Bellini took home the title of Fan Favorite. AmericasMart Atlanta is the nation's only global wholesale marketplace, housing the world's largest collection of home, gift, area rug and apparel merchandise. Located in downtown Atlanta, the AmericasMart complex contains more than seven million square feet of space. It's a huge global stage on which manufacturers, designers and sales representatives unveil new lines, launch new designs and introduce new categories— all for the benefit of buyers seeking all that is fresh and first in the home, rug, gift and apparel arenas. For more information, visit www .americasmart.com. GN U.S. Agricultural Sustainability Initiative Launched at Anuga 2013 An alliance of U.S.-based agricultural exporters introduced their new "This Is How We Grow" sustainability initiative at the Anuga tradeshow held this October in Cologne, Germany. Organizers of the initiative hope that it will help U.S producers conserve land, water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the food, fish, fiber and forestry industries. The newly unveiled initiative was cheered by the more than 160 U.S. companies that exhibited in one of eight U.S. Pavilions at Anuga. This effort communicates to global buyers that U.S.-made products are manufactured following sustainable agricultural practices. Sustainability is quickly becoming a requirement of doing business in a global marketplace, especially for companies in the food sector. For this reason, U.S. food companies are committed to letting the world know that they are good-faith participants in the global sustainability effort. It is important for U.S. farmers to show that they are part of an interdependent family and community of producers. In addition, and perhaps most importantly, U.S. compa- nies are striving to demonstrate their continued commitment to grow, harvest and produce to meet the world's need for sustainably produced goods. At a press conference at Anuga, David Green of Greenhouse Communications explained U.S. sustainability practices and validation methods used by the rice, soy, dairy, poultry/egg, seafood, grain export and hardwood industries. He presented research on European sustainability schemes and customer attitudes about American agriculture, explaining that there is a deep disconnect between European perceptions and U.S. agricultural production practices. Marty Matlock, a professor at the University of Arkansas, also spoke at the press conference, providing details about sustainability programs among U.S. soy farmers. He benchmarked the U.S. Soy Sustainabil- ity Protocol against the leading oilseed sustainability scheme in Europe, focusing on the equivalency of U.S. systems to European schemes. The press briefing demonstrated the importance of discussing sustainability as a joint commitment between producer and supplier and the common values and goals on both sides of the Atlantic. The This Is How We Grow sustainability initiative is an alliance of U.S. agricultural, forestry and fisheries export promotion groups working to boost awareness in the European Union of the sustainable production practices and validation methods already in place in the United States through laws and regulations overseen by USDA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). For more information on This Is How We Grow, visit www .thisishowwegrow.org. For more information on Anuga, visit www.anuga.com. GN BRIEFS Anuga 2013 Comes to a Close in Cologne, Germany On Oct. 9, the 32nd Anuga show came to a close. For five days, approximately 155,000 visitors from 187 countries came to peruse the booths of 6,777 exhibitors. The atmosphere at Anuga was characterized by a business attitude. The event offered extensive networking opportunities to those in attendance. Decision-makers from the domestic and international trade, as well as leading importers and buyers from key catering firms came to the show to obtain in-depth information about services and the products on display. Many companies reported a good level of ordering activity. "Anuga is the most important platform in the world for the international food business," said Gerald Böse, CEO of Koenmess GmbH. "The Anuga trade fair in Cologne is unique. Nowhere else brings supply and demand together so effectively at such a high level of quality." The next Anuga show will take place Oct. 10-14, 2015. For more information, visit www.anuga.com. Lucini Italia Announces Intensive Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tasting Seminar With extra virgin olive oil use by Americans increasing every year and a recent United States International Trade Commission report revealing a majority of extra virgin olive oils on the shelves are "adulterated and mislabeled products," a deep understanding of extra virgin olive oil is becoming essential to operate successfully in this dynamic category. Lucini Italia and the National Organization of Olive Oil Tasters are holding an Extra Virgin Olive Oil Intensive Tasting Seminar. The event will be a two-day, in-depth training. A first of its kind in the United States, the course is led by Italian instructors and will teach proper tasting techniques, sensory analysis and how technology plays a role with the quality of extra virgin olive oil. The Extra Virgin Olive Oil Intensive Training Seminar will be held in San Francisco this January. The cost of attendance is $500. WorldFood Moscow Successfully Completes Four-Day Global Event The 22nd edition of WorldFood Moscow took place Sept.16-19 at the Expocentre in Moscow. The exhibition showed its global relevance as exhibitors converged on the event from countries around the world, including Poland, Tunisia, UAE, Palestine, Brazil, Romania, the United Kingdom and South Africa. Over four days, 1,634 companies congregated to showcase brands from 69 countries, increase their business and learn more about the growing Russian market. The 2013 show witnessed the highest amount of exhibitors and unique visitors to date. "We have seen a fantastic amount of customers from nearly every different sector of the food industry, including the top five retailers in Russia, who have been around our stand," said Richard Green, International Sales Manager for UK-based Coombe Castle. "Already we have had direct responses, and we have signed a contract with a new distributor. WorldFood Moscow has been a great success."

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