Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/239815
12 4 GOURMET NEWS Dave's Gourmet (Cont'd. from p. 1) people in the world who loved and were seeking something hotter than was currently on the market. I began making pasta sauces because I got tired of the same flavors and same basic ingredients that made up the sea of red in the pasta sauce section of my local grocery store. Sauces like our Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce and Wild Mushroom Pasta Sauce have had great success because they're delicious and special compared to our competitors. GN: What can people look forward to at your Fancy Food Show booth? Robert Rothschild Farm (Cont'd. from p. 1) JG: In 2013, Robert Rothschild Farm purchased the assets and several product lines of Tulocay & Co., a premium food manufacturer in California. We are committed to growing this company organically and by acquisition. This acquisition complemented our business extremely well and aided in our overall growth for the year. Brownie Crunch (Cont'd. from p. 1) bakery, they packaged the crispy edges and scraps of brownie left in the pan in small bags and sold them as 'Brownie Ends.' They always sold out. Seth and I came up with the idea of developing a recipe for just that part of the brownie, since it seemed to be so popular. GN: What were the challenges of bringing this new product to market? SF: Seth and I worked for months to develop a recipe that would replicate the taste of his father's famous brownies and the crunch of just the 'crispy edges.' It took many test batches to get to the right ingredients and formula, and then just as many to recreate that formula in a large-scale bakery format. Wagshal's Imports (Cont'd. from p. 20) high-quality products designed to bring vitality and color to the culinary world. Its passion is in creating small batches of high quality ingredients that result in artisanal products that have mass appeal to the health minded consumer and the cheese connoisseur, as well as the avid entertainer. The Can Bech product line is minimally processed and made with the purest globally sourced ingredients selected for their high Southwest Specialty Food (Cont'd. from p. 20) Combustion and Three Banditos are just a few of the brands to look for when choosing great-selling items for your customers. Kathie's Kitchen (Cont'd. from p. 20) awards, including the nationally coveted Gallo Family Vineyard gold medal. In addition to award-winning flavor, SuperSeedz are also gluten-free, peanut-free, tree nut-free and vegan, so just about anybody can enjoy them. If that isn't enough to pique your interest, SuperSeedz also features a nutrition profile unrivaled by most other www.gourmetnews.com DH: In honor of our deadly Limited Edition Reserve Scorpion Edition Sauce and our Scorpion Pepper Hot Sauce, we will be serving some unusual samples in our booth. If you like eating crawfish, then you might really enjoy tasting some carefully cooked scorpions with our delicious sauces. some targeted demo programs that support our retailers, and we hope to roll those out in a larger way some time next year. GN: What is your position on special claims for products? DH: Dave's Gourmet will be launching some exciting new pasta sauces in early 2014. We will also be continuing to expand our innovative marketing programs in the coming months. We are currently testing DH: We have been producing organic items for years, but with all the certifications and product claims out there now, it is really hard for consumers not to be confused as to what is natural and healthy or good for the environment. It is also great for our domestic economy and society at large that we are collectively becoming more aware of gluten JG: About 18 months ago, we took a closer look at our gift business, which includes gift sets that combine a variety of dips or portray a theme, such as Breakfast at the Farm or Italian Dinner. The sales of these gift sets tripled in 2013. We made it a priority to modernize our gifts and it's paid off. JG: We're known for our unique flavor profiles, like Heirloom Tomato Watermelon Jam and Roasted Pineapple & Habanero Dip. We are an extremely innovative company and we constantly strive to push the envelope on what's new in the gourmet food industry. We've been doing this for 30 years and we are looking GN: What is new with Dave's Gourmet? GN: How did the holiday gift sales impact the business? GN: How did you decide how to position this product in the market? GN: What is the defining factor of Robert Rothschild Farm? SF: We started with the 4-ounce. bag for a mass-market appeal, and took complimentary bags and sample product to the WFFS 2012 to test the market. We had no investors, no bakery and no business agreements signed at that point. We got the response we had hoped for, and Seth went to work sourcing ingredients and working with bakeries. Our first delivery shipped in May 2012, and we've been growing steadily ever since. We shipped our first export six months later, and currently export to seven countries. In 2014, we will introduce a 1-ounce bag in two of our eight flavors, which we expect will sell even more units than the 4-ounce, giving us a broad spectrum of the U.S. market. As a former retailer, I wanted to offer the 1-ounce in a 12-pack -op box with a perforated front to give the retailer a variety of ways to sell and merchandise the product. This size should explode our growth, as it will truly be a product quality and picked at the height of their flavor. "Made with no artificial preservatives, these products uphold a standard of excellence and taste uncommon in the U.S. for this type of product," said Aaron Fuchs of Wagshal's Imports. "When you look at the ingredient list on the jar, you'll see each product contains no more than a handful of the most natural ingredients—and not an unpronounceable name to be found!" This is something many consumers look for today. Additionally, the combination of its gorgeous high-end packaging and superb taste makes these products strong viable sellers for wine and cheese shops, heath food shops, gift shops and upscale grocers. The following all-natural Can Bech products are now exclusively imported by Wagshal's and ready for wholesale and retail distribution: Fruits of the Forest Fruit Spread, a glorious combination of raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and strawberries; Just-for-Cheese Sweet Sauces, designed to pair perfectly with many different types of All graphic design, recipe development, habanero pepper farming, manufacturing and shipping occur at Southwest Specialty Food's 50,000 square foot production facility in Goodyear, Ariz. Southwest Specialty Food's customer service is available to help you place your orders as well as answer questions regarding its product lines. All orders ship complete within 24 hours of the time the purchase snacks. In fact, SuperSeedz are a plant-based protein powerhouse with nine grams of complete protein per ounce. They are also a good source of iron, zinc, heart healthy electrolytes and are free of cholesterol and trans fats. Kathie and her SuperSeedz have also been featured in numerous articles, including Good Housekeeping, the Boston Globe and Family Circle. "The most explosive growth in food today is in healthy snacks," said Pelliccio. "People from across the country are realizing the need to eat healthier foods and snacks, but unfortunately healthy snacks have very little in the way of great taste and flavor. SuperSeedz has changed that in a big way. I have worked very hard to ensure every SuperSeedz seed is bursting with flavor." SuperSeedz is now available in natural foods, specialty and grocery stores across the SF: Our idea was to create a product that looked like a specialty food product, but price it like a mass-market product. To achieve that goal, we hired an extremely creative and responsive marketing design firm, Roher/Sprague Partners, to develop the brand's look and packaging. We worked closely with them on the packaging shape, look, feel and projection of image on supermarket shelves among similar products even before we produced them. They enabled us to tweak the design to get just the market positioning we desired. GN: How did you launch the product? n JANUARY 2014 n GOURMET NEWS sensitivities, GMOs, artificial ingredients, etc. So at a minimum, labeling should be clear enough so people can decide to avoid or not avoid whatever they please. For instance, our items are labeled natural and gluten-free and some are certified nonGMO. We are also constantly striving to add more nutritional benefit to our sauces and to reduce their sodium and sugar content for those concerned about such issues. For more information, visit www.daves gourmet.com, email info@davesgourmet.com, call 415-401-9100 or stop by booth #616 at the Winter Fancy Food Show. forward to many more! GN: How can our readers find out more about your company? JG: For more information, stop by our Winter Fancy Food Show booth #640, call 800-3568933, e-mail info@robertrothschild.com or visit our website at www.robertrothschild.com. For more information, visit booth #640. for mass-market consumption. GN: What do you think is your greatest asset in starting this company? SF: First, we have a great product that gets an immediate positive response. Second is our executive team. Neal Chernin set up and runs our sales operation; Seth Greenberg developed the recipes and supervises the baking operations; and I run the marketing and advertising. We all come from different areas of the business, but we pull as one team. I see great things for our future. For more information, contact Brownie Crunch at 275 Madison Avenue, Suite 627, New York, NY 10016, call 212-878-6677, email steve@browniecrunch.com, or stop by booth #677 at the Winter Fancy Food Show. cheeses; Rose Petal Jelly, which complements ice cream, dark chocolate cake, foie gras canapés or can be used to make a glamorous rose Cosmopolitan cocktail. For more information on Wagshal's Imports and the Can Bech product line, visit www.wagshalsimports.com. For wholesale inquiries, email Aaron Fuchs of Wagshal's Imports at aaron@bellotaimporters.com, or call 202-595-3505. Come enjoy a taste for yourself at the Winter Fancy Food Show in booth #2821. order is received. For more information, call 800-536-3131, go online to www.asskickin.com or stop by booth #864 at the Winter Fancy Food Show. country. They are packaged in a 5-ounce bag and soon will be available in a 1-ounce graband-go size. SuperSeedz is on its way to becoming America's tastiest healthy snack. For more information, call 203-407-0546, email joe@superseedz.com, check out www .superseedz.com or visit booth #5504 in the Gateway Ballroom and the What's New What's Hot Exhibit at the Winter Fancy Food Show.