Oser Communications Group

14 SPECIALTY DISTRIBUTORS & BROKERS GOURMET NEWS FEBRUARY 2014 www.gourmetnews.com Specialty Distributors & Brokers Drinks Americas Teams Up with Major Distributor to Bring Mexican Craft Beer to New York Drinks Americas, a leading U.S. broker for authentic Mexican craft beers is teaming up with S.K.I. Wholesale Beer, the premier craft & import beer distributor in New York. Featuring beer, cider, wine and nonalcoholic beverages from all around the United States and the world, S.K.I. offers products to all NYC boroughs, Long Island & Westchester. Drinks Americas is the exclusive United States broker for leading premium authentic Mexican beers currently present in over 32 states. It is on target to be the leading broker for this growing category in each of the markets in which it operates. All the beers are brewed in Mexico's third largest brewery, Cerveceria Mexicana, which is proudly Mexican owned and uses state-ofthe-art processes, fermentation and aging systems. Drinks Americas' leading premium authentic Mexican beer brands include Day of the Dead, Mexicali™, Rio Bravo™, Crazy Pig™ and Chili Devil™. Drinks Americas' brands continues to forge strong connections with consumers through some of the largest retailers and restaurants in the country. S.K.I. Wholesale Beer was founded in July 1987. Currently, the distributor's 60,000 square foot facility is located in Brooklyn. S.K.I. is able to service its 10,500-customer base with a fleet of 22 route trucks, three merchandising vans, four High-Lows, and one 32-foot refrigerated box truck. With 125 dedicated employees and a highly focused management team, S.K.I. has both the physical capacity and the manpower to continue to be a premier distributor of fine beers, malt liquors and cider. S.K.I. currently distributes to Manhattan, Queens, Kings, Bronx, Richmond, Westchester, Putnam, Duchess, and Rockland Counties and all of Long Island, including Nassau and Suffolk Counties. S.K.I. expects to continue its growth trend along with its mission of maintaining its status as a premier distributor. This is their commitment to their customer base and, according to S.K.I., they are also highly committed to their suppliers and brands they represent. For more information on Drinks Americas, visit www.drinksamericas.com. For more information on S.K.I. Wholesale Beer, visit www.skibrews.com. GN European Flavors Brings the First European Pears to Major U.S. Retail Chains After prolonged negotiations, trade barriers have been lifted, and the first consignments of pears from Emilia-Romagna, Italy have recently arrived in the United States. These pears represent the best of Italian produce, and U.S. consumers are sure to be appreciative of this new product offering as it becomes available in their grocery stores' produce sections. An agreement was signed several months ago between the Italian states of Emilia-Romagna, Trentino and Alto Adige and the U.S. State of Delaware to permit the importation of Italian apples and pears into the United States. This agreement represents a great opportunity for these products and those who produce them, as American consumers are becoming increasingly careful about what they eat and thus more appreciative of the Mediterranean diet. Today's health-conscience consumers are more and more attracted to Italian products. To coincide with the release of European pears into the U.S. market, a barrage of promotional initiatives has been launched by European Flavors. European Flavors is a project co-financed by the European Union, the Italian state and the Italian member companies of the CSO fruit&veg services center, created to promote the benefits and tastiness of European fruits & vegetables in the United States, Russia, Japan and Canada. European Flavors' U.S. campaign is currently focused on a varied program of promotional events in the most important supermarket chains across the country. For American consumers, this is an ideal opportunity to appreciate the sensory benefits of Italian produce. Activities scheduled by European Flavor include not only in-store promotion events, but also a new smartphone app that offers numerous recipes involving either fresh or processed European fruit and vegetable products. The CSO is a service company whose mission is to improve its members' strategies for boosting the systematic competitiveness of the Italian fruit & vegetable sector. Founded in 1998, today CSO has 65 member companies spread across 14 Italian regions, including many of the most important fruit & vegetable groups in Italy. For more information, visit www.european flavors.eu. GN BRIEFS Italian Foods' La Piana Brand Now Distributed by Nature's Best, Cavallaro Foods Italian Foods Corporation's regional Italian delicacies are now being distributed through Nature's Best of Brea, Calif., and Cavallaro Foods of Syracuse, N.Y. Nature's Best is now handling Italian Foods' full line of six all-natural and shelf stable La Piana® stuffed pastas, and its line of four La Piana pasta sauces, including the USDA Organic-certified Vegetarian Bolognese Sauce. Cavallaro Foods is carrying five of the stuffed pastas and three pasta sauces along with La Piana Garlic & Tomato and Green & Black Olive Bruschetta toppings. It has also added La Piana Balsamic Vinegar of Modena and La Piana Fig Balsamic Vinegar. La Piana all natural stuffed pastas are imported from the Lombardy region and are shelf stable for 15 months. In addition to the Organic Vegetarian Bolognese Sauce, the La Piana line of all-natural pasta sauces represents authentic regional flavor profiles. The WhiteWave Foods Company to Acquire Organic Produce Company Earthbound Farm The WhiteWave Foods Company, a leading consumer packaged food and beverage company in North America and Europe, recently announced that it has agreed to acquire Earthbound Farm, one of the country's leading organic food brands. With anticipated 2013 net sales of over $500 million, Earthbound Farm is the largest organic produce brand in North America and the recognized leader in the value-added organic packaged salad category. Earthbound Farm also produces and markets an extensive line of organic fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen fruits and vegetables, and dried fruits and snacks. WhiteWave manufactures, markets, distributes and sells branded plant-based foods and beverages, coffee creamers and beverages and premium dairy products under widelyrecognized, leading brands including Silk ®, Horizon Organic®, International Delight®, and LAND O LAKES®. Both companies are committed to creating great-tasting, responsibly-produced foods that are better for people and the planet. Inventure Foods to Invest $3.9 Million in Freezing Capabilities, New Equipment Inventure Foods, Inc., a leading specialty food marketer and manufacturer, recently announced the planned purchase of two state-of-the-art Individually Quick Frozen freezing tunnels for an estimated total purchase price of $3.9 million. Inventure expects to install the new tunnels in the second quarter 2014, prior to the harvest season, at its berry processing facilities in Lynden, Wash. and Salem, Ore.

• Cover