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GOURMET NEWS JULY 2014 www.gourmetnews.com Supplier Business SUPPLIER BUSINESS 1 1 BRIEFS Jones Soda Expands Natural Soda Line Jones Soda Co., known for its unique flavors and branding, recently announced the expansion of its natural soda line, Jones Stripped, into the Pacific Northwest, Texas and Canada. Natural Jones Soda was launched in California in 2013 to meet the growing demand for healthier beverage options and to expand the Jones product portfolio. The natural line now has a new name, Jones Stripped. In addition, the products feature reworked packaging with brighter colors, highlighting the products' noteworthy 30-calorie count. Jones Stripped is sweetened with a blend of natural sweeteners, including pure cane sugar, organic agave syrup and stevia. It will be offered in six natural flavors, including Orange Mango, Cherry, Lemon Lime, Green Apple, Huckleberry and Chipotle Pineapple. Jones Stripped joins Jones' other core product lines as well as MyJones personalized bottles. All products are available for purchase at www.jonessoda.com. Jim Beam Hosts "Distillery Days" at Ky. Headquarters Beam Inc. recently began hosting a series of engaging and unique "Distillery Days" at its flagship Jim Beam Homeplace in Clermont, Ky. The ongoing, monthly series will feature a number of activities, ranging from an Oaks Day and mint julep celebration to bluegrass concerts and Kentucky-style barbeques. Distillery Days kicked off with an Oaks Day party on May 2, immediately preceding the Kentucky Derby. In addition to guided tours of the Beam distillery and the delicious barbeque offerings of Fred's Smokehouse, the party included samplings of the Beam family's mint julep recipes, as well as a chance to meet and mingle with Beam family members. Additional monthly activities will include summer concerts and fall and holiday celebrations. For a complete list of events and other details, visit www.AmericanStillhouse.com. Bonneau Products Changes Name to Bon Foods Specialty food company Bonneau Products, Inc. has changed its name to Bon Foods, Inc. "Bon," which translates to "good" in French, reflects the company's new ownership and commitment to clean-label ingredients. Bon Foods will continue to offer Chef Paul Bonneau's renowned portfolio of sauces and vinegars. However, the lineup will be reformulated with all-natural, gluten-free and MSG-free ingredients to better meet the needs of restaurateurs catering to today's health- conscious consumers. To coincide with the name change, Bon Foods has launched a new website, www.bonfoods.com, which is designed to be an up-to-date resource for food manufacturers. Founded in 1947, Bon Foods produces distilled bottled water, vinegars, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce for consumer, foodservice and industrial uses. For more information, email info@bonfoods.com. BY LORRIE BAUMANN Saffron Road, the packaged food brand of American Halal Company, has found a way to take an ancient entry in the culinary lex- icon and make it new again with Saffron Road Crunchy Chickpea snacks. And in a time when some wonder if the makers of natural food products are so eager to please those c o n c e r n e d about their health that they have for- gotten that food is supposed to taste good, the company's new Crunchy Chickpea snacks are a powerhouse of flavor. Crunchy Chickpeas started out almost by accident, according to Jack Acree, Exec- utive Vice President of Saffron Road. "We weren't even looking to put a snack on the market until one day I saw an authentic In- dian snack mix that included chickpeas," he says. "I saw that and said, 'That is a snack product.'" Once he had seen the idea in practice, he knew right away that it would be a winner for the American market. It is thought that humans have been eating chickpeas for thousands of years, perhaps most often today in the form of hummus. Hummus has become so popular among Americans that Acree knew this population would be likely to buy and enjoy another chickpea- based snack food. "I thought that if we just get rid of everything else and focus on the chick- peas, we'll have a hit on our hands," he says. "We saw an opportunity to take something that Americans were already eating in the form of hummus and bring it into snack food." After hatching the idea of chickpeas as a snack food, product development began in earnest, with Saffron Road looking to the world's cuisines for flavors that could com- bine with the chickpeas to produce a snack that was delicious as well as well as crunchy and nutritious. "It's always about the flavor first," Acree says. "If people don't want to eat it regularly, what's the point?" "Many companies are designing the nu- t r i t i o n panel be- fore they design the p r o d u c t , and that's not how good food is created," Acree con- tinues. "We like to start with flavor and then build in a powerful nutritional profile as well … Chickpeas are a great carrier of flavor. They themselves deliver the nutritional punch." Saffron Road's organic Non-GMO Project Verified Crunchy Chickpeas are gluten- free, as are most of the company's products. Saffron Road offers Crunchy Chickpeas in Wasabi, Bombay Spice and Falafel flavors and recently introduced them in Chipotle and Korean BBQ flavors. The Korean-style barbecue flavor profile (typical of Korean bulgogi marinade) consists of soy sauce, pear juice, sesame oil, garlic and red pep- per. Acree predicts that this flavor in par- ticular will be a hit with Americans. In fact, the company is betting on Korean flavors in general, offering four Korean entrees as well as two Korean tacos that capitalize on a trendy food-truck offering. "We see Korean foods exploding in the U.S. over the next five years," Acree says. "In 2014, it's about responding to what's happening on the streets, because that's where true innovation is happening." The frozen tacos, including a Korean- style chicken taco and a Korean tofu taco, pack colorful vegetables and a homemade slaw into an organic corn tortilla. The company draws attention to the dishes' origin by packaging its offerings in a box designed with food truck imagery. "We're not trying to do something that's different from what everyone else is doing," Acree says. "We look at doing what is the most delicious and most exciting on the mar- ket today." The frozen meals, including Beef Bul- gogi, Bibimbop with Beef, Gochujang Chicken and Bibimbop with Tofu, are in- fluenced by traditional Korean recipes and boast high-quality ingredients con- sistent with Saffron Road's standards of excellence. For the first time, Saffron Road is introducing beef to its product line, including pasture-raised beef with no antibiotics in two of these dishes. The third dish uses vegetarian-fed and hu- manely-raised chicken. And the fourth, a vegan option, uses organic tofu. Other key flavors in the Ko- rean frozen meals in- clude a Gochujang sauce, which adds an intriguing blend of sweet, sour and spice to each bite, and a Bul- gogi sauce, which com- bines a sweet, smoky taste with the punchi- ness of ginger and gar- lic. The line also incorporates a fruity, flavorful red pepper from Korea. The Korean entrees and tacos are halal-certified and certified gluten-free. Consumers can find them in the frozen aisle at Whole Foods Markets nation- wide and other natural foods stores. The suggested retail price is $5.99 and $3.99, respectively. GN Saffron Road Brings Global Flavors to Snack Foods, Frozen Entrees Weston Foods, a subsidiary of George We- ston Limited, recently announced that it has completed the purchase of Rubschlager Bak- ing Corporation of Chicago, Ill. Rubschlager has a 100-year history of baking a full range of authentic, high-quality rye breads and products for the North American market. The company's products are sold across the United States and Canada and include a wide range of deli-style cocktail breads (its signa- ture product), traditional square breads, 100 percent whole rye Rye-Ola ® bread, sandwich bread and mini-bread chips. This acquisition supports Weston Foods' commitment to continue to grow and offer best-in-class, in- novative and quality bakery products to the North American market. Kevin McDonough, President of Weston Foods' Frozen Division, said, "Rubschlager will bring world-class, authentic rye prod- ucts and capabilities to complement We- ston's broad portfolio of bakery products. We plan to offer these great rye products to our customers in Canada and the U.S. through our existing sales network." George Weston Limited is a Canadian public company founded in 1882. Through its operating subsidiaries, it constitutes one of North America's largest food processing and distribution groups. Weston has two reportable operating segments: Weston Foods and Loblaw, which is operated by Loblaw Companies Limited. GN Weston Foods Announces It Has Completed Purchase of Chicago-based Rubschlager Baking

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