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GOURMET NEWS SEPTEMBER 2014 www.gourmetnews.com GENERAL NEWS 8 Trade Show Buzz Natural Products Expo East 2014, the East Coast's largest natural, organic and healthy products event, is expecting continued growth with more new exhibitors and more new products than ever before. The event will take place September 17-20 at the Bal- timore Convention Center in Maryland and is open to trade only. Natural Products Expo East embraces the food and beverage, supplements, beauty, household and pet products categories. The event is produced by New Hope Natural Media. "Following a record-breaking event in California last month, Natural Products Expo East will showcase more new ex- hibitors and more new products than ever before. The Expo show floor is nearly sold out, and reception to our conference pro- gram is tremendous. With the focus on healthier lifestyles, we are looking forward to celebrating the natural, organic and healthy products industry this fall," said Adam Andersen, Natural Product Expo Show Director. The natural products industry is poised to grow to $226 billion by 2018 with an an- nual growth rate of 8.6 percent. Key trends driving the global natural products indus- try include the growing number of health- and wellness-driven consumers, the in- creased convenience and accessibility of nutritious, clean food products, the desire of companies to increase transparency when it comes to their products' labeling and the explosion of special diets, includ- ing gluten-free, paleo and vegan eaters. Event attendees at Expo East 2014 will benefit from the talent and wisdom of the Natural Products Expo speakers, including Doug Tompkins, founder of The Founda- tion for Deep Ecology, who will keynote the event. Tompkins is an American environ- mentalist, prominent landowner, conserva- tionist and entrepreneur. In 1964, he founded The North Face to make and sell outdoor equipment. He later co-founded Esprit clothing company. This year, the Natural Products Expo East education themes include big data, digital strategies, retail dietitians, women in leadership, consumer trends and spe- cialty diets. Several education sessions in- clude: "Big Data: The Truth about the Health & Wellness Shopper," "Retail Dieti- tians: Evolving the Retail Food Service Line," "Special Diets: Gluten-free" and "Special Diets: Understand the Paleo Diet." Natural Products Expo East will also offer many learning and networking pro- grams, including a retailer workshop, offer- ing retailers a complete day of education geared toward business and the natural products industry, a retail store tour, offer- ing a guided tour of several of Maryland's best natural products and specialty stores, the "Women in Naturals Networking Event," dedicated to women in the natural products industry looking to network and learn from other professionals, a commu- nity celebration, bringing industry veterans and colleagues together to network and a harvest festival, featuring an array of prod- ucts in a festival-style atmosphere. For complete information on Natural Products Expo East, visit www .expoeast.com. Follow @NatProdExpo on Twitter for ongoing conversations, or con- nect on Facebook or LinkedIn groups to keep up on Natural Products Expo's latest developments. GN Excitement Builds as Natural Products Expo East Prepares to Host Record Number of New Exhibitors and Products Consumers Who Bought Dreamfields Pasta Could Get Money as Part of a Recently Finalized Class Action Settlement A settlement of two class action lawsuits has been reached with Dakota Growers, the maker of Dreamfields Pasta. The lawsuits claim advertisements and packaging for Dreamfields Pasta were misleading. Dakota Growers denies these claims. The settlement includes anyone who purchased Dreamfields Pasta with a label that referred to "glycemic index" or "di- gestible carbs" in the United States between February 2004 and July 1, 2014. A $5,000,000 cash settlement fund will be es- tablished. Consumers who purchased Dreamfields pasta online and received a settlement no- tice by email will receive an automatic pay- ment of $1.99 per box. There is no limit on the number of boxes purchased. Con- sumers who purchased Dreamfields pasta in a store can file a claim to receive $1.99 for each box (up to 15 boxes per house- hold). Claims must be filed by September 1, 2014. In addition to paying con- sumers, the settlement will also be used to pay for notice and administration costs. Any money left after all claims and costs have been paid will be donated to the American Dia- betes Association. In addition, per the settle- ment, Dakota Growers agrees to change its packaging and remove statements referring to "glycemic index" or "di- gestible carbs" from the pack- aging of Dreamfields Pasta for one year. Consumers who do not want to be in- cluded in the settlement or want to keep the right to sue Dakota Growers must ex- clude themselves by September 1. Con- sumers who do nothing and made their purchases in a store will not get a payment and will give up the right to sue Dakota Growers. Consumers who stay in the set- tlement may object to it by September 1, but will give up the right to individually sue Dakota Growers about the claims in these cases. The court will hold a hearing on Septem- ber 24, 2014 to consider whether to ap- prove the settlement and to add a request for attorneys' fees and expenses up to $2,920,000, which would include an incen- tive award for the five plaintiffs named in the lawsuits in an amount not to exceed $20,000 in total. The attorneys' fees, ex- penses, and incentive award will be paid separately by Dakota Growers and will not reduce payments to class members. For more information about the settle- ment or to get a claim form, visit www.dreamfieldssettlement.com, or call 866.430.6382. GN Good Food Awards Roadshow Brings Excitement to Portland, Oregon; Headed to St. Louis on October 19 The Good Food Awards recently stopped in Portland, Oregon on July 18 as part of a three-city "Good Food Roadshow," bring- ing together exceptional food crafters from all around the Pacific Northwest. An evening of celebratory, delicious events conducted in collaboration with artisan sausage company Olympic Provisions showcased the region's best tasty, authentic and responsible specialty foods. "We're so excited to connect with Port- land's vibrant food scene," said Good Food Awards Director Sarah Weiner. "Oregon has produced more Good Food Award Winners than any state except for California, and it's about time we come and do something spe- cial in Portland. The chance to do it with Olympic Provisions – one of the only com- panies in the country that has won a Good Food Award every year since its inception – was too good an opportunity to pass up." On Friday, July 18, the Good Food Mer- chants Guild, a membership association of 250 businesses that supports the Good Food Awards, in collaboration with Olympic Provisions hosted a free Good Food Night Market and Beer & Brats Af- terparty at Olympic's sausage factory- cum-event venue in Northwest Portland. Many Portland food companies were pres- ent to sell their wares, including Tails & Trotters, Unbound Pickling, Alma Choco- late and Xocolatl de Davíd. The local favorites sat side-by-side with over two dozen Good Food Award Winners and Guild Members from through- out the Pacific Northwest. Showcasing the best of the re- gion's specialty food industry, the Night Market featured everything from coffees and champagne-style ciders to bacon pickles and porkstrami. This is the second stop in the Good Food Roadshow. A previ- ous event was held on June 8 in Washing- ton D.C. The final event in the series will take place on October 19 in St. Louis, Mis- souri. Organizers are partnering with Sauce Magazine's Harvest Festival and Bon Appetit Management Company's team at Washington University for a huge celebra- tion of food. Check back at www.good- foodawards.org/roadshow for up-to-date information on the upcoming event. The Good Food Awards celebrates the kind of food we all want to eat: tasty, au- thentic and responsibly produced. The Good Food Merchants Guild grants awards to outstanding American food pro- ducers and the farmers who provide their ingredients. The organization hosts an an- nual awards ceremony and marketplace in San Francisco to honor the Good Food Award recipients who push their indus- tries towards greater craftsmanship and sustainability while enhancing our agri- cultural landscape and building strong communities. GN

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