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NATURALLY HEALTHY www.gourmetnews.com n SEPTEMBER 2014 n GOURMET NEWS N H 3 6 Woodstock Farms MFG Fuels Private Label Boom The time is ripe for private label, and Wood- stock Farms Manufacturing is ready to har- vest. 2012 saw industry-wide annual revenue for private label products reach a record high of $108 billion, with record growth at +2.9 percent. Since 2009, private label brands have seen a significant growth rate over na- tional brands. The Private Label Manufacturers Associ- ation reports the trend "is driven by store brand quality continuing to improve across most of the categories covered in our re- search and store brands are likely to continue to gain share in many product categories." Woodstock Farms MFG, a division of UNFI, allows stores to build a brand under their own name, one that takes advantage of the quality of natural and organic ingredi- ents. Woodstock Farms MFG offers a broad range of healthy snack alternatives, from tra- ditional nuts, dried fruits and trail mixes, to exotic wasabi green peas, crunchy green beans or yogurt-covered pretzels. Customers have begun to recognize store brands and private labels as viable alterna- tives to the quality traditionally associated with national brands. Woodstock Farms MFG delivers unparalleled quality through responsible sourcing and a rigorous quality assurance program. This becomes an ad- vantage when customers turn to store brands for economic reasons and often like what they find in a private label, becoming repeat customers while building brand and store loyalty. Such robust growth in private label sales, coupled with the exploding popularity of nat- ural and organic foods, makes it one of the best times ever for stores to establish their own brands or build on those they have. Or- ganic food sales are expected to grow 50 per- cent in the next five years. Additionally, without promotional and ad- vertising costs – which are built into the price of national brands – a private label al- lows retailers to both increase profit margins and share savings with the consumer, further incentivizing repeat purchases. Private label packaging is ideal for re- tailers. Each package Woodstock Farms MFG produces acts as a unique, cost-free advertisement for the store brand. Having a company's logo and design in a cus- tomer's pantry helps keep the store at the forefront of the customer's mind, while the quality product it contains fosters store loyalty. The association of quality to the brand can help build confidence in the store as a whole. Woodstock Farms MFG makes creating the ideal customized packaging easy. A vari- ety of packaging styles and sizes allows stores the flexibility to find the packaging so- lution that works best for their business model. Options include pillow bags, gusset bags and square or round tubs, with sizes ranging from single serving to family sizes to bulk. Stores can also take advantage of Woodstock Farms MFG's in-house graphic design team to help create a unique, eye- catching label. Private label organic and natural snack food from Woodstock Farms MFG is an es- sential way to elevate a store brand and grow sales. For more information, visit www.woodstock farmsmfg.com. The Spice Hunter Pure Vanilla Extract Proves Cold Pressing is Worth the Effort Vanilla extract has an intoxicating aroma, adding flavor to baked goods, sauces and other sweet dishes. But is all vanilla extract created equal? Not according to The Spice Hunter, who proudly sells an All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract. The secret, it claims, is the cold press method of extraction. The FDA requires a ratio of 35 percent al- cohol to 65 percent water for any product la- beled pure vanilla extract. There are no regulations on the quality of the vanilla beans, sweeteners or additives. The majority of commercially produced vanilla extract uses heat to release the flavor from the vanilla beans. The beans are chopped and held in a tank where the alcohol is perco- lated, similar to brewing coffee. The use of heat accelerates the process of steeping the beans, but as a result creates bitterness, a burnt taste and a cloudy appearance. Many companies add corn syrup to mask the un- wanted flavor and make the final product sweeter. The Spice Hunter uses only Bourbon vanilla beans and al- lows them to release their flavor slowly without any shortcuts. This creates a better tasting product, free of any bitterness or burnt taste, and maintains a clear appearance. The chopped beans are kept in stainless steel vats and soaked for several days in pure grain alcohol. The liquid is then mixed with pure sugar to bring it to the required 35 percent alcohol content. Although The Spice Hunter was founded in 1980, its vanilla extract recipe has been in use by the parent company, The C.F. Sauer Company, since 1887. The Spice Hunter is ded- icated to using this method and knows that consumers can taste the difference. Executive V.P. Mark Sauer remarked, "Take some milk, put a teaspoon of vanilla in it and taste it, or put our vanilla on your wrist and smell it. You can tell the differ- ence. We use the same formula- tion used in 1887. When you do something for over 125 years, you do have a leg up." For more information, stop by booth #828. Heartland Gourmet LLC Expands into a New, State of the Art Production Facility Heartland Gourmet LLC, a family-operated, Nebraska-based gourmet, organic and gluten-free manufacturer, is excited to be moving into its new 29,000 square foot pro- duction facility. The expansion allows it to have segregated production for its different categories as well being GFSI and GFCP (Gluten Free), and USDA Organic Certified. Heartland Gourmet manufactures frozen dough – cookie dough, pizza dough, bread dough, etc. in both the gluten-free and gluten forms. It also specializes in baked off gluten-free muffins, cupcakes, cakes and cookies. It currently has 12 baked off gluten-free items available for retail and foodservice customers. On the dry mix side of its business, it man- ufactures organic mixes, gourmet mixes and gluten-free mixes for retail and foodservice. Heartland Gourmet currently has 14 gluten-free dry mix items for retail and foodservice, including its own blend of gluten-free flour. One of the things it does best is private label and co-packing. Its prod- uct development team has over 90 years combined experience in recipe development and formulation. It can work with a cus- tomer's recipe or develop one from scratch. It works with both national chains and smaller customers, and offers packaging development assis- tance as well. Its goal is to provide the best taste and texture that ultimately helps you provide the best prod- ucts to your customers. This is accomplished by producing high quality products using the finest ingredients. Please call 402-423-1234, email susan@heartlandgourmet.com, visit www .heartlandgourmet.com or stop by booth #2405. Seattle Gourmet Foods' Maury Island Farms Offers Jams and Preserves Seattle Gourmet Foods is a gourmet food manufacturer based out of Kent, Wash. After acquiring brands over the years, today it is comprised of 12 brands that can be found na- tionally, offering a broad spectrum of prod- ucts such as chocolates, breath mints, bakery items and mixes, to name a few. One of its brands, Maury Island Farm, specializes in jams and preserves, and fruit toppings made from berries found in the Pacific Northwest. Maury Island Farm offers jams and pre- serves in an array of flavors, including Boy- senberry Jam, Marionberry Jam, Strawberry- Rhubarb Jam and Seedless Raspberry. There is a size to fit any need, available in 1.5-oz glass jars to 11-oz glass jars, and even of- fered in two sizes of assorted gift packs. Fruit toppings are another specialty of Maury Islands Farm. Fruit toppings are available in Blackberry Delight, Marion- berry Dream and Red Raspberry Ecstasy. These 11-oz toppings pair perfectly with ice cream and yogurts, or even pancakes. Each member of your family will find his or her own unique use for these sweet top- pings. None of the Maury Island Farm products contain any artificial flavors, col- ors or corn syrup. For more information on the products that Seat- tle Gourmet Foods and Maury Island Farm offer, please visit the website at www .seattlegourmetfoods.com, email sales@seattle gourmetfoods.com or call 800-800-9490. Dr. Kracker – European Designed for Health-Minded Americans Dr. Kracker, founded by a group of European and American bakers with a love of true ar- tisan Crispbreads, continues to expand its focus by creating unique healthy snacks. Its Snacker and Culinary Crisps were specifi- cally designed to offer consumers snacks that are different from traditional snacks or crack- ers. The Organic Snacker line offers a family of non-GMO verified snacks based on seeds and grains. This line offers everyone's fa- vorites like Klassic 3 Seed, Pumpkin Seed Cheddar and Seedlander. All of these prod- ucts boost good levels of protein, fiber and two even have 0g of sugar and all are "Whole Grain Strong" ® . Let's not forget to mention Culinary Crisps, the "100% Natu- ral" health-minded savory snacks! The Asi- ago Cheese shouts aged cheese flavor with real aged Asiago cheese sprinkled on top. The cheese is complemented with a hint of tomato basil and rosemary to make this an enjoyable experience you are soon to fall in love with. Wow! Asiago Cheese snacks have 4g of protein, 2g of fiber, 0g of sugar and 17g of whole grains in every serving. Who does- n't like apple pie? Well Dr. Kracker's Apple Oat Crunch will remind you of this all- American favorite. Dr. Kracker uses real apple pieces blended with oats and flaxseeds to give you that caramelized sensation with every bite. This snack delivers 2g of protein, 2g of fiber and 21g of whole grains with every serving. The newest Crisp, Garlic Parmesan, takes this classic combo to new heights of taste-bud excitement. Each serv- ing has 5g of protein, 3g of fiber, 0g of sugar and 12g of whole grains. Dr. Kracker's Culi- nary Crisps are brightly packaged in con- sumer friendly resealable pouches. For more information, visit www.drkracker.com.

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