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GOURMET NEWS MARCH 2015 www.gourmetnews.com Supplier Business SUPPLIER BUSINESS 1 1 BRIEFS Great Lakes Brewing Company Refreshes Brand Great Lakes Brewing Company recently launched a plan to refresh the company's brand. One of the original craft breweries, GLBC has a unique story and distinct heritage that the company plans to bring to the forefront in 2015. The company is introducing both a new logo and a refreshed label design for its bottles. The refreshed look will be introduced around Memorial Day, starting with GLBC's five year- round brands: Dortmunder Gold Lager, Eliot Ness Amber Lager, Burning River Pale Ale, Commodore Perry IPA and Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. GLBC plans to preview the new labels this spring. Great Lakes Brewing Company was founded in 1988 by brothers Patrick and Daniel Conway as the first microbrewery in the state of Ohio. Today it remains Ohio's most celebrated and award-winning brewer of lagers and ales. For more information, visit greatlakesbrewing.com. Mrs. Fields Confections Acquires Maxfield Candy Company Famous Brands International, the parent company of TCBY Yogurt and Mrs. Fields Cookies, recently announced that its subsidiary, Mrs. Fields Confections, has acquired all of the assets of International Confections Company LLC, including the brands Maxfield Candy and Nutty Guys. "We are extremely excited that the Maxfield Candy brand … will officially join our family as we continue to expand the iconic Mrs. Fields and TCBY brands throughout the world," said Joyce Hrinya, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Famous Brands. "With a renowned heritage as a premium confectioner dating back nearly 70 years, the Maxfield Candy brand is an ideal fit, and I'm confident that the addition of these delicious treats to the Famous Brands portfolio will delight our existing and future customers." For more information on Mrs. Fields Confections, visit www.mrsfields.com. California Olive Ranch Acquires Lucini Italia Olive Oil California Olive Ranch, the largest producer of extra-virgin olive oil in the United States, recently announced its acquisition of Lucini Italia, a leading producer and importer of premium Italian extra-virgin olive oils. California Olive Ranch and Lucini Italia will continue to operate under their own labels. The company will maintain its headquarters in Chico, California. Founded in 1998, California Olive Ranch is a privately owned company inspired by new growing and harvesting methods which enable the production of high-quality, moderately priced extra-virgin olive oil. It is the fifth largest olive oil brand in the country, and sales have more than quadrupled since 2010. It has been a leader in advocating for standards, certification and truth in labeling. Its oils have received numerous awards, have been featured in top publications and are the oils of choice of many renowned chefs. For more information, visit www.californiaoliveranch.com. BY DAVID BERNARD When you run a restaurant that is known for its uniquely delicious condiments, you have a couple of choices. You can simply oblige customer demand and continue giv- ing away ramekin upon ramekin of compli- mentary servings of said condiments. Or you can capitalize on that demand and spin the condiments off into a business of their own. Shirlee and Renee Erickson, co-own- ers of Boat Street Pickles, chose the latter route, and consumers have been gobbling jars of their company's delectable pickled fruits ever since. Five years and three sofi Award nomina- tions after it was first founded, the Seattle- based company is going strong, having recently added a fifth SKU to its product line, pickled cherries, to go along with its four existing pickled fruits: figs, apricots, French plums and raisins. The company also offers pickled figs in a 64-ounce shelf stable glass container for foodservice. Initially, it took the Ericksons several tries to find the right co-packer that could replicate the complex spices and flavor combinations of their homemade fruit pickles. However, Boat Street has hit its stride and can now be found nationwide at a number of major chains, including Whole Foods, Murray's Cheese and Dean & DeLuca, as well as in independent gourmet markets and specialty shops. The uniqueness of Boat Street's products serves as somewhat of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, many consumers have never tasted or even heard of pickled fruits, which can make it difficult to get the prod- uct into the customer's basket initially. However, according to Shirlee Erickson, when exposed to the products via demo, peo- ple fall instantly in love. "There are no pickled fruits like ours on the market," she said. "There are a lot of spreads, but ours are very unique and different, with their bits of fruit and the combination of flavors." Boat Street's sofi Award-nominated pickled raisins, for example, offer a tantalizing jux- taposition of flavors, with sweet golden raisins cured in a spicy-tangy syrup of cider vinegar, mustard seed, thyme, arbol chili and bay leaf. The raisins are a perfect pairing with roasted pork loin or grilled fresh sausages. The condiment can also be added to cous- cous pilaf, and it makes a particularly special coleslaw when combined with cabbage, cider vinegar, olive oil and fresh parsley. While sampling is often key to the suc- cess of any gourmet product, with pickled fruits it is doubly so, given the product's complete novelty to many consumers. "We encourage retailers to demo the products," said Erickson. "We offer a one-time dis- count on the 12th jar in a case, so they can sample them. If we have a lot of stores in one area, we'll get referrals from our distributor for people to do demos." "When we demo the product at shows, people are amazed that they're so delicious," Erick- son added. "We get that all the time. They say there's just some- thing different about them. They're unique." Although the company has experienced a wave of success during its relatively short existence, Shirlee and Renee Erickson are committed to Boat Street Pickles remaining small – at least in terms of its product offer- ings. The company only brings out a new variety when the owners think it will add something truly special to the line. "We don't make something just to be making it," said Erickson. "We'll never have 100 SKUs like a lot of companies. We're very proud of our products." It is this sharpened focus on flavor and uniqueness that explains the de- votion consumers have to Boat Street's prod- ucts and the industry honors the company's condiments regularly receive. For more information, visit www.boat streetpickles.com. GN Boat Street Pickles Perfects Sweet and Sour Flavor Pairings with Unique Pickled Fruit Line The Hershey Company recently announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire KRAVE Pure Foods Inc., manufacturer of KRAVE jerky, a leading all-natural snack brand of premium jerky products. The trans- action will allow Hershey to tap into the rap- idly growing meat snacks category and further expand into the broader snacks space. "KRAVE jerky is a great fit to our portfo- lio and overall snacks and adjacencies strat- egy," said Michele G. Buck, North Ameri- can President for The Hershey Company. "The KRAVE brand de- livers on portable and protein nutrition while also understanding consumers' food preferences, including the desire for simple ingredients and transparency, something that is also a part of Hershey's strategic vi- sion. We are excited to add KRAVE jerky's unique, chef-inspired products and be a part of this transformational category." KRAVE jerky offers consumers a nutri- tious and premium option when looking for delicious high-protein snacks. Founded in 2009 by Jonathan Sebas- tiani, who had a passion and desire to develop a sustain- ing snack to satisfy his hunger, the company is now a leader in premium jerky, the fastest-growing sub-seg- ment of the estimated $2.5 billion U.S. meat snacks cat- egory. KRAVE jerky has cat- apulted into the category with its reverence to quality, all-natural in- gredients and unique flavor approach, in- cluding Black Cherry Barbeque Pork Jerky, Basil Citrus Turkey Jerky and Chili Lime Beef Jerky. KRAVE jerky products are free of gluten and high fructose corn syrup and have no added nitrites or MSG. "An important focus of KRAVE jerky's business strategy is to push the boundaries within our category and to stay on top of ever-changing consumer needs. Joining the Hershey family will extend our resources for innovation and expand KRAVE jerky's presence in the larger healthy snacking cat- egory," said Jonathan Sebastiani, KRAVE CEO and founder. "Our partnership with Hershey is a testament to our team's dedi- cation to creating something unexpected and striving to be a cut above the rest. We are confident in our future and look for- ward to further success with Hershey." The overall meat snacks category is growing at a double-digit pace with a compounded annual growth rate of about 10 percent from 2010-2014. The better- for-you, premium subset of the category, where KRAVE participates, increased at a rate almost four times that of mainstream brands. GN The Hershey Company Acquires Gourmet Meat Snack Brand KRAVE Jerky

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