Oser Communications Group

NATURALLY HEALTHY www.gourmetnews.com n MARCH 2015 n GOURMET NEWS N H 4 6 J Heritage Health Food: Natural Food's Best Kept Secret For more than five years, the perfect storm has been cooking in East Tennessee. Heritage Health Food, an upstart health food company founded by Don Otis, his wife Kim and three sons, is reinventing healthy. Don's background as a former executive of Kellogg's Natural Food Division and Kim's more than 35 years as a vegetarian cook has poised this family owned and operated business for an exciting nationwide launch first quarter of 2015. Heritage Health Food is a delicious brand that includes a 100 percent Vegetarian, Frozen Naturals line with an All Natural Corn Dog, Breakfast Sausage, Sausage Crumblers, Chick'n Tender and VegeFish Fillet. It also includes an industry changing Shelf Stable, Just Add Water line direct from Kim's kitchen called Kim's Simple Meals. This line is being announced for the first time this year with sim- ple, clean and healthy attributes that are perfect for just about any consumer. No other brand can claim such an array of gourmet perfection. USDA Organic, Non-GMO, gluten-free, vegan, Kosher, peanut/nut-free – and the list goes on! In fact, it has removed all the bad stuff and left you with simply delicious! Plus, Kim's Simple Meals are great prepared straight out of the box. But if you are craving something a little extra and want to spice up your meal, just add your favorite wholesome ingredients – Kim's Simple Meals can be a gourmet adventure. Meet Don, Kim and family at booth #786 Hall A and taste for yourself both beautiful mouth- watering product lines. For more information, visit www.heritage healthfood.com and www.kimssimple meals.com, call 888.237.0807 or stop by booth #786. California Label Products Inc a Leading Supplier of Label and Tag Products California Label Products Inc. began opera- tions in 1998 as a joint venture between 25- year apparel industry veteran Gary Garfield and West Coast packaging supply leader Cal- ifornia Supply Inc., which was founded in 1970. Combining Garfield's knowledge of labels with California Supply's longstanding position in the packaging supply industry, California Label Products (CLP) quickly be- came a leading supplier of label and tag products. CLP offers many items that allow hardline manufacturers to communicate branding and product information, including full color stickers, hangtags and backer cards. It has an in-house art and design team that excels in brand image creativity and finding cost-ef- fective solutions for every budget. Its entire production team is dedicated to product qual- ity and color management. It supplies in-plant printing systems, in- cluding one-color thermal from Zebra, Datamax and Printronix as well as full- color, high-speed inkjet printing systems. The Afinia L-801 inkjet printer has an 8.5-inch print width, photo-quality 1600 DPI resolution, and can print at 60 feet/min. Its high-capacity ink tanks hold 1.25 liters of total ink for large runs while its easy access doors provide for fast, simple media and ink replace- ment. For even more in-plant capability, the Afinia DLP-2000 takes the L-801's outstanding printing power and adds both die cutting and laminating stations. The RotoMetrics cylinder accepts flexible dies up to 12 inches in length allowing for fast, accurate die cutting of any shape. Both of these models allow manufacturers of all types to produce high- quality, full color product labels on demand, all without paying for a sin- gle plate. It also specializes in items for softline manufacturers, such as printed fabric labels, woven labels and heat transfer labels. Re- garding natural products, CLP's eco- friendly or "green" initiatives include offering natural-fiber-based label and tag materials such as cotton, hemp, recycled pa- pers and polyesters, and lastly both soy- and water-based inks. For more information, visit www.california label.com or stop by booth #6425. Plocky's Celebrates More Than 25 Years of Tasty, All-Natural Snacks In May 1988, two partners with years of food industry expertise, a lot of ideas and an in- stinct for the next big thing started Plocky's ® Fine Snacks from scratch. Today, 26 years later, Plocky's ships its "healthy snacks that taste good" – tortilla chips and hummus chips with unique flavors – nationwide and beyond. The Plocky's success story started in 1988, when the family-owned business introduced its line of tortilla chips that were like no other on the market: Original Three Grain Chips, Caribbean Black Beans 'N Rice Chips and Louisiana Red Beans 'N Rice Chips with Tabasco in the chip. As opposed to the plain corn chip, Plocky's tortilla chips featured dif- ferent grains, unique spices and the "healthy" factor. They tasted so good that Plocky's Three Grain Tortilla Chips were awarded the Seal of Approval for Best Tortilla Chip from Di- abetic Living magazine. The seal provides consumers with a guide to great-tasting foods that are low in calories, sodium and saturated fat, but rich in healthy fats, fiber, vitamins and whole grains. Plocky's expanded the initial line with three new flavors of tortilla chips: Sundried Tomato Basil, Whole Grain Sweet Chipotle and Whole Grain Aged White Cheddar. It followed with another market-first, handy Organic Dip Strips, in Golden, Blue and Louisiana Peppa Red, made with organic corn. Salsas with a twist soon give Plocky's tortilla chips something zingy to dip into: Black Beans 'N Rice Salsa and Red Beans 'N Rice Salsa. Plocky's didn't stop at tor- tilla chips. In 2005, the com- pany unveiled another extremely popular "first": savory, gluten-free Hummus Chips made with real hummus and olive oil. The first three flavors were Original, Roasted Garlic and Roasted Red Pepper, soon followed by Greek Lemon Herb and Honey Caramelized Onion. The hummus chips are certified kosher and made from the finest all-natural ingredients, with absolutely no preservatives, zero trans- fat and no genetic modification. Plocky's Greek Lemon Herb Hummus Chips were nominated for the 2012 Sweets & Snacks Most Innovative Products Award. The Hummus Chips are available in 3-oz and 100-calorie bags. Owner Paul Cipolla credits Plocky's suc- cess to focusing on that simple goal: Healthy snacks that taste good. "We went through a lot of trial and error in the early days, trying to find something that was different but that still tasted good," Paul Cipolla said. "But taste is the most important thing. A snack can be good for you, but it has to taste good for consumers to keep coming back for more." Consumers definitely keep coming back. For the past four years, Plocky's Fine Snacks has exported its unique flavors of Tortilla Chips and Hummus Chips internationally as well, to nine countries in Southeast Asia Pa- cific, Canada, the Middle East and Central America. Consumers can find Plocky's Fine Snacks in select specialty shops, natural foods stores and finer supermarkets nationally or order online at www.plockys.com. For more information, visit www.plockys.com. King Leo and Gilliam Products from Quality Candy Company Quality Candy Company is a leading manu- facturer and distributor of both high quality hard and soft sugar candy. In addition to being a key leader in the foodservice market, Quality Candy also produces two distinct lines of branded products: King Leo ® , the oldest continuously sold brand of peppermint candy, dating back to 1901; and Gilliam ® , a brand of colorful stick candy and high qual- ity hard candy dating back to 1927. Com- bined, the two brands make Quality the leading manufacturer of stick candy in North America. Quality Candy also provides con- tract manufacturing services to leading mar- keters of both mass and niche product lines. It also produces all natural sugar candies and its plant is GFSI Compliant, with an SQF Level 2 Certification. Originally, Quality Candy focused on su- perior candy that banks, restaurants and small businesses gave away to their cus- tomers. Today, Quality Candy Company is the nation's leading supplier of candy to the foodservice and hospitality market. In the 4th quarter of 2014, it launched a new Butter Mint. This item's wrapper can be customized to communicate a specific, customized mes- sage to your consumer. Quality Candy also manufactures and markets the King Leo brand, featuring Soft Peppermint in both Puffs and Sticks as well as in a variety of flavors, both in retail friendly packs as well as bulk. New Royal Mints ® are the latest addition to the King Leo product line. Since 1901, King Leo, originally from Nashville, Tenn., has been synonymous with the word Peppermint. The renowned soft peppermint sugar sticks are still made from the original recipe: 100 per- cent natural peppermint oil, and old-fash- ioned care. Commencing in 2009, King Leo crushed peppermint bits became available to the ingredient market and quickly estab- lished itself as the market leader. In 2003, Gilliam brand candy, established in Paducah, Ky., in 1927, was added to the already impressive roster of fine Quality confections. Gilliam is the premier brand of old time nostalgic hard candy and can be found across the United States. The Gilliam line features brilliantly colored, hand-striped artisanal candy sticks, as well as Discs, Lol- lipops and nostalgic Sanded Drops in old time flavors. Quality Candy, based in Henderson, Nev., is a privately held business managed by its Owner and Founder Pierre Redmond. The manufacturing plant, which has just been ex- panded to accommodate sales growth, oper- ates 24 hours a day with a base of approximately 300 employees and 14 pro- duction lines. Now the 100,000+ square foot factory is producing over 20 million pounds of candy annually, maintaining vigilant at- tention to high food safety standards and quality assurance programs. Quality Candy Company, founded in 1986, has always maintained its commitment to quality man- ufacturing, superior ingredients, exceptional personnel and the ability to keep costs com- petitive. It is this combination that has con- tributed to its fast paced growth and success. For more information, visit www.qcandy.com.

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