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GOURMET NEWS JULY 2015 www.gourmetnews.com Supplier Business SUPPLIER BUSINESS 1 8 BRIEFS BY LORRIE BAUMANN The Hawaii Coffee Association is working to make more Americans aware of the high- quality coffees that are being grown in the United States. "We have a small coffee pres- ence compared to other coffee-producing countries, but we are in the USA, and we are focused on high quality coffees," says Steve Hicks, President of the Hawaii Coffee Association. Coffee is currently being grown on all of the major Hawaiian Islands as farmland formerly used to grow sugar cane has been replanted with coffee. While Kona Coffee, grown on the Big Island of Hawaii, has been around since the mid-1800s and is well known, new coffee plantations are just beginning to develop their reputations as producers of fine coffees, gaining critical notice as they win cupping contests in Hawaii and the mainland United States. These new coffee developments include repurposed sugar cane and pineapple lands on the islands of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, and Maui. In addition, there are a number of coffee farms in the district of Ka'u on Hawaii that have been developing since the 1990s on former sugar plantations, and they're beginning to gain critical notice for their coffees. Coffee farms are also being developed in the districts of Hanakua, North Hilo and Puna. "The coffee industry here is growing, and there are a number of techniques being ap- plied, but the primary focus is specialty cof- fee – very high-grade gourmet coffee," Hicks said, adding that in total, there are 7,600 acres in coffee production in Hawaii, which together produce just under 7 mil- lion pounds of green bean, which varies from year to year depending on weather conditions. The Hawaiian tourism industry is the strongest marketing agency for these cof- fees, Hicks said. Coffee plantations are pop- ular stops for tourists vacationing in Hawaii. "It's very similar to what you would experience when you go out in the Wine Country. You get to see the trees, and you see the work going on, and the tours gen- erally finish at a retail store where we try to sell you something," Hicks said. The Hawaii Coffee Association made its debut appearance at this year's Summer Fancy Food Show with the expectation that the show could help the association market Hawaiian coffee to a wider American audi- ence, Hicks said. "A high percentage of people who come to Hawaii for vacations come from the West Coast, so reaching out to people on the East Coast is important to us. We want people to know that coffee is grown in the United States, and it's a very high-quality coffee." The Hawaii Coffee Association's annual conference is coming up on July 16-20 at the Courtyard King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel in Kailua-Kona. "If people would like to come out to Hawaii and talk about coffee, this will be a great opportu- nity," Hicks said. For more information, visit the Hawaii Coffee Association website at www.hawaiicoffeeassoc.org, which in- cludes a member directory, or visit the Hawaii Coffee Industry website at www.hawaiicoffeeindustry.com for an overview of coffee producers. GN Hawaiian Coffee Subject of New Marketing Push BY LORRIE BAUMANN It's the packaging that will catch your eye first when seeing DeBrand Fine Chocolates. Looking at some of the Chocolate Art Boxes, you might easily debate with your- self for moments about whether the box it- self is made of chocolate and whether you'd just embarrass yourself by asking. That's exactly the first impression that Cathy Brand-Beere, President and Founder of De- Brand Chocolates, wants you to have. "What catches people's eye is our chocolate boxes. We have some different designs, all handmade, and you can buy them filled with our Classic Collection pieces. We offer six different varieties of those: the Flower Power, Seashell, White Heart, Black Rose, Polka Dot and Paisley Leather," she says. Each edible Chocolate Art Box holds 20 to 25 pieces of DeBrand's Classic Collection, an assortment of caramels, creams and nuts. DeBrand's Truffle Collection is also very popular, Brand-Beere says. "There are 12 varieties of truffles, and those are larger pieces for people who want a larger presen- tation." Both the Classic and Truffle Collec- tions are offered in bulk for candy cases as well as in boxed assortments. The attention to detail that helped create the DeBrand Chocolate Art Boxes extends throughout the candy cases in DeBrand's three retail stores. "We've been in the retail business for more than 25 years, and every- thing that we use in our retail store, we make available for our customers. Those include beautiful description cards and downloadable artwork for each candy," Brand-Beere says. "We're a fit for gift stores as well as gourmet shops and floral shops." For customers who want to make a mem- orable statement at a lower price point, per- haps for a holiday thank you gift to an entire roster of clients, DeBrand offers Chocolate Thoughts™, which are chocolate bars wrapped in metallic gold or silver paper printed with sayings, such as "Thank You," "Congratulations" or "You're the Best!" "They're designed so that a business card or handwritten note can be attached to the back of the bar." Brand-Beere says. "We can also customize the bars themselves, per- haps with a company logo stamped right onto the packaging." DeBrand's Tasting Bars are sweet impulse items in a variety of intriguing flavors. Sweet Potato Pie, Pina Colada and Hazel- nut Sea Salt Crisp are examples. "They're all really unique and delicious too," Brand- Beere says. Each bar is divided into seg- ments of three different sizes: the nibble, the bite and the chunk. DeBrand's Hot Chocolate on a Spoon is another popular product with a premium presentation aspect. "You place it in a cup and pour hot milk, water or coffee over the top. You just stir as it melts into a delicious hot chocolate. People love it because it's in- teractive. That's been super popular. It comes in Original and Dark, and we have made-from-scratch marshmallows too that are nice with the hot chocolate," Brand- Beere says. "It comes at a very nice price point, too." For more information, call 260.960.8335 or visit www.debrand.com. GN DeBrand Fine Chocolates: Art for Chocolate's Sake Mars Chocolate North America has launched goodnessknows ® snack squares for the better-for-you snacking category. goodnessknows is crafted with whole nuts, fruits, toasted oats and dark chocolate, and is divided into four snackable squares per serving – all for 150 calories. It contains no artificial colors, flavors or sweeteners. One individual, two-bite square contains about 40 calories. Each goodnessknows snack square is nestled in a layer made with dark chocolate, and each serving of goodness- knows snack squares contains 100 mil- ligrams of naturally-occurring cocoa flavanols. goodnessknows snack squares will be available nationwide in August in three flavors: Cranberry Almond Dark Choco- late, Apple Almond & Peanut Dark Chocolate, and Peach & Cherry Almond Dark Chocolate. Suggested retail prices are $1.59 - $1.99 per serving (four squares) and $4.99 - $6.99 per five-serv- ing multipack carton. GN Mars Introduces goodnessknows Snacks Ann Payne's Caveman Foods Now Delivers in Toronto Ann Payne's Caveman Foods Ltd. recently acquired a dedicated delivery van. This van supports the St Michael's water kefir line, sold to markets not well supplied by the traditional grocery store distribution process, and will be used to deliver product to locations within the greater Toronto area. Ann Payne's Caveman Foods Ltd was founded based on having perfected a method of preserving the effervescence and vitality of water kefir: water kefir is a pre-historic method of using friendly yeasts and bacteria to turn sugar water into a low-calorie, high enzyme, fresh and raw drink. Water kefir is naturally non-alcoholic. Caves of Faribault and Norseland Announce Strategic Alliance Caves of Faribault, a subsidiary company of Swiss Valley Farms and the award-winning producer of blue cheese, Gorgonzola and other specialty cheeses, together with Norseland, Inc., the exclusive importer of Jarlsberg ® cheese in the United States, announced the companies have entered a partnership to collaborate and expand sales outreach in the specialty food segment, with a stated goal of realizing accelerated growth and domain authority within this artisan category in the fast-paced food industry. "By partnering with Norseland and their expansive network of sales professionals, we see tremendous opportunity to raise brand awareness and increase distribution of our Caves of Faribault brand," stated Don Boelens, CEO of Swiss Valley Farms. "We believe this strategic alliance will be beneficial for both companies' continued growth and success in the ever-changing specialty food category." The alliance will allow both premium brands to collaborate and expand combined sales and marketing reach for the entire specialty foods industr y, benefiting both existing and future customers. The purpose of this alliance is to further enhance the sales support, customer ser vice, product distribution and marketing coverage for both companies. Norseland's national sales force and powerful national distribution network will facilitate the expansion of Caves of Faribault products to grocers, retailers and foodservice channels. Both the Caves of Faribault and Norseland's portfolio of brands bring to the table a rich history of cheese-making and cured meats, linked to very specialized techniques and processes. "All of the brands Norseland manages exhibit the quality craftsmanship desired by consumers in this industry," said Boelens. "By unifying our experience and resources, we will be well- positioned to offer our product line to more consumers and achieve our long-term goal of brand equity in this market." For information on Caves of Faribault, visit www.cavesoffaribault.com. For information on Norseland, visit www.norseland.com.