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Gourmet Goodies GOURMET GOODIES 2 4 KITCHENWARE NEWS & HOUSEWARES REVIEW n SEPTEMBER 2015 n www.kitchenwarenews.com Gourmet Goodies Chef inspired Chocolate Party Cups from Kane Candy are now offered in nine updated retail packs, making the perfect addition to any dessert table, dinner party, wedding, holiday event or special occasion. Simply fill with your favorite filling and enjoy. Filling ideas include chocolate mousse cups, chocolate yogurt cups, or fill with whipped cream, fresh fruit and top with chocolate shavings for an amazing mini dessert presentation. Your guests will be impressed and may even think these desserts were created by a world class pastry chef rather than simply filled and served by you. Upsell your customers by offering Kane Candy Chocolate Party Cups in the premium baking section, fine gifts, floral departments, fine liqueur section or seasonal displays. All Kane Candy product are proudly made in the USA, certified kosher and gluten- free. Now available in nine award-winning retail pack varieties. Kane Candy 800.875.5557 or info@KaneCandy.com www.KaneCandy.com BY MICAH CHEEK With gluten free diets making headlines, food companies are putting more focus than ever on their wheat free alternative products. Irene Gottesman, Director of Marketing and Sales at Blends by Orly, credits the shift to the new availability of gluten allergy testing, which has led to children being tested earlier in life. She adds, "When one child is gluten free, often the whole family becomes gluten f ree." Parents will start consuming gluten free products make sure their child doesn't have to eat a different meal than the rest of the family. An added benefit to this is a greater ease in meal planning. This increased consumption has placed gluten free breads, cookies and pastas side by side with their wheat filled counterparts in grocery aisles. The pre-made foods being produced are a great help to people with gluten sensitivities or allergies, but they still suffer some significant shortfalls. The shelf life of unf rozen gluten f ree baked goods is generally shorter than baked goods with wheat. This causes many baked goods to come out of their package already stale. Some companies have to resort to using more preservatives to maintain shelf stability. Flavor and texture issues have also cast a bad light on the gluten free market, and discriminating consumers are now driving demand for products that match or exceed the palatability of wheat based baked goods. Rivaling wheat products is where baking mixes most stand out from other gluten free products. Janine Somers, Director of Marketing at Stonewall Kitchen, says, "Using high quality ingredients and never sacrificing on taste, we develop our gluten free products with the same standards we use for every other Stonewall Kitchen product. Quality and flavor are never compromised. Due to the popularity of these mixes, gluten free recipes from pizza crust to doughnuts are now being offered. The Gourmet du Village introduces a new range of wonderful baking mixes that are easy to prepare. Just add an egg, water, oil, and follow the simple directions. The highlight of the new line is the 'OOEY GOOEY' Chocolate Brownie mix that is moist, dripping with taste, easy to prepare and serve. Another favorite is the addictive Salted Caramel Blondie that perfectly balances a great caramel taste with salt. The line also includes a classic Gingerbread Cake mix that is great for the holiday entertaining season. This new venture for Gourmet du Village goes perfectly with the company's saying, "We make it easy to make Homemade," catering to today's busy consumer who still prefers to ser ve homemade. Gourmet du Village 800.668.2314 White Coffee Corporation's latest major collaboration is with Marvel Entertainment, creating single- serve Avengers Hot Chocolate. Now adult fans of all ages can enjoy some hot chocolate at any time of day. Mar vel's Avengers Hot Chocolate highlights the most powerful super hero team in the world on its packaging. The hot chocolate is fat-free and comes in 12 single serve cups per box with a suggested retail price of $7.99. White Coffee Corporation is based in Long Island City, New York, and is a third-generation, family-owned coffee importing and roasting business in operation since 1939. White Coffee Corporation 800.221.0140 www.whitecoffee.com Gourmet du Village Has Gone All 'OOEY GOOEY' Add Some Sweet Fun To Your Holiday Displays White Coffee Introduces Marvel Comics Avengers Hot Chocolate for Fans of All Ages Gluten Free Mixes and Blends Offer Unexpected Options homemade aspect of these products offers a greater sense of quality and f reshness. Since everything at Stonewall Kitchen starts and ends with quality, we believe the rise in this category for us in particular is due to the fact that our gluten free products are just as tasty and satisfying as our traditional mixes," Somers says. The ability to replicate the texture and flavor of wheat based products is determined by the careful mixing of different flours. As the market for gluten free flour blends and baking mixes grows, producers are trying new combinations of grains and starches in an effort to more accurately replicate wheat's behaviors. Somers says, "While most mixes use potato, rice and tapioca flours, developers are looking at oats which also offer a nutritional quality. Another trend in mix development is the use of bean flours and other grains such as sorghum, chia and millet, which are being used in a combination with other gluten free flours." Blends by Orly has a collection of flour blends which are designed as one-to-one wheat flour substitutes in any recipe, rather than a single product mix. "The reason we're able to say it rivals wheat products," says Gottesman, "is because we tested them against wheat recipes." Blends by Orly baked classic recipes with their flours, taste testing them on people who regularly ate gluten. This helped to eventually match the familiar qualities of the original product. The emotional motivator for making gluten-free products at home comes from how customers feel they are perceived personally. Buying gluten free products can make consumers feel like their eating habits or restrictions are on display. Gluten free packaging is often distinct f rom other packages, and is marketed primarily for health rather than flavor. Gottesman says, " When you're buying something for a dietary issue, you don't want to feel like you're in a pharmacy all the time." KN

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