Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/579193
C o n v e n i e n c e R e t a i l e r S h o w D a i l y 3 9 W e d n e s d a y, O c t o b e r 1 4 , 2 0 1 5 AQUASANA: WATER SOURCING One of the fastest growing trends in din- ing is local food sourcing, according to the National Restaurant Association's 2014 Culinary Forecast. The top three restaurant trends for 2014 are locally sourced meats and seafood, locally grown produce and environmental sustainability. "Today's consumers are more inter- ested than ever in what they eat and where their food comes from, and that is reflect- ed in our menu trends research. True trends – as opposed to temporary fads – show the evolution of the wider shifts of our modern society over time and focus on the provenance of various food and bever- age items, unique aspects of how they are prepared and presented, as well as the dietary profiles of those meals," said Hudson Riehle, Senior Vice President of the National Restaurant Association's research and knowledge group. If the source and quality of food is important, it begs the question: what about the water? It's one of the most important aspects within the restaurant environment, with the ability to impact overall cooking performance, environ- mental sustainability and the taste of foods and beverages. After all, why put the effort into locally sourcing organic foods only to prepare them with chlori- nated tap water? "Our guests love great wine and well- prepared food. We've now found they also appreciate the great tasting water." – Mulberry Restaurant, Austin, Texas. Although most restaurants have tradi- tionally used tap water for everything from dish washing to food preparation to water service, the impact of tap water on overall restaurant performance has been misunderstood at best. Aquasana, makers of affordable, high performance water filtration for foodservice, hopes to change that and help educate restaura- teurs on the benefits of filtered water within the restaurant environment. "Our expertise in chloramine and chlorine reduction, as well as sub-micron filtration, enables us to produce highly efficient filters at a much lower cost than our competition," said Todd Bartee, Aquasana Chief Executive Officer. "Each carbon-based filtration cartridge significantly reduces impurities – includ- ing cysts like cryptosporidium and giar- dia – improving the taste of water for sodas, coffee, tea and other water-based beverages." "Working closely with a variety of Austin-based restaurants for the launch of Aquasana Pro Series, we were able to see firsthand how great tasting water can impact the overall experience," said Derek Mellencamp, Vice President of Marketing for Aquasana. "After installing the Pro Series systems, we work with our restaurant partners to promote filtered water within the establishment. It's truly become an important component of the entire dining experience." For more information, visit www.aquasana.com/foodservice or call 855.245.1884. ALO DRINK INCREASES CONVENIENCE STORE PRESENCE ALO Drink, a ready-to-drink aloe vera beverage in the U.S. grocery channel, has expanded its focus on the convenience store channel. ALO Drink, a division of SPI West Port, was established in 2009. ALO Drink is a best selling ready-to- drink aloe vera beverage line in the U.S. grocery channel, and the No. 2 brand in the fast-growing shelf stable functional juices category. Key components of this focus include a new pulp-free line of bev- erages and the launching of a new line of 350mL beverages, ALO Essentials, in February 2016. ALO Drink has set its sights on increasing its presence in convenience stores across the U.S. ALO Original has been selling well in select QuikTrip, Chevron, Kangaroo Express and Enmark stores, as well as many independent c- stores since entering the category in 2011. According to the February 2014 issue of NACS Magazine, convenience stores account for 34.3 percent of all retail outlets in the United States. "We're anticipating a lot of opportu- nities to grow within the market," said Henry Chen, President and Chief Executive Officer of ALO Drink. "ALO Original and Pulp-Free are the perfect answers to the rising popularity of new age functional drinks at convenience stores. With many shops using functional drinks to drive more traffic to their stores, beverages like ALO are one of the reasons why 50 percent of consumers are entering convenience stores in the first place." Attendees may visit ALO booth #3712 to learn more about its prod- ucts as well as to sample its line of pulp-free varieties and the new ALO Essentials. About ALO Drink The ALO Drink line continues to garner high praise, winning The Gourmet Retailer's 2015 Editor's Pick Award for the Best New Product in the bev- erage category. ALO has also received recognition in both 2012 and 2013 as a finalist in The Natural & Organic Award's for Best New Drink, Beverage Innovation's 2012 Best Consumer Campaign Award, as well as Beverage Innovation's 2011 Best Natural Functional Drink Award. ALO Enrich, ALO Drink's pomegranate and cranberry flavor, was also a 2010 sofi™ Silver Finalist Award Winner for Best Cold Beverage presented by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT), while the ALO Drink line won Beverage World Magazine's 2010 Bronze Award in the Functional/New Age Drink category. ALO Drink is available in retail stores across the U.S., including nationwide at Whole Foods Market, Rite Aid, Sprouts, Cost Plus, Safeway and Vitamin Shoppe; and in regional chains such as Ingles, Hy-Vee, Jewel Osco, Publix, Lucky, Save Mart, Raley's, Wegmans, King Soopers and Albertsons. ALO Drink is now also available across the U.S. including nationwide at conven- ience stores at Sunoco, Speedway, Super America, Chevron, QuikTrip, TA Petro, Gate, Kangaroo Express, Mapco Express, Enmark and many independent c-stores. Visit ALO Drink at booth #3712. For more information, go to www.alodrink.com, email info@ alodrink.com or call 800.223.4438. RUIZ FOODS EXPANDS WITH EAST COAST PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION Ruiz Foods was founded in California's Central Valley in 1964 by father and son team, Louis and Fred Ruiz. Fred was in charge of production and made 40 pounds of product each day – enchiladas, tamales and burritos. Louis sold to 'mom and pop' grocery stores in the morning while scheduling his deliveries in the afternoon. Fast forward to 2015, and Fred, now Chairman Emeritus, has a bit more help. Kim Ruiz Beck, Fred's elder daughter, is now Chairman. Rachel P. Cullen is President and Chief Executive Officer. The company employs 2,600 team mem- bers, has two manufacturing facilities in California, one in Denison, Texas, and, most recently, a manufacturing facility and distribution warehouse in Florence, South Carolina that is scheduled to be in full operation by late fall 2015. Currently, El Monterey and Tornados products are shipped from the Ruiz Foods facility in Denison, Texas to warehouse locations on the East Coast or directly to customers on the East Coast. "As we add capacity to Florence during the next two to four years, this facility will eventually supply 90 percent of our East Coast customers and 10 per- cent of our Central Region customers," said Rachel P. Cullen. "From a logistics standpoint, this will definitely save costs and bring a new level of distribution to our customers on the East Coast." The Ruiz Foods Florence, South Carolina manufacturing facility will have its own bakery – as the company does in Dinuba, California and Denison, Texas. Flour and corn tortillas are baked fresh to the company's high specifications, and used almost immedi- ately to make Tornados AM or PM fla- vors or El Monterey burritos, taquitos, quesadillas, chimichangas and more. Team member and consumer safety is and will always be a primary focus of the production process. Ruiz Foods already has procedures in place in both the California and Texas facilities that are above and beyond what the industry requires. The same standards will be implemented in the Florence, South Carolina facility. "We take great care to understand the needs of our cus- tomer," adds Cullen. "We are the No. 1 frozen Mexican food manufacturer in the United States and our El Monterey brand is the No. 1 selling brand. Likewise, our Tornados brand is one of the top selling roller grill snacks in the United States." Visit Ruiz Foods at booth #5360. For more information, go to www.ruiz foodservice.com, call 559.591.5510, ext. 2290 or email MelanieD@ ruizfoods.com.