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GOURMET NEWS MARCH 2016 www.gourmetnews.com WFF WRAP-UP 1 9 BY LORRIE BAUMANN Robert Rothschild Farm took January's Winter Fancy Food Show as its opportunity to unveil a new direction that hearkens back to the company's heritage as a rasp- berry farm. Over the years, of course, Robert Rothschild Farm has evolved into a specialty foods company that's fa- mous for its dips and entertaining products, but the com- pany went back to its beginnings for the inspiration for its new Heritage Collection, a line of products that includes Raspberry Amaretto Jam and Raspberry Pineapple Grilling Glaze, which debuted alongside a new Roasted Red Pep- per Sauce. The products made their bow in new jars of Egyptian glass with copper-color lids that will fit well into contem- porary kitchen designs. The label features a hand-drawn illustration and embossed Robert Rothschild brand and shows more of the product than its predecessor. "It really screams 'premium,'" said Marketing Director Ryan Husted. "We're over-investing in the label, investing in the glass." The labels were designed with help from consumers who expressed that they identified the Robert Rothschild brand with the house design that's now included as the hand-drawn illustration on the label and the hexagonal shape of the Robert Rothschild Farm jars. They also wanted a label that communicated, not just quality, but transparency about the ingredients inside the jar. "They all really wanted a very clean label," Husted said. "We are all clean label." The new line is part of a dramatic change in the com- pany's product development strategy: instead of introduc- ing a multitude of new products each year and letting the marketplace decide which of those will succeed, the com- pany plans to launch just two or three products per year. By the time it's offered to retailers, each new product will have been thoroughly consumer-tested to be sure that consumers like the tastes and the products will stand up well against competitors. "Retailers will have a product we know is going to sell," Husted said. The new approach is calculated to result in less product changeover, so retailers will be able to count on being able to continue to get a Robert Rothschild Farm product that their customers have come to enjoy, according to Husted. One thing that isn't changing: Robert Rothschild Farm plans to continue making its recipes small-batch-from- scratch with the highest quality ingredients, Husted said. Around Robert Rothschild Farm, the Winter Fancy Food Show's sold-out exhibit halls hosted 1,500 ex- hibitors from across the U.S. and 28 countries. The show drew close to 20,000 attendees, a 16 percent increase above 2015 numbers. Buyers represented top names in re- tailing, restaurants and foodservice including Whole Foods, Kroger, Starbucks, Trader Joe's, Williams-Sonoma, Alaska Airlines, and hundreds of local specialty and nat- ural food markets, according to the Specialty Food Asso- ciation, the show's owner and producer. Sutter Buttes displayed several new gifts sets, including a gift set of infused olive oils and balsamic vinegars that includes 2 ounces of each of four oils and four vinegars packed in a tin with a clear plastic window on top to show the product. The gift set will retail for $39 to $43. An Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar gift set in- cludes a 250 ml bottle of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar and a 125 ml bottle of Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil, an Ital- ian-style extra virgin olive oil grown and bottled in Cali- fornia, together with 4 ounces of spices and a ceramic tray to make a presentation-quality gift that would make a beautiful hostess gift for a holiday party. The set will retail for $40. In addition to the gift sets, Sutter Buttes is offering a line of tapenades in grab and go packaging with gourmet crackers. The line includes Sun-dried Tomato and Olive, Green Olive and Black Olive varieties for specialty retailers to include in their cheese cases. "We wanted to be able to offer something very healthy so they can do that," said Sales Manager Sharon Fullerton. The tapenades will retail for $7 to $8. Also for the cheese case, Sutter Buttes is offering a Cheese Condiment Trio that includes Wild Flower Natural Honey, Meyer Lemon Ginger Jam and Caramelized Onion Balsamic Jam in three 4-ounce jars. The Meyer Lemon Ginger has become one of the company's biggest sellers, and the products are all gluten-free, hand-made in small batches, and all natural, with ingredients locally sourced within 40 miles of Sutter Buttes' kitchen. "It's important to know what you're getting," Fullerton said. "When you buy locally, you know it's made of good-quality products that support local farms. And you know that it hasn't been sitting on a shelf for two years." Stonewall Kitchen is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2016. "It's fairly remarkable to find a specialty food com- pany that's lasted 25 years," said Stonewall Kitchen Pres- ident John Stiker. "It's a testament to what Jon [Stonewall Kitchen Co-founder Jonathan King] and Jim [Co-founder Jim Stott] created and to the quality and the innovation principles that the company has adhered to." For its cele- bratory year, Stonewall Kitchen's product line includes 25 of the company's classics along with its new products, in- cluding four organic products – two fruity and two savory jams – launched at the show. "We're now organic-certified through the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Asso- ciation," Stiker said. The four new organic jams are Maine Blueberry Cherry Jam, Strawberry Vanilla Jam, Maple Apple Onion Jam and Sweet Chili Jam. Alongside those, Stonewall Kitchen is adding to its line of breakfast products with Farmhouse Oatmeal. This steel- cut oatmeal cooks in just two to three minutes in the mi- crowave oven or three to five minutes on the stove top. For folks who want flavoring already added into their oat- meal, Stonewall Kitchen is offering Apple Cinnamon Oat- meal, Blueberry Maple Oatmeal and Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal. The oatmeals will retail for $9.95 for an eight- serving can. The Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal includes lots of little bits of real apple, and the Blueberry Maple has a satisfying proportion of dried blueberries. "There's a lot of blueberries going on," Stiker said. "At Stonewall Kitchen, we don't skimp on our ingredients." The breakfast line continues with the introduction of Maple Blueberry Syrup. "I like blueberry, but to me, it's always been too blueberry," Stiker commented. "It's a re- ally simple idea – I don't know why we didn't think of it before. It's a perfect combination." Breakfast isn't the only meal of the day, though, even though it's now fashionable to eat it at any time during the day, so Stonewall Kitchen has a number of new prod- ucts designed for lunches, dinner and snacking – any of which go better with bacon. For the bacon-lovers, Stonewall Kitchen is now offering Bacon Ranch Dressing and Horseradish Bacon Mustard Dip. A new gift set intended to retail for $24.95 includes Boozy Bacon Barbecue Sauce, Maple Bacon Aioli and Maple Bacon Onion Jam. "At Stonewall, we say you can never have too much bacon," Stiker said. For an Italian dinner theme that works well for Stonewall Kitchen's retailers during the spring and fall, the company is offering Basil Alfredo Sauce and Alfredo Sauce, and for those spring lamb dinners, Stonewall Kitchen's new Classic Mint Jelly is now made without ar- tificial flavors or colors. "Natural colors and flavors weren't easy to find, but that's what our R&D team does best," Stiker said. GN New Products Abound at Winter Fancy Food

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