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antibiotics, Daguin says. "Over the past 30 years, I've found a tremendous drive for ed- ucation and for wanting to know what you eat and being concerned about how the an- imals were raised," she said. "And the proof is our success. We are now in major retail stores, even in big supermarkets. It means something. It means that consumers are aware and don't mind paying a little bit more to have the security to know they are giving the right thing to their family." D'Artagnan has been a pioneer in requir- ing its suppliers to raise their animals hu- manely, and the company is now working to educate consumers to understand what's on the labels they see on the meat in their grocery market and on their restaurant menus. She's particularly concerned about widespread misunderstanding of what the word "natural" means when it appears on a food label. "'Natural' on a meat label means absolutely nothing – literally," she said. For instance, consumers should look past the word "natural" on chicken labels to see if there's a statement there about a percent- age of retained water, which would indicate that the product was chilled with ice water, which increases the weight of the bird they're buying because some of that chilling water is retained in the animal's tissue. A better choice would be a chicken, such as D'Artagnan's Green Circle brand, that was air-chilled rather than water-chilled – it costs more per pound, but it's a better prod- uct, says Daguin. D'Artagnan is also campaigning for better understanding of how antibiotics are used in the beef industry. Ranchers are allowed to give their animals nontherapeutic antibi- otics to make them grow faster as long as they withdraw them a month before slaugh- ter. "There is a huge difference between doing that and what we at D'Artagnan call antibiotic-free, which is a never-ever-ever program, which means that the animal has never had antibiotics," she said. "We got the attention of the USDA, and they are ad- dressing it right now. We are going in the right direction. It just takes a long time." Over the past year or so, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture was considering how to update the nation's dietary guide- lines, animal rights activists and nutrition experts alike have been suggesting that per- haps, as a nation, we ought to rethink how much meat we include in our diets, using the argument that Americans' meat con- sumption is not environmentally sustain- able. Daguin counters by arguing that it's factory-farming, not simply our carnivorous tastes, that's hard on the environment. "Fac- tory farming pollutes, and pollutes big time," she said. She's an advocate of raising beef on pasture with naturally diverse veg- etation and providing supplementary nutri- tion in the form of rich hay and silage during the winter rather than finishing beef in feed lots. "There's a sustainable way of having good meat without polluting," she said. Meat is more expensive to raise that way, and many are questioning how Americans will respond as those costs have an effect on what goes onto their plates. Restaurateurs and Slow Food advocates Dan Barber and Alice Waters have been suggesting recently that the time may have come to take meat off the center of the plate and to reduce restaurant portion size to match the amount of meat normally served for a meal in other cuisines around the world. In many other cultures around the world, meat is used more for flavoring than as the main compo- nent of a meal, Barber observed. That won't necessarily decrease the cost of the meal, since the preparation of ingredients to take the place of that meat tends to be more labor intensive, but the result would be a healthier meal, he said. Daguin agrees. "In general, our U.S. por- tions are too big," she said. "That's not just about meat – it's everything. Portions are too big.... We associate bigger with better. That is changing, but it is changing very slowly.... We want a full plate, and we've been raised to finish the plate, so we eat too much." She has a piece of advice for American restaurant diners: "Just realize that you have two portions instead of one, and just take half of it home in a doggie bag," she said. "It's going to be a tough uphill battle be- cause it's so engrained in our culture in the United States that bigger is better." GN GOURMET NEWS APRIL 2016 www.gourmetnews.com NEWS & NOTES 9 Eating Meat Continued from PAGE 1 KeHE announced that it has acquired Monterrey Provision Company – a San Diego, California-based, distributor of products for the perimeter departments at retail grocery stores. Monterrey is a 40-year-old family-owned company and a trusted partner to leading retailers across the country. "We view the perimeter as an essential element of our growth strategy. The ac- quisition of Monterrey expands our perimeter capabilities, and further en- ables our growth plans. This is similar to the advantages we gained in the organic business with the acquisition of Nature's Best in August 2014," said Brandon Barnholt, KeHE President and CEO. Mike Leone, Chief Commercial Officer at KeHE, said, "With the addition of Monterrey, we are better positioned to capitalize on opportunities in the perimeter and partner with customers across their total store." The combination of KeHE and Mon- terrey joins two successful organizations with complementary assets and skills. The acquisition helps advance KeHE's strategic plan and aligns with KeHE's vi- sion to be the trusted distributor for nat- ural, organic and specialty products. "Joining the KeHE family leapfrogs Monterrey by years in our ability to ex- tend our excellence in fresh perimeter KeHE Acquires Monterrey Provision Company distribution to the entire country. Fur- ther, KeHE and Monterrey couldn't be better cultural fits for each other," said Luke Abbott, Monterrey President. The acquisition will add two distribution centers in San Diego, California, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to KeHE's existing network of 16 distribution cen- ters in the U.S. and Canada. Currently, KeHE does not have facilities in those cities. GN Genetic ID NA, Inc., in conjunction with CERT ID, announce the addition of gluten-free verification services to their portfolio of food safety and food quality testing and certification services. Gluten-free is one of the fastest-growing categories in the food and beverage mar- ket. The gluten-free verification services are based on the Food and Drug Admin- istration's (FDA) final ruling on the use of a gluten-free claim and are intended for products sold in North America. Services are risk-based and supported by a validated sampling and testing regi- men. "We continue to identify value- added opportunities for our customers, and this program was specifically de- signed to provide the flexibility that the market demands," said Dr. Heather Se- crist, CEO of Genetic ID. "Companies can choose an individual service, such as testing, or adopt a comprehensive gluten-free certification and testing pro- gram where the CERT ID Gluten-free Trustmark can be applied to a product." "Our Gluten-free Product Certifica- tion Program is designed as an adden- dum to recognized system certifications such as organic, Non-GMO Project, and Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), said Rhonda Wellik, CEO of CERT ID. "This effectively allows companies to re- alize efficiencies and cost-savings when seeking product certification." The gluten-free verification services Genetic ID and CERT ID Offer Gluten Free Verification Program provide a third-party approach regarding label claims, and communicate a com- pany's commitment to producing safe, gluten-free products for consumers. The new services included in the Gluten-free Certification Program incorporate the rigor and reliability that Genetic ID and CERT ID's customers have come to rely on. For more information about Genetic ID and CERT ID, visit www.genetic-id.com and www.cert-id.com. GN Super King Markets was the recipient of Unified Grocers' 2016 "Ben Schwartz Retail Grocery Visionary Award" at a special awards dinner in Los Angeles in February. The award is named after Ben Schwartz, the 96-year old former Unified Chairman of the Board. Schwartz was in attendance at the awards dinner. "This is the eleventh year that Unified has given the award to an outstanding in- dependent retailer. On behalf of the entire Unified team, I'd like to congratulate and thank Super King and the Fermanian fam- ily for being part of our family," said Bob Ling, President and Chief Executive Offi- cer, Unified Grocers, in presenting the award. "The Ben Schwartz Retail Grocery Vi- sionary Award is given annually to the company in our membership that best em- bodies the spirit of Ben. There are lots of great stories of success in our membership, but I can think of no better recipient for this award. Super King has built a reputa- tion as a forward thinking, creative and vi- sionary company and I'm excited to see them grow and thrive as a Unified member in the years ahead." The Fermanian family opened the first Super King store in Anaheim in 1993. The company has grown and evolved, building a strong market share in and around Los Angeles. Today, Super King oper- ates in six mar- kets, with locations in Ana- heim, Altadena, Claremont, Van Nuys, Northridge and Los Angeles. "Ben Schwartz is a legend in our busi- ness and it's an honor to receive this pres- tigious award. My thanks to Unified," said Super King Co-founder Vache Fermanian in accepting the award while being sur- rounded by the rest of the Fermanian fam- ily on stage. Super King Markets Wins Unified Grocers Award In addition to the award that was pre- sented to Super King Markets, a duplicate is on permanent display in the lobby of Unified's headquarters building in Com- merce, California. A plaque recognizing Super King Markets has been added to the permanent award. Founded in 1922, Unified Grocers is a re- tailer-owned wholesale grocery distributor that supplies independent retailers throughout the western United States. Uni- fied, which generated approximately $4.1 billion in sales during fiscal 2015, offers in- dependent retailers all the resources they need to compete in the supermarket indus- try. GN

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