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GENERAL NEWS 8 KITCHENWARE NEWS & HOUSEWARES REVIEW n JUNE 2016 n www.kitchenwarenews.com Author, Broadcaster and Food Critic Simon Majumdar to Appear at 2016 Fresno Food Expo Food Network personality Simon Majumdar will attend the Fresno Food Expo this July as a special guest to discover and highlight the innovative and diverse food and beverage products f rom central California's San Joaquin Valley, including Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare counties. Majumdar's passion for food has taken him to all 50 states and dozens of countries around the world. He has written three books including "Eat My Globe," "Eating for Britain," and his latest, "Fed, W hite and Blue," which catalogs his journey to American citizenship. He also is a well-recognized personality on the Food Network, regularly appearing on shows such as "Iron Chef America," "The Next Iron Chef," The Best Thing I Ever Ate," "Cutthroat Kitchen," "Extreme Chef " and "Beat Bobby Flay." Majumdar also appeared as an expert commentator on National Geographic's major series "EAT: The Story of Food." Although this is not his first visit to central California, it was the success of the Fresno Food Expo that piqued his interest in the region prior to his first visit in September of 2015. "My mantra is 'Go everywhere. Eat everything.' During my last book tour, it was the smaller towns and cities that provided the highlights and often the best things to eat," said Majumdar. " These towns and cities are often overlooked, sometimes unloved and rarely mentioned when articles are written about America's food revolution. I believe this region is a perfect example of that." To help set the stage for Majumdar's attendance, the Fresno Food Expo will host a new culinary portion as part of the public event on July 28, inviting restaurants f rom the central California San Joaquin Valley to help deliver a food tasting experience truly reflective of the region. Participating restaurants will be tasked with creating an appetizer that integrates at least two locally sourced products from food or beverage producers exhibiting at the Expo. The idea behind the new culinar y aspect is to connect food growers and manufacturers f rom the eight-county region with restaurateurs who can bring the foods of the region to life. To further shed light on participating restaurateurs, the Fresno Food Expo will host five awards as part of the evening celebration, three of which will be judged by Majumdar himself. Awards will recognize restaurateurs in categories such as Best Integration of Expo Products, Best Food & Drink Pairing, Most Creative, Valley's Voice and The Buzz. Restaurateurs f rom the eight-county central California region are invited to apply to participate in the Fresno Food Expo's public event, and can download the application and participation requirements at http://www.fresnofoodexpo.com/registrat ion/public-tickets. Applications are due no later than June 3, 2016. In addition, the Fresno Food Expo will be inviting adult beverage companies f rom its eight-county region to participate in the public event f ree of charge to complement the evening's food tasting event. In addition to Majumdar's participation in the public event, he also will be side-by-side with regional, national and international buyers, as well as local growers, producers and restaurateurs as they participate in a number of events surrounding the 2016 Fresno Food Expo July 27-28, including site tours, an official opening reception for pre-registered buyers and Expo sponsors that will feature live cooking stations and the business-to-business event that offers the opportunity for local, regional, national and international buyers to connect with the Presidents and CEOs behind some of the nation's largest food industry companies. During this business-to-business portion of the show, Majumdar will join buyers in exploring products in every category and learn one-on-one f rom budding food entrepreneurs who migrate to the region. Registration is currently open for buyers and exhibitors who are interested in attending the Expo, as well as restaurants that are interested in participating in the new culinary aspect of the Public Event. More than 150 exhibitors and 950 key pre-qualified international and domestic buyers are expected to participate. Noted buyers already registered for the 2016 Fresno Food Expo include Whole Foods, Vallarta Supermarkets, Save Mart Supermarkets, Food 4 Less, Tony's Fine Foods, JD Food, Saladino's Foodservice and more. Additional information is available at www.FresnoFoodExpo.com. KN Satisfying Snacks for the Nutrition Conscious Consumer BY LORRIE BAUMANN Natural foods manufacturers have been very busy this year thinking up ways to cater nutritious snacks for a generation that's making f requent snacks a regular part of their eating plan. This new generation of better-for-you snacks, launched at this year's Natural Products Expo West held March 9-13 in Anaheim, California, offers clean labels, nutrition density and bright, savory flavors. Wilde Bars, for instance, is a line of Paleo-friendly meat snacks that will appeal to carnivores looking for a protein boost. Each slow-baked lean meat bar with superf ruits, vegetables and ancient grains contains just 100 calories and delivers 10 grams of protein with low fat and low sodium. The bars are made with a proprietary baking process that allows the use of lean meats such as premium chicken and turkey – the bison and beef bars are made with sirloin – rather than the fatty cuts often used for other meat bars. The bars' shelf life is 12 months, and they retail for $2.49 to $2.79. Caveman offers similar Paleo-inspired meat snacks for protein-craving snackers. Three flavors of Chicken Primal Bites – Sun-dried Tomato and Kale, Toasted Sesame Ginger and Habanero Green Chile – deliver 30 grams of protein for a 2.5- ounce pouch that contains 2.5 servings. The bite-size snacks are made of pure chicken infused with other healthy ingredients to make a meat snack the company considers a little more accessible than jerky. Each pouch retails for $6.99, and the snacks have a 12-month shelf life. Caveman also launched a line of protein bars five months ago that's doing very well with consumers, according to Chief Marketing Officer Jim Taschetta. "It really is revolutionizing the protein bar market," he said. "You can use Paleo principles to make really delicious foods. You don't have to sacrifice." These are no-compromise protein bars with no preservatives and no added sugars. Unlike many of the protein bars on the market, the protein in these comes f rom chicken rather than whey or soy isolates. Chicken, which has a lower carbon footprint and requires less water than beef or bison, also has a milder flavor that doesn't compete with spices and other ingredients that provide variety. The Blueberry Pepper flavor, for instance, is made from chicken, blueberries and spices, and that's all, Taschetta said. A new flavor, Honey BBQ, launches in May. "It's one of the most popular flavors on the mainstream market, but we've come up with really clean ingredients," Taschetta said. Each bar retails for $2.89. For those who want protein without meat, GrandyOats offers a line of organic snacks f rom its solar-powered plant in Maine. Garlic Herb Cashews and Maple Roasted Cashews are the top-selling products in their line of roasted nuts, while High Antioxidant Trail Mix is the company's best-selling trail mix. The Maple Roasted Cashews are made with locally sourced maple syrup, and the High Antioxidant Trail Mix was voted the #1 Quick Fix food by Sierra and Mother Earth News magazines. The trail mix combines goji berries, mulberries, jumbo raisins, cranberries, almonds, walnuts and pumpkin seeds, and a 1/4-cup ser ving delivers 4 grams of protein in a 150-calorie snack. GrandyOats' move into its new solar- powered facility will allow the company to dedicate a portion of its plant as a gluten-f ree facility, and we can expect to see a whole gluten-f ree line f rom the company soon, including all of its bulk roasted nuts and trail mixes. HempsGood offers three flavors of a snack product called HempSeed Bhang: Thai Coconut Lemongrass, Southwest Barbecue and Sweet Cinnamon. These flavored hemp seed products are packaged in "stickpacks," pouches about the size of a candy bar f rom which the crunchy mix of unshelled and shelled hemp seeds is poured. HempSeed Bhang is gluten f ree, vegan and low in sugar, and each 20-gram stickpack delivers 7 grams of protein as well as Omega 3, 6 and 9 oils. HempSeed Bhang is a natural source of dietary fiber and has no artificial ingredients. popchips are a healthier alternative to f ried potato chips. The newest varieties, popchips RIDGES are crinkle-cut potato chips with 55 percent less calories and 72 percent less fat than ordinar y ruffled potato chips. The four newest flavors are Salted, Cheddar & Sour Cream, Tangy Barbeque and Chili Cheese. popchips RIDGES are packaged in two sizes: the 3-ounce bag retails for $2.99 and the .8- ounce single-serve size retails for $1.19. Natierra delivers crunch without compromise with seven flavors of Chia Crunch. These gluten-free and non-GMO disks are made f rom f reeze-dried chia seeds and superfoods for crunchy texture and intense flavor without added sugar. They're gluten f ree, organic and fair trade with 90 calories and 2 grams of protein in a single-serve pouch that retails for $4.99. KN "Martha University" Series Teaches Cleaning Skills Martha Stewart Living, Martha Stewart Digital, and Church & Dwight Co., Inc., the maker of ARM & HAMMER™ partnered to produce "Martha University," a content series to help consumers tackle their biggest spring cleaning challenges. The cross-platform series launched with a print toolkit in the April issue of Martha Stewart Living and new articles, galleries, and checklists on MarthaStewart.com, offering fans advice on how to clean and declutter their homes. In addition, an exciting original video series captured a special Martha Stewart home cleaning rescue. The "Martha University" program follows the conclusion of "Rescue Me, Martha!," a social media contest that invited consumers to share their messiest household challenges and offenders with Martha Stewart and a panel of home experts in hopes of winning a cleaning makeover from Martha Stewart. The series aims to create excitement around all the basics of housekeeping, and teaches fans unexpected uses of ARM & HAMMER Baking Soda to help streamline their cleaning routines. The nationwide contest selected Evan Nisenson and his family, of Summit, New Jersey, as the grand prize winners. The family was officially "rescued" by Martha Stewart, ARM & HAMMER Baking Soda, and a professional cleaning team, who came to the family's home for a makeover. The video series capturing Martha's rescue at the Nisenson home is posted in the "Martha University" hub on MarthaStewart.com. KN

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