Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/687909
O C G S h o w D a i l y Tu e s d a y, Ju n e 7 , 2 0 1 6 2 0 2016 SPECIALTY FOOD INTRODUCTIONS By Lorrie Baumann Robert Rothschild Farm took January's Winter Fancy Food Show as its oppor- tunity to unveil a new direction that hearkens back to the company's her- itage as a raspberry farm. Over the years, of course, Robert Rothschild Farm has evolved into a specialty foods company that's famous for its dips and entertaining products, but the company 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 Pepper 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 fea- tures a hand-drawn illustration and embossed Robert Rothschild brand and shows more of the product than its predecessor. "It really screams 'premi- um,'" 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 company's product development strategy: instead of intro- ducing a multitude of new products each year and letting the marketplace decide which of those will succeed, the company 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 cus- tomers have come to enjoy, according to Husted. One thing that isn't chang- ing: 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 exhibitors from across the U.S. and 28 countries. The show drew close to 20,000 atten- dees, a 16 percent increase above 2015 numbers. Buyers represented top names in retailing, restaurants and foodservice including Whole Foods, Kroger, Starbucks, Trader Joe's, Williams-Sonoma, Alaska Airlines, and hundreds of local specialty and natural food markets, according to the Specialty Food Association, the show's owner and producer. Sutter Buttes displayed several new gifts sets, including a gift set of infused olive oils and balsamic vine- gars 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 includes a 250 ml bottle of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar and a 125 ml bottle of Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil, an Italian-style extra virgin olive oil grown and bottled in California, 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 compa- ny's biggest sellers, and the products are all gluten-free, hand-made in small batches, and all natural, with ingredi- ents 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 fair- ly remarkable to find a specialty food company that's lasted 25 years," said Stonewall Kitchen President 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 prod- uct line includes 25 of the company's classics along with its new products, including four organic products – two fruity and two savory jams – launched at the show. "We're now organic-certi- fied through the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association," 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 break- fast products with Farmhouse Oatmeal. This steel-cut oatmeal cooks in just two to three minutes in the microwave oven or three to five minutes on the stove top. For folks who want flavoring already added into their oatmeal, Stonewall Kitchen is offering Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal, 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 pro- portion 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 really 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 fash- ionable to eat it at any time during the day, so Stonewall Kitchen has a num- ber of new products 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. SWISS VALLEY FARMS CHEESES WIN ACCOLADES Swiss Valley Farms (SVF) celebrated an exciting series of wins at this year's National Milk Producers Federation Annual Cheese Competition with a total of nine awards for cheeses from both the par- ent company, Swiss Valley Farms, and the subsidiary company, Caves of Faribault. Caves of Faribault's AmaBlu received the prestigious Chairman's Plaque and was named Grand Champion Cheese in the 2015 National Milk Producers Federation Annual Cheese Competition. The contest, which is host- ed by the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), was held in Orlando, Florida, on October 27, 2015. According to Jamie Jonker, Ph.D., Vice President of Sustainability and Scientific Affairs at NMPF, who supervises the competition, a total of 157 cheeses from 40 plants were entered in the contest rep- resenting 14 co-ops from across the country. All cheeses entered were judged based on a 100 point scale in 20 different categories. "The team at Swiss Valley Farms is extremely proud of the announcement that our AmaBlu cheese was the Grand Champion Cheese," said Jay Allison, Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Swiss Valley Farms. "It all starts with the quality milk we receive every day from our members. Then our artisan cheesemakers, our production and sales teams are focused on making and selling the highest quality products, as well as working toward new accessibility to consumers through our sales alliance with Norseland Foods. Our Caves of Faribault products have always been at the top of the awards charts, but it is always great when our peers in the dairy industry agree by giving us such prestigious honors as the Grand Champion Cheese Award." In addition to its award for Best Overall Cheese, AmaBlu was also award- ed 2015 Class Champion for Best Italian Cheese. Caves of Faribault's AmaBlu and Verdant grass-fed blue cheese also received first-(98.5 points) and third-place (98.2 points) awards, respectively, in the Hard and Mold Ripened Italian category. Additional wins included a sweep of the entire Swiss category receiving first place for Swiss (99.5 points), second place for Maasdam (98.4 points), both from the Swiss Valley Farms Luana cheese plant, and third place for Grass- fed Baby Swiss (97.2 points) from the Swiss Valley Farms Shullsburg cheese plant. In the open class category the Luana plant also received first and sec- ond place for SVF Cream Cheese (98.9 points) and SVF Neufchatel (98.2 points), respectively. Don Boelens, Swiss Valley Farms Chief Executive Officer, shared the fol- lowing sentiment in regard to the recent wins, "It is always a big honor to have one of our cheeses declared the best in the competition. I would like to thank the Swiss Valley Farms members who sup- plied the quality milk that went into this cheese and, indeed, all of our fine cheeses. In combination with our team of dedicated cheesemakers, Swiss Valley Farms can't help but produce excellent cheeses like this."