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GOURMET NEWS www.gourmetnews.com n JUNE 2016 n GOURMET NEWS 1 6 8 families and younger people with a wide range of versatile products they can choose from for every occasion and all types of recipes," says Costantino Vaia, President of Pomì USA and Managing Director of the Consorzio Casalasco del Pomodoro, its parent company. "We also want to confirm the company's dedication and attention for the U.S. market and celebrate our high- quality Italian tomato products." Pomì is the premium Italian tomato brand owned by the Consorzio Casalasco del Pomodoro, the largest Italian tomato cooperative, and well-known for being a leader in sustainability and transparency. "Being a cooperative, we value our farm- ers and pride ourselves with the excellence of our production," Vaia says. Pomì toma- toes are grown exclusively in Italian soil by the members of the Consorzio. The crops extend over 17,300 acres of land lying between Parma, Piacenza, Cremona and Mantua, in northern Italy, and involve 370 member farms that produce more than 550,000 tons of processed fresh tomatoes. Pomì is the first Italian food company to obtain the Social Footprint – Product So- cial Identity Certification, which studies the social impact of its products, the selec- tion and traceability of the fresh products and all ingredients, the management of the supply-chain and the continuous enhance- ment of labor policies, i.e. working condi- tions, continuous education and gender equality of the working force. Pomì was awarded an outstanding AAA, the highest rate possible. "Pomì is very proud of our attention to the best agricultural practices, to sustainability and to corporate social re- sponsibility," Vaia says. "Transparency is also a priority to us. Pomì Trace allows consumers to trace Pomì's production process back to the farm that grew the tomatoes in the box by simply visiting www.pomì.us.com and entering the lot number and hour of production found on the pack." Pomì products are 100 percent Italian, BPA-free, kosher and non-GMO. They contain no preservatives, no artificial fla- vors and no citric acid. No water is added during processing. "We kept it simple so that everyone can enjoy the extraordinary taste of our products. Versatility is key and Pomì goes well in the most traditional Italian recipes, but is perfectly suited for every recipe that requires the fresh taste of tomatoes," Vaia says. "That's why we say that, our 'Tomato Revolution from Italy' started more than 30 years ago, when Pomì was the first 100 percent Ital- ian tomatoes to be available in carton packages." For more information, visit Pomì USA in the Italian Pavilion at the Summer Fancy Food Show. Find the company in booths #3033-3035. After the show, call 732.541.4115 or 347.652.4477 or visit www.pomì.us.com. Pomi USA (Cont'd. from p. 1) Plant-based products are a new departure for Against The Grain. Its best-selling gluten-free bread and pizza products have always relied on animal protein, but when faced with the oppor- tunity to develop a new line of products, it asked, why not create a plant-based product that was both gluten-free and grain-free? The new 100 percent plant-based Ginger Cookies and Chocolate Chip Cookies are just that. They are rich and buttery-tasting, soft and chewy, and made with real ingredients and no gums, binders, emulsifiers or preservatives. What it of- fers is a very satisfying, responsible indulgence that is easier on the planet. About Against The Grain Gourmet Against The Grain Gourmet is a celiac fam- ily-owned wholesale manufacturer of frozen gluten-free bread, pizza and cookie products located in Brattleboro, Vermont. It is also the only national gluten-free and grain-free bak- ery. The company's products are made with a minimal number of ingredients with no preservatives or additives in its dedicated gluten-free and nut-free facility. It prides it- self on paying its production staff the highest wages and the best benefits package in the industry. For more information, visit www.againstthe graingourmet.com or stop by booth #5042. Against The Grain (Cont'd. from p. 1) Pumpkin, Pumpkin with Sesame and the best-selling Strawberry. "You actually get the whole piece of strawberry there," said Fast Pak President Kiro Ivanovski, son of company Founder Ivanco Ivanovski. "With Amelie's and our Va-Va products, we take great care to reproduce the methodology of home cooking on a larger scale. It still does have that taste of Grandma's kitchen." The Amelie's product line also includes cloudy juices such as the top-selling Amelie's Cold Pressed Unfiltered Apple Juice. Among Fast Pak's other product in- troductions for this year are Little Blue Pot Jams and Preserves, Chef K roasted veg- etable spreads, Frosina Baklava and other sweets. The company has also added items to its Vitalia and Vicinni lines, and again this year has added new items to its Va-Va line. Altogether, the Fast Pak products con- stitute a broad range with global variety that appeals to consumers who appreciate premium food products with authentic Old World flavors. Ivanco Ivanovski founded Fast Pak Trad- ing, Inc. in 1991 to bring products from his homeland of Macedonia to the American market. He started with candies, selling them to ethnic foods markets in the north- eastern U.S. and the business took off from there as consumers welcomed a broad range of products from the Balkan region into their American homes. Today, Fast Pak operates a 50,000 square foot warehouse dedicated to specialty foods that the company imports primarily from Macedonia, New Zealand, Serbia and Croa- tia, many of them under the company's Va- Va brand, with top sellers that include a full line of delicious spreads, such as Ajvar, a Balkan specialty made from roasted red pepper, as well as other wonderful veg- etable spreads. The Fast Pak catalog also in- cludes many sweets, jams, preserves, muesli, honey, cheeses and meats. "Most notably, we ensure that our products are of the highest quality, without artificial addi- tives, and as close to nature as any pack- aged food can be," said Kiro Ivanovski. "Through our products stem from the Mediterranean region, we aim to share these wonderful foods with all Americans." Fast Pak Trading is taking a summer off from the Fancy Food Show this year, but for further information, call 201.293.4757 or visit www.fastpakstore.com. Fast Pak Trading (Cont'd. from p. 1) decorations and specially formulated melt- ing candy and dipping chocolates. With great packaging, ChocoMaker is a fresh al- ternative for baking and party sections and each product is developed to make everyday entertaining effortless yet exciting. Using consumer focus groups along with its Buffalo based innovation lab allows the busy ChocoMaker product team, made up of pastry chefs and product engineers, to ex- plore the many ways in which people can work and celebrate with chocolate. Meanwhile, a trained sensory evaluation team ensures that every product tastes great and meets high quality standards. Many of the top selling ChocoMaker items are pro- duced in the Buffalo based 100,000 square foot manufacturing facility, which makes everything from specialty chocolate wafers to chocolate dessert cups using Belgian 64 percent cocoa content couverture. This year, the company is launching ChocoMaker Natural. The products are pro- duced using only natural chocolate ingredi- ents. Beginning with the finest cocoas, ChocoMaker Natural is formulated with real vanilla and pure cane sugars. The baking line features easy-to-use ChocoBlock™, one-pound bars sourced from the birthplace of cacao, a fertile growing region in South America that produces among the finest cocoa beans in the world. ChocoBlock along with great gourmet chocolate decorations and ready-to-use chocolate cups are de- signed to help dessert makers become arti- sans. Through consumer research, the Choco- Maker team discovered that there is a mod- ern customer who demands the ability to work with chocolate at home but who wants to step-up from common candy blocks and melts. This consumer is willing to pay for a clean label and she responds to modern packaging that makes her own pantry feel like an artisan gourmet market. "ChocoMaker products offer our con- sumers a unique opportunity to work with chocolate and coatings in their own kitchens. Now we help them celebrate with great tasting and performing natural prod- ucts," says Brian Donaghy, Chocolate Pro- gram and Innovation Manager. Donaghy, a 10-year veteran with the company, has also worked with sister companies Make'n Mold ® and Tomric Systems. ChocoMaker products are on display at the Fancy Food Show and available in grocery stores, party and craft stores and select na- tional and international retailers. Visit www.chocomaker.com for additional infor- mation. ChocoMaker (Cont'd. from p. 1) From the beginning, one of the main prod- ucts it imported and distributed was Caspian sturgeon caviar. In 1998, the com- pany realized that Caspian sturgeon was on the verge of extinction and it started the process of creation of a sturgeon aqua farm in the United States habituated with stur- geon species native to the Caspian Sea. Sturgeon Aquafarms was founded in 2001 with the intent to protect and preserve en- dangered sturgeon species. After successful importing of Beluga, Sevruga and Osetra brood stock on 13 trans-Atlantic flights back and forth from Europe to the United States, and seven years of permit applica- tions, it finally reached its current home near the borders of Alabama and Georgia in Bascom, Florida. The facility, which was built in 2009 using modern sustainable lim- ited footprint designs, sits on 120 acres in Northwest Florida atop the Floridian Aquifer, which provides a consistent 19 de- gree Celsius water temperature, long peri- ods of sunlight, drinking grade water free of pollutants and disease, and an area free of natural predators. Over the past five years, the company has focused on its hatchery development and sexing tech- niques, having used the most advanced ul- trasound possible. From 2011 to 2013, it spawned Beluga sturgeon five times, pro- ducing a record 20,000 Beluga to date over three generations. It then followed with two further generations of Sevruga, adding Sterlet and Osetra. The operation has been so successful that it has grown over 80,000 sturgeon with an average mortality of one to five percent, which has pushed the com- pany to advance sustainable aquaculture and sturgeon rearing technology. As the only company in possession of these criti- cally endangered species in the United States, it has a unique position to not only contribute to the conservation of these species, but to educate the public in the trade of caviar and sturgeon meat, a new product for the U.S. market. As of 2016, its original Brood stock has reached a size of 150kg and continues to provide valuable offspring for the expansion of its facility as the largest of its kind in the world. Marky's Caviar in Miami, Florida will be the exclusive distributor for sturgeon meat and caviar produced by Sturgeon Aqua- farms Company. Visit the company at the Beluga Caviar bar and enjoy one of its caviar dishes at Caviar and More at the Aventura Mall in Aventura, Florida. Marky's caviar will continue to offer sus- tainable and high quality caviar and Stur- geon meat throughout the United States. For more information, visit booths #936 to #1045. Learn more at www.sturgeon aquafarms.com and www.markys.com or call 305.758.9288. Marky's Caviar (Cont'd. from p. 1)