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NATURALLY HEALTHY www.gourmetnews.com n SEPTEMBER 2016 n GOURMET NEWS N H B Heritage Health Food: Natural Food's Best Kept Secret For over seven years, the perfect storm has been cooking in East Tennessee. Heritage Health Food, an upstart health food company founded by Don Otis, his wife Kim and three sons is reinventing healthy. Don's back- ground as a retired executive of Kellogg's Natural Food Division and Kim's over 35 years as a vegetarian cook have poised this family-owned and operated business for ex- citing nationwide expansion in the first quar- ter of 2017. Heritage Health Food is a delicious brand that includes 10 brand new, all natural, vegan meat alternatives, including its Frozen Sizzle Burger, Vegebob, Garden Grain Burger and Corn Nuggets, plus six canned veggie meats: Vegeburger, Vege-Steak, Vege-Scallops, Dinner Cutlets, Chik'n Bites and Mini Links. Past favorites include a frozen Jumbo Hot Dog, Veggie Hot Dog, Jumbo Corn Dog, Corn Dog, Breakfast Sausage, Sausage Crumblers, Chick'n Tender and VegeFish Fillet. The industry-changing shelf-stable, just-add-water line direct from Kim's kitchen called Kim's Simple Meals is changing the way people think of quick, healthy food. This line is on shelves nationwide with sim- ple, clean and healthy attributes (USDA Or- ganic, non-GMO, gluten-free, vegan, kosher, peanut/nut-free) that are perfect for just about any consumer. Kim's Simple Meals are great prepared straight out of the box, but if you are craving something a little extra and want to spice up your meal, just add your fa- vorite wholesome ingredients – and create your own gourmet adventure. The brand is growing. In the spring of 2016, Heritage acquired the Worthington brand of frozen vegetarian foods from the Kellogg Company and Cedar Lake Foods, a vegetarian foods manufacturing plant. With these additions, Her- itage is poised to make a huge contribution to the national vegan and vegetarian plant- based meat alternative market. For more information, stop by booth #2905, go to www.heritagehealthfood.com or call 888.237.0807. Franklin Baker: Over 100 Years of Quality Franklin Baker, Inc. is the premier supplier of coconut ingredients to the global food market for over 120 years. In fact, some of its customer have been with the company for over 60 years. All of its product is 100 per- cent sourced in the Philippines, where it is transported to one of the three manufacturing facilities within two days of harvest to ensure the freshest quality product. Franklin Baker prides itself on providing customers with a value-added and cost-effec- tive supply of coconut ingredients for a wide range of food applications, including bakery, confections, dairy, savory, cereals, coatings and beverages, among others. Franklin Baker has received the Award of Excellence, 2016 American Master of Taste & Gold Medal Endorsement for Superior Taste by Chefs In America for its coconut products. In addition, Franklin Baker recently re- ceived its RSB (Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials) certificate. Franklin Baker is the first food ingredient food producer globally to earn this certi- fication. RSB is recog- nized by NGOs as the "most comprehensive and ambitious" biomaterials sustainability certification program in the world. Franklin Baker's extensive coconut port- folio of offerings include: desiccated co- conut, including sweetened and toasted; coconut chips; coconut water – single strength; coconut water concentrate; coconut milk; coconut concentrate; coconut cream; creamed coconut; organic virgin coconut oil; coconut flour; organic coconut sugar; and other coconut products. Franklin Baker is proud to be RSB (Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials), Fair Trade USA, BRC, USDA Organic, ISO 9001:2000, ISO 22000:2005, HACCP, FDA Philippines, GMA-SAFE, AB PAO Accred- ited Testing Laboratory, SEDEX, Kosher and Halal certified. Franklin Baker offers a variety of packag- ing options, including ingredient, bulk, food- service and retail. Email info-us@franklinbaker.com or call 901.881.6681 to learn how Franklin Baker can assist you with all of your coconut needs. Learn more at booth #436 or www .franklinbaker.com. What's in Your Yoga Mat? By Dean Jerrehian, President, JadeYoga Thirty-six million Americans practice yoga and another 80 million would like to try yoga in the next year. As yogis are more likely to eat and live sustainably, these are the natural product retailers' prototypical customer, and they may be looking for a new yoga mat. There are many different types of mats out there. To help answer the question of what kind of mat is best for your customers, the purposes of yoga mats and various types of mats are discussed in this article. Although yoga has been practiced for 5,000 years, yoga mats have really been a re- cent innovation. As the story goes, B.K.S. Iyengar (one of the most well known and loved modern yoga teachers) was in the United States doing a demonstration on an oriental rug, but he was slipping. A student took away the rug, leaving the rug pad and the first yoga mat. Now mats are the norm and they serve three key purposes: grip to help hold poses, cushion and a clean place to practice. The most common yoga mats are made with PVC (poly vinyl chloride). These in- clude both the least expensive (under $20) and most expensive (over $100) mats on the market. PVC mats do not provide much grip, and comfort depends on density (cheap, lighter mats have little cushion). However, the real problem with PVC is toxicity. PVC is considered one of the most toxic plastics because of the presence of vinyl chloride (a known carcinogen), phthalates (which are banned in many consumer products in Eu- rope) and lead, and when burned, PVC will create dioxin (another carcinogen). You may also see mats labeled as "PER," which is a generic term for PVC without phthalates. A second type of mat that is gaining in popu- larity is TPE (thermo- plastic elastomer). TPE mats are usually petroleum based plastic described as recyclable and biodegradable. For grip and cushion, they are similar to PVC. Comfort and durability vary by den- sity. As "TPE" is a generic description that does not really say what is in the mat, a buyer may want to ask for an ingredient list to ensure there are no harmful chemi- cals in the TPE. Finally, there are natural rubber mats, such as the Jade Harmony mat. Natural rubber is tapped sustainably from rubber trees. Natural rubber has better natural grip and cushion than PVC and TPE. In fact, the only down- sides of natural rubber are that they should be avoided for people with latex aller- gies, and just like many natu- ral products, rubber mats will have to be replaced more fre- quently than plastic (although probably not as often as a serious runner re- places his or her running shoes). Thus, if you are considering offering yoga mats to your customers, this is definitely an area where the natural product retailer has an advantage, as the natural rubber is everything you want in a yoga mat – great grip and com- fort, and eco-friendly and non-toxic. For more information, visit www.jade yoga.com, call 610.828.4830, email info@jadeyoga.com or stop by booth #4322. A Blue Dressed in Black from Käserei Champignon In a year in which Americans are demon- strating an intense interest in blue cheeses, it's especially interesting to find one that stands out from the rest. That's a good de- scription of Grand Noir, a Käserei Champignon cheese from southern Ger- many that took the Best of Class award in the blue-veined cheese category at the World Champion Cheese Contest earlier this year. Grand Noir and other Käserei Champignon cheeses are imported into the United States exclusively by Champignon North America, Inc. This year, Champignon North America is also offering its St. Mang Bavarian Made soft-ripened cheeses and unveiling a pack- age redesign for St. Mang Bavarian Made Limburger Cheese. The St. Mang Bavarian Made line includes St. Mang Bavarian Made Soft-ripened Cheese with Garden Herbs, a variety with Mild Green Pepper- corns and another with Garlic & Chives. "Our products are unique in type and fla- vor; our innovative cheese makers continue to refine recipes to craft new and original cheeses; and our sales team is committed to continuing retail support to drive con- sumer interest," said Flynne Wiley, Champignon North America's Director of Administration & Marketing. Wiley accepted the award for Grand Noir at the World Championship Cheese gala held April 14 in Madison, Wisconsin. "We are very proud of the quality of cheeses from Käserei Champignon, and we accept this honor on behalf of the master cheese makers who have crafted Grand Noir to perfection," she said at that time. Grand Noir is made from cow milk from regional farms in southern Germany. Each wheel is hand-dipped in black wax and then cold-ripened. The cheese that re- sults is distinctive in its flavor, texture and appearance as the only blue-veined cheese on the market today that's aged in black wax. "We pride ourselves in the high quality of our cheeses, our continued inno- vation in cheesemaking, and our support of our local com- munity," Wiley notes today. Käserei Champignon brings specialty cheeses to people around the world, yet is still a family-owned company based in the Allgäu region of Bavaria, Germany. "We have been making specialty cheeses in Bavaria for over 100 years and we continue to use only pure cow's milk sourced from our local dairy farms." For more information, visit www.champignon-usa.com.

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