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GourmET nEWS oCTobEr 2016 www.gourmetnews.com Naturally Healthy nATurAlly HEAlTHy 1 6 High-glycemic starches like tapioca and potato starch as well as fillers like xanthan gum are often added to other gluten-free products to hold them together in place of gluten, which creates the structure in con- ventional baked goods, said Zbinovec. The result is an end product that doesn't have the traditional texture associated with tra- ditional home-baked goods. "The typical products that use these in- g r e d i e n t s have a very fine crumb with a very smooth tex- ture caused by the starches and the gum," she said. A m o n g Friends, by contrast, has found ways to use whole grains and other clean ingredients to produce mixes that turn into baked goods whose tex- ture more closely re- sembles that of the cookies and muffins that grandma might have turned out. "We're using whole-grains oats, brown rice, sorghum. These whole ingredients rather than a processed starch give a more natu- ral-tasting texture – more like the kind of texture that homemade products that are not gluten free have," Zbinovec said. "We get a lot of consumers who write to us and tell us that they passed it off as their own. We love reading this because that's kind of our intent." The Among Friends baking mixes are all certified gluten free, non GMO, and each package is labeled on the front of the pack- age to let consumers know how much whole grain they're getting per serving. "It's really about nutrition," Zbinovec said. "Whole grains contain both probiotics and prebiotics. They're just better for the body." The baking mixes are designed to allow consumers either to bake them exactly ac- cording to the package directions or to cus- tomize them with add-ins that turn the end product into something that is customized to their taste. Among Friends helps with recipes and ideas on the company's web site. A box of Shane's Sweet n Spicy Molasses Gin- ger Cookie Mix, for instance, can turn into Bananas About Pie, a banana cream pie with a sassy gin- ger-molasses crust. Cora's Honey Corn- bread Mix might get a pop of heat with the addition of some jalapenos or show up for brunch with some blueberries stirred in. Blueberry Lemon Muffins might start with a box of Francie's Make it Your Own Cinnamon Sugar Muffin Mix. "There's a lot of different things you can do with the product. We just had a con- test and someone made a bundt cake with the muffin mix, and it was delicious," Zbi- novec said. "People do like to try new things. It de- pends on how ven- t u r e s o m e they are," she added. "A lot of times what we'll see is p e o p l e tweaking the recipe a little bit – adding nuts, maybe a glaze. It gives the consumer a chance to play with it a little bit and make it the flavors that their family likes, whatever it might be." Among Friends baking mixes are distrib- uted nationwide. They retail for $4.99 to $5.99. GN by lorriE bAumAnn The founders of Among Friends are un- abashedly advocates for whole grains, as is today's CEO Darcy Zbinovec, who joined the company in 2014. Among Friends, founded by Suzie Miller and Lizann Ander- son, makes a whole line of gluten-free bak- ing mixes based on whole grains. The company started several years ago as a local enterprise, but began expanding nationally in 2013 after the products had built a fan base. The baking mixes are based on whole grains, but also include low added sugar and no added fillers or high- glycemic starches for a clean-label appeal that draws consumers who are seeking to eat foods made only with ingredients their grandmoth- ers would have recognized. "We continue to see gluten free grow- ing, and as it grows, we see consumers looking for better quality – not just that it's gluten-free anymore, but that it's got some positive aspects," Zbinovec said. "Even people who aren't looking for gluten free are looking for clean labels, and we've got really clean labels." Whole Grains Are Among Friends in These Baking Mixes The partnership between Meijer and Great Lakes commercial fishing company, La Nassa Foods, began on a handshake nearly two decades ago and continues to thrive today based on a mutual commitment to provide Meijer customers with the highest quality lake fish. As a result, the Grand Rapids, Michigan- based retailer is able to offer customers at each of its 230 stores across the Midwest nearly 500,000 pounds of Lake Erie wall- eye, yellow perch and other lake species each year. "Meijer has a strong commitment to sup- porting local efforts, especially when it comes to sourcing quality food for our cus- tomers. This extends to the hardworking fishermen who fish the Great Lakes for us nearly every day," Meijer Seafood Buyer David Wier said. "We are pleased that our partnership with La Nassa Foods continues to thrive because they are local and their commitment to fresh, quality fish matches our own." Today, it's the longest-running partner- ship Meijer has with a local fishing com- pany, which harvests from Lake Erie daily and delivers the catch to the Meijer Distri- bution Facility in southeast Michigan four days a week. The partnership has also led La Nassa to grow from three fishing vessels and 35 em- ployees to 11 vessels and 105 employees over the past 18 years, said Tony Giacalone, President of La Nassa Foods. "In 1998, La Nassa was the smallest processor on Lake Erie. With the many years of Meijer's support in promoting lake fish, we have grown to become the largest processor on the lake," Giacalone said. "Meijer has always recognized the impor- tance of lake fish, and sells more walleye and perch than any other retailer around the Great Lakes states. From day one, our commitment to Meijer was to provide qual- ity fish with good service at competitive prices." A key to the partnership, Wier said, is La Nassa's alignment with the retailer's sus- tainable seafood policy that not only fo- cuses on providing customers with the highest quality seafood, but offering seafood products that are caught and farmed in the most responsible and sustain- able way. The walleye and yellow perch caught by La Nassa for Meijer are certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, an in- dependent nonprofit organization that sets sustainable fishing standards. "Just as we encourage recycling, less packaging and energy-saving practices in our stores to lessen our footprint, we recognize that there are steps that can be taken to ensure the seafood we provide our customers was harvested in an envi- ronmentally responsible manner," Wier said. "That's incredibly important to the future of our business, but also to the livelihoods of the fishermen we work with and the health of our lake ecosys- tems." GN Meijer Partners with Commercial Fishing Company for Local Lake Fish

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