Oser Communications Group

GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2016 www.gourmetnews.com Naturally Healthy NATURALLY HEALTHY 1 4 Millennials Choose Organic America's 75 million Millennials are de- vouring organic, and they're making sure their families are too. Parents in the 18- to 34-year-old age range are now the biggest group of organic buyers in America, finds a new survey on the organic buying habits of American households released today by the Organic Trade Association (OTA). Among U.S. parents, more than five in 10 (52 percent) organic buyers are Millennials. And this influential and progressive gener- ation is stocking their shopping carts with organic on a regular basis. "The Millennial consumer and head of household is changing the landscape of our food industry," said Laura Batcha, CEO and Executive Director of the Or- ganic Trade Association. "Our survey shows that Millennial parents seek out or- ganic because they are more aware of the benefits of organic, that they place a greater value on knowing how their food was grown and produced, and that they are deeply committed to supporting a food system that sustains and nurtures the environment." OTA has partnered with KIWI Magazine to conduct surveys of the organic buying patterns of households since 2009. This year's survey marks the first time that gen- erational buying habits have been studied. The survey looked at Millennials (born be- tween 1981-1997, currently age 18-34 years), Generation-X (born between 1965- 1980, currently 35-50 years old), and Baby Boomers (born between 1946-1964 and currently 51-69 years old). Compared to Millennials who account for 52 percent of organic buyers, Genera- tion X parents made up 35 percent of par- ents choosing organic, and Baby Boomers just 14 percent. OTA's "U.S. Families' Organic Attitudes and Beliefs 2016 Tracking Study," a survey of more than 1,800 households throughout the country with at least one child under 18, found that more than eight in ten (82 percent) U.S. families say they buy organic sometimes, one of the highest levels in the survey's seven-year lifetime. The number of families never buying organic has steadily decreased, going from almost 30 percent in 2009 to just 18 percent today. Organic and Living Green While 35 percent of all families surveyed said that choosing organic products is a key part of their effort to live in an environmen- tally friendly way, a greater percentage of Millennials said buying organic is a key eco-conscious habit than any other gener- ational group. For 40 percent of Millenni- als, choosing organic is an integral part of living green, versus 32 percent of Genera- tion Xers and 28 percent of Baby Boomers. Organic buying continues to be on the rise across the generations. Forty-nine per- cent of all households surveyed said they are buying more organic foods today than a year ago. Knowledge about organic is also growing across the generational spectrum of par- ents, but Millennials in particular are likely to view themselves as very knowledgable about organic products, with nearly eight in 10 (77 percent) reporting that they are "well informed" (34 percent) or "know quite a bit" (44 percent). With that knowl- edge comes a great deal of trust for the or- ganic label. Parents' trust in organic labeling is the strongest and highest among Millennials, with 54 percent saying they have confidence in the integrity of the or- ganic label. Almost 60 percent of Millennial parents say they have a "strong connection" with the label and feel the organic label is an important part of how they shop for food. "The Millennial shopper puts a high pre- mium on the healthiness and quality of the food they choose for their families," said Batcha. "This generation has grown up eat- ing organic, and seeing that organic label. It's not surprising that they have a greater knowledge of what it means to be organic, and consequently a greater trust of the or- ganic label." Organic sales in the U.S. in 2015 posted new records, with total organic product sales hitting a new benchmark of $43.3 billion, up a robust 11 percent from the previous year's record level and far outstripping the overall food market's growth rate of 3 percent, according to OTA's "2016 Organic Industry Survey." Of the $43.3 billion in total organic sales, $39.7 billion were organic food sales, up 11 percent from the previous year, with non-food organic products accounting for $3.6 billion, up 13 percent. Nearly 5 percent of all the food sold in the U.S. in 2015 was organic. GN Maple Hill Creamery Debuts New Grass-fed Dairy Products A stampede of new flavors is coming out of Maple Hill Creamery's award-winning 100 percent grass-fed organic dairy milk shed. The new products unveiled at Natural Products Expo East included Maple Whole Milk Kefir, Strawberry Banana and Apple Cinnamon Cream on Top Yogurt and Cof- fee, Strawberry and Mango Peach Whole Milk Drinkable Yogurt as well as the new Fiore Di Latte Whole Milk Fresh Moz- zarella crafted by the artisans at Antonio Mozzarella with Maple Hill Creamery's 100 percent grass-fed milk. This whole milk fresh mozzarella tastes more complex than most brands, solely due to the unique fla- vor characteristics of the grass-fed milk. "Our product development process is a lit- tle different than most companies, because we use only the highest-quality organic fruit and real flavor extracts, and don't add any coloring, artificial flavors, gums, or thickeners. We rely on real ingredients to flavor our products, not 'natural' flavors, which we think taste quite artificial, and mask the unique flavor of our 100 percent whole grass-fed milk," said Pete Meck, Maple Hill Creamery's Founding Partner and Vice President of Operations and Prod- uct Innovation. "Using real food ingredi- ents to subtly flavor our yogurt and kefir products also means that we have more added fruit than most brands do. And, like always, our amount of added cane sure is about half of that for identical flavors of other organic brands." The Maple Whole Milk Kefir is packed with belly friendly probiotics, is super creamy, mildly tart and re- freshing. This variety is sweet- ened and flavored using only organic maple syrup and a touch of organic vanilla ex- tract. Maple Hill Creamery also offers Whole Milk Kefir in Plain, Vanilla and Straw- berry varieties. Maple Hill Creamery is ex- pecting its new Strawberry Ba- nana and Apple Cinnamon Cream on Top Yogurt to inspire consumers who haven't yet tried this artisanal-style yo- gurt, also available in Plain, Vanilla, Maple, Orange Crème, Wild Blueberry and Lemon, to give the line a try. The Coffee, Straw- berry and Mango Peach Whole Milk Drink- able Yogurt offers a 12-ounce meal in a bottle and joins a line that also offers Plain, Vanilla, Maple, Orange Crème, Wild Blueberry and Lemon varieties. All the new flavors are available nationally beginning in Novem- ber, 2016. The Maple Hill Creamery Milkshed now num- bers over 85 small farms, and is looking to transition at least several dozen more farms to certified 100 percent grass-fed in 2016. Maple Hill Creamery products are available nationwide in more than 6,000 retailers, in- cluding many specialty and independent retailers. GN Nearly 40 years ago, Betty Lou read a book that motivated her to remove refined sugar from her and her young boys' diets. She started by creating her signature nut-butter balls made with honey, nuts and nut butter, and 38 years later, she has over 30 Betty Lou's brand products while still selling her ever- popular nut-butter balls, now worldwide. Catering to those with food allergies and dietary restrictions, Betty Lou's specializes in gluten-free products loaded with nutrition that also taste great. Betty Lou's strives to source only the best, natural, functional and healthy ingredients for its products. Betty Lou's also offers non-GMO, organic, vegan, kosher and paleo-friendly products. The goal is to get great products in everyone's hands, and the perfect on-the-go snacks, created at Betty Lou's, do just that by making it easy to get many small meals a day. Included in the Betty Lou's brand prod- ucts is the favorite Just Great Stuff 95 per- cent organic line of bars – Cacao Acai, Fruit & Veggie, Superberry Acai and the Choco- late Dream Greens bars. These snack bars have from 7.5 to 11 servings of fruit and veggies per bar. Betty Lou's continues to grow. Lately, she has added: two new paleo-friendly balls – all-vegetarian, dried fruit, nut and seed packed Paleo Java (with cacao nibs and 15mg caffeine) and Paleo Berry Blast (with five different kinds of berries); two limited edition balls – seasonally available Nuts about Pumpkin Spice (vegan and loaded with pumpkin and spice) and Nuts about Pecan Pie (naturally sweetened version with protein to keep you going); one vegan ball – Nuts about Chocolate Hazelnut; the return of the Smacker, now organic -- this decadent treat is the classic peanut butter Smacker covered with organic milk choco- late and the Caramel Peanut Smacker – this new flavor has eight grams of protein and is layered with caramel and peanut nougat, covered in organic milk chocolate. For more information, visit www .bettylousinc.com. GN Betty Lou's Caters to Consumers with Dietary Restrictions

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