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GOURMET NEWS DECEMBER 2016 www.gourmetnews.com Naturally Healthy NATURALLY HEALTHY 1 4 Pure Spoon: Fresh, Organic Options for Conscientious Parents BY LORRIE BAUMANN Alyson Eberle could find fresh food options for her beloved dog, so she had a hard time believing that she couldn't find the same kind of options when she went looking for something to feed her human daughter. But, that turned out to be the case. "I was really appalled and shocked that there weren't fresh options for babies and chil- dren," she said. "You can get it for your dog, but you couldn't get it for your chil- dren." Eberle's disappointing discovery prompted her to start making her own fresh fruit and vegetable purees and then to find a way to package them for sale in gro- cery stores. Riley, the daughter for whom she originally started on her quest, is now six years old and is far from a picky eater. "If you feed children real food, they will crave it for the rest of their lives," Eberle said. "Take full advantage of this opportu- nity to introduce children to what real nu- trition tastes like." The Pure Spoon products are made from fresh, organic fruits and vegetables like car- rots, sweet potatoes, broccoli and pears that are pureed either raw or after steaming, so that the ingredients keep their nutrients and taste. Although the line was originally conceived as baby food, it's being wel- comed by an audience that includes adults and the elderly. Simply Apples, for instance is just fresh organic applesauce that's good for an on-the-go snack. Or for the adven- turous home cook, it also works as an in- gredient, perhaps for a sauce for a chicken dish or for a salad dressing. "We have all kinds of bloggers out there who send us pictures of how they incorporated Pure Spoon purees into their recipes," Eberle said. After they're pureed, the Pure Spoon products are cold-filled into vacuum-sealed polyethylene containers and pasteurized under high pressure and without heat. "All of our food is cold-filled. Unlike the tradi- tional way of doing things, we never put our recipes into the containers when it's warm or hot," Eberle said. "We don't even have an oven or stove in our kitchen." The PET clear packaging is 100 percent recyclable, and it's the safest packaging ma- terial available that can withstand the high- pressure process that pasteurizes the product so that the fruit and vegetables don't need to be cooked. "We wanted to offer clear and transparent packaging be- cause we wanted the customer to see our food. Fresh, real fruits and vegetables are vibrant and we didn't want to hide behind the packaging." Eberle said. "Each con- tainer is vacuum-sealed and then cold-pas- teurized at 87,000 pounds per square inch to kill any pathogens that could cause the food to spoil but without affecting the nu- trients or flavor of the food inside. It packs all of the same nutritional value as if you made it at home." There are currently 11 Pure Spoon vari- eties: Simply Carrots; Sweet Potato & Ap- ples; Carrots & Zucchini; Apples & Broccoli; Simply Apples; Simply Pears; Spinach, Pear, & Bananas; Creamy Avocado & Apples; Blueberry, Banana, & Apples; Creamy Avocado & Pears and Butternut Squash, Apple, & Oats. They're packaged in 4.2-ounce containers with a 65-day re- frigerated shelf life, and all ingredients are certified organic and gluten-free. They're ready to serve right from the package. Eberle recommends transferring a serving to a glass container for reheating if that's desired. About 10-15 seconds in the mi- crowave oven is all it takes to warm up the entire 4.2 ounces of food, she said. The products have launched into Whole Foods and distribution is growing quickly in other brick-and-mortar groceries. The company has also just launched its e-com- merce platform, which provides deliveries of the products fresh and cold to con- sumers' doors everywhere in the U.S. "I'm very excited and grateful that retailers and consumers want fresh choices and under- stand how Pure Spoon is innovative and unique in giving them this option," Eberle said. "Our growth has been really strong, and I'm excited and humbled by the pas- sionate response we have received." GN Hain Celestial Launches Cultivate Ventures The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. has launched its Cultivate Ventures platform, a new strategic platform dedicated to invest- ing behind lifestyle brands, smaller portfo- lio brands and concepts as well as incubator opportunities, which should benefit from the larger scale and leverage of Hain Celestial's infrastructure and entrepre- neurial roots while contributing to net sales and margin growth. Hain Celestial plans to strategically in- vest with a dedicated, creative focus for refresh and relaunch; to incubate small acquisitions until they reach the scale for the company's core platforms; and to in- vest in lifestyle brands, concepts, prod- ucts and technology, which focus on health and wellness. Cultivate's brands in- clude: BluePrint ® , which makes cold- pressed juices, juice drinks and functional beverages; DeBoles ® , a full line of pastas including whole wheat, featuring Jerusalem artichoke flour and gluten-free varieties made with rice, corn and quinoa grains; GG ® Unique Fiber, which makes slow-baked crisp, hearty fiber-rich crack- ers made with wheat bran and whole grain rye flour; SunSpire ® , a confec- tionery line including snacking and bak- ing products that are certified organic and made with Fair Trade certified cocoa in- gredients; Tilda ® , pure basmati rice and other grain products and Yves Veggie Cui- sine ® , a full line of meat-free products for the health conscious consumer. Cultivate will utilize several teams, in- cluding marketing, sales and supply chain, to reinvigorate its brands. Taking the entre- preneurial mindset to heart, the teams are charged with treating each brand as a startup, to quickly innovate concepts, product lines and categories. Cultivate Ventures will be headed by Beena Goldenberg, who has been ap- pointed Chief Executive Officer of Cul- tivate reporting to Irwin Simon. In addition to her current role as Chief Ex- ecutive Officer of Hain Celestial Canada, she will oversee Cultivate's mission to grow strategic investments and act as an incubator of small acquisitions until they reach scale for inclusion in the company's core platforms: Fresh Living; Better-for-You Baby; Better-for-You Snacking, Better-for-You Pantry and Pure Personal Care. GN VANA Life Foods offers a line of green chickpea-based entrees in single-serving packages for the ultimate in convenience – the Legume Bowls' pouch packaging in- cludes a built-in bowl, so they can be simply heated and eaten right from the package. The four varieties of Legume Bowls are all based on green chickpeas grown in the U.S. that offer more protein and fiber than regular blond chickpeas. They're also lower in fat, car- bohydrates, calories and sodium. The company prides itself on inventing new ways of thinking about and eating legumes, with products that are friendly to mine, body and soul as well as the environ- ment, while also being convenient for mod- ern lifestyles. The pouches are made with sustainable materials and methods, and the products are shelf-stable with no preservatives, and they're gluten free, non-GMO and vegan. Four varieties in- clude Green Chickpeas with Chipotle, Black Beans and Sweet Corn; Green Chickpeas with Chimichurri, Coconut and Butternut Squash; Green Chickpeas with Kale, Potato, Rosemary, Tomato; and Green Chickpeas with Coconut, Lime, Cilantro, Bell Pepper, Sweet Potato. VANA Life Foods www.vanalifefoods.com Legume Bowls from VANA Life Foods Melanie's Medleys introduced a new line of Artisan Grain Breakfast Bowls this fall that's perfect for those time-stressed con- sumers who just don't have the time to make a hot break- fast in the morning but cer- tainly don't want to descend to stopping into either a fast food restaurant or doughnut shop. The grain medleys are of- fered in six recipes, all blended in small batches with fresh non-GMO ingredients and with co- conut milk, almond milk or lightly sweet- ened apple already mixed in. With a shelf life in the grocer's refrigerator case of 35 to 40 days from date of manufacture, de- pending on variety, these Artisan Grain Breakfast Bowls are a super-convenient solution for the time-stressed but health- conscious Mil- lennial who will enjoy them sim- ply by opening the cup and spooning them out cold or heat- ing them briefly in the microwav- able cup once they've arrived at the office. Creative Grains by Don's Food Products 888.321.3667 www.melaniesmedleys.com Melanie's Medleys Brings Balance to Breakfast

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