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GOURMET NEWS FEBRUARY 2017 www.gourmetnews.com SUPPLIER NEWS 1 2 Kellogg Company Joins the Ranks of Specialty Foods Investors eighteen94 capital, Kellogg Company's ven- ture capital fund, today announced it led a $4.25 million Series A funding of Kuli Kuli, a manufacturer and distributor of moringa- based products. Other institutional in- vestors in the round were InvestEco and S2G Ventures. Based in Oakland, California, Kuli Kuli makes Moringa Superfood Bars, Pure Moringa Powder and Moringa Green En- ergy Shots. A complete plant protein, moringa is produced by trees grown in semiarid and tropical areas. Its leaves, pods and oil can provide a good source of iron, calcium, Vitamin A, and other nutrients. "We are excited to partner with eight- een94 capital and Kellogg, and we're thrilled that they see the potential in our company and in moringa as a next-genera- tion superfood," said Lisa Curtis, Kuli Kuli Founder and CEO. "We want to create a world where everyone has access to nutri- tious sources of food. Through this rela- tionship, Kuli Kuli will benefit from Kellogg's resources and global presence, both of which will help us achieve our goals." "By investing in Kuli Kuli and helping them grow, we're backing a new superfood category, one in which we see the potential for ongoing high-growth," said Simon Bur- ton, Managing Director of eighteen94 cap- ital and now a member of the Kuli Kuli board of directors. "We love the company's strong management team, great products, and the authenticity of their social mis- sion." Kuli Kuli is the first investment for eighteen94 capital. The fund was launched in June 2016 to invest primarily in companies pursuing next-generation innovation, bolstering Kellogg Company's access to cutting-edge ideas and trends. The investment mandate includes a focus on start-up businesses pioneering new in- gredients, foods, packaging and enabling technology. "Our social mission is a critical area of focus for Kuli Kuli. We source high-quality moringa from women's cooperatives across West Africa, South America and the Caribbean," said Curtis. "We continue to grow our moringa supply chain by provid- ing fair, sustainable wages to farmers and women-led co-operatives around the world." GN Simple Mills CEO Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 List Katlin Smith, Founder and CEO of Chicago-based Simple Mills, has been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2017, a highly respected roster of the brightest young entrepreneurs, innovators and game changers in the U.S. Smith is at the forefront of the clean food movement with a line of natural baking mixes, crack- ers and frostings that are free of gluten, grain, dairy, soy, GMOs, excessive sugar, and artificial flavors and fillers. Smith began developing her first baking mixes in 2012 while she was working as a Deloitte Consulting management consult- ant. Inspired by her own health improve- ments after switching to a whole foods diet without gluten and other irritants, she launched the company on Amazon in early 2013 with three mixes utilizing ingredients like almond flour and coconut sugar. She secured her first brick-and-mortar distribu- tion agreement a few months later. Today, less than four years after hitting store shelves and nine months after adding crackers to the lineup, Simple Mills' natural channel market share surpasses that of most competitive brands, including much older companies with larger product port- folios. It is the No. 1 fastest-growing natu- ral baking mix and cracker brand, the No. 2 natural baking mix brand by dollars sold and the No. 3 natural cracker brand by dol- lar volume. "It's a new day in the food industry. Even older 'natural' foods are no longer natural enough because of consumer concerns about the explosion in food allergies, ex- cessive use of sugar, genetically modified organisms, and health problems that may be caused by additives, preservatives and chemicals that are used even in natural products," Smith said. "Addressing these trends requires literally creating recipes from scratch with alternative ingredients and formulations that have never been used before. It's challenging, but it's paying off in sales, in recognitions like this one from Forbes, and – most importantly – in supporting consumers in their quest for healthier foods." Simple Mills products have won multiple awards for natural foods innovation and re- cently earned accolades as one of the top five trending foods on popular grocery de- livery service Instacart. The company cur- rently has distribution in more than 6,500 conventional and natural grocery stores from Whole Foods to Target, and is sched- uled to launch two new product lines in February. GN Goats Milk Fudge from Black Mesa Ranch BY LORRIE BAUMANN When David Heininger and his wife Kathryn bought their 280-acre ranch near Snowflake, Arizona, they were thinking of it as a retirement home. Now they've turned it into the Grade A goat dairy that's producing the milk that David turns into award-winning fudge. The fudge, in its turn, has launched him into a new career that's taking him in a full circle back to his culinary roots. "It all started off as that we went up there to re- tire. We had some invest- ments. In the meantime, we had gotten a few goats, a few sheep and some cows," he said. "The idea was to have a retired life and do some hobbies. When the investments started fad- ing out, we decided that we needed the goats to start paying for themselves." Heininger's culinary career began right after graduation from Rhode Island's branch of Johnson & Wales University until a decade later, when Heininger and his wife decided to move to Tucson, Ari- zona for opportunities to renovate some of the city's historic homes. "Even then we were doing a seasonal candy business. I al- ways stuck with it. It was always something we were doing," he said. "When it was time to goof off a little bit, we found a neat place up there at Snowflake [a small rural town in north central Arizona]." With the decision that the five pet goats on the 280-acre off-the-grid ranch property needed to start paying rent, the Heiningers certified their operation as a goat dairy in 2003. While he was building the dairy fa- cilities, he also built a commercial kitchen on the property, with a propane stove and $20,000 in solar generating equipment to power electric re- frigeration. "It wasn't a big philosophical de- cision to move off grid. We just found this perfect property, and there wasn't grid power within six miles of it," he said. "It's a bal- ancing act. We don't run a lot of personal power. Almost everything goes into the dairy.... People think of it as a sim- ple life, but when you make the decision to be your own power company, there's a lot of responsibility that comes with it. If your power goes out, it's your fault." Today, Kathryn Heininger is the couple's herd manager, supervising 50 Nubian goats and milking 30 of them in an operation that's certified Humanely Raised and Han- dled. David Heininger is the operation's cheesemaker and chocolatier. Heininger makes his three flavors of Black Mesa Ranch Goats Milk Fudge with a short list of high-quality ingredients: Bel- gian chocolate, cane sugar, butter, salt and the milk from 30 Nubian dairy goats. His Belgian Chocolate Fudge includes just those ingredients; Origi- nal is the Belgian Choco- late Fudge studded with walnuts, and Fudge on Fire is made with concho chiles, Arizona-grown pecans and a little spice. "It's a nice little glow-in- your-mouth kind of fudge," Heininger said. In addition to his fudge, Heininger is mak- ing some cheeses, primarily fresh goat cheeses in four flavors: plain, herb, jalapeno and chipotle, in addition to three flavors of feta: plain, hot pepper and garlic. "We sold our first log of cheese locally to a little independent health food store in Snowflake," Heininger said. He then started submitting cheeses to competitions, where they placed well enough to encourage him to persevere, and then Phoenix chefs started calling. "We got some more goats and started making more cheese," he said. He makes a little aged cheese, too, no- tably Dutchess, a Gouda-style cheese; Blue Goat, a blue cheese; and a Havarti-style cheese called Tivoli. The aged cheeses, though, are a minor addition to his range because Heininger's off-the-grid lifestyle doesn't allow for much affinage infrastruc- ture. "When you're on solar, you've got to think about refrigeration and climate control, and we try to keep that part of the business really small. It's not a huge part of what we're doing," he said. "The confection side is a little less dependent on that. We can do more with less. I can make more fudge out of the same amount of milk than with cheese, and it's ready to go the next day." His food products, which also include a range of spiced pecans made from Arizona- grown nuts, provide Heininger with per- sonal satisfaction as well as the income to maintain a life he loves. "It's just the two of us, and we're making a real go of it. We're never going to get rich doing it, but it's a great lifestyle and we're having a lot of fun," he said. "The Goats Milk Fudge is a re- ally unique product that I think it's going to find a niche and take off. And it takes me back to my training and my roots." For more information, call 928.536.7759 or email david@blackmesaranch.com. Visit online at www.blackmesaranch.com or www.goatsmilkfudge.com. GN

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