Oser Communications Group

GOURMET NEWS MAY 2017 www.gourmetnews.com RETAILER NEWS 1 1 BY LORRIE BAUMANN Natural Grocers celebrated Earth Day this year with a three-day celebration featuring suppliers that take action to care for and enhance the environment. From April 21 to 23, Natural Grocers shined a spotlight on Alter Eco, Equal Exchange, Seventh Generation, Pacific Foods, Guayaki Or- ganic, Sweetwood Cattle Co., Wild Planet and Ah Cacao – eight product vendors that, according to Natural Grocers, demonstrate exceptional environmental responsibility and provide high-quality products for con- sumers. Alter Eco, which produces chocolate, quinoa and truffles, regards itself as a pio- neer of fair trade and organic foods carefully crafted to entice the senses. The company just launched four new confections – three chocolate bars and Dark Mint Organic Truffles – at Natu- ral Products Expo West in March. The new bars are Dark Salt & Malt, Dark Salted Al- monds and Dark Super Black- out. Made with the some of the world's rarest and highest qual- ity single origin Ecuadorian cacao that's roasted from the in- side out, the new dark chocolate varieties are finished by expert Swiss chocolatiers. "Now more than ever, shop- pers are seeking food products that not only taste amazing, but align with their core values," said Edouard Rollet, co-CEO and co-Founder at Alter Eco. "Hand- crafted with the highest quality ingredients, our exciting new dark chocolate flavors transport shoppers on an adventure for the senses while giving them the purchasing power to sustain our planet for years to come. Whether it be planting trees to nat- urally sequester our carbon footprint or en- suring fair and meaningful trade with our Natural Grocers Celebrates Environmental Sustainability Scardello Continued from PAGE 1 with a population that's heavily urban professional, and a newer one that opened last January at the Dallas Farmers Market, a food hub in the heart of downtown with a 26,000-square-foot food hall and arti- sanal vendor market that houses four an- chor restaurants along with a variety of specialty food providers. Scardello em- ploys 14 people between the two loca- tions, with almost everyone on staff working in both stores. "There are only a couple of my staff members who are at one place," Rogers says. "We want the crossover so that we can be sure that we're delivering the same great service at each location. I've found that's helpful in that process." Although it was tough getting the busi- ness started in the 2008 depths of the Great Recession, Scardello is benefiting today from the blossoming of Dallas' culinary scene even though the business depends far more heavily on retail sales to consumers than on foodservice sales to local chefs. "We do sell to a handful of chefs. It's one of those things where it has to be the right fit," Rogers says. "Even the ones where we don't work together, we're at food events together and do collabo- rative events, benefits. It's been a wonderful part of this journey to be a small part of that." Both Scardello stores specialize in domestic cheeses, with a selection of locally-made prod- ucts. Oak Lawn has about 150 cheeses in the case at any given time – about two thirds of them domestic – while the farmers market store of- fers about 95 with only about five of them Euro- pean. "It's hard to have a cheese counter without Parmigiano-Reggiano," Rogers says. "But in the spirit of the market, we want to focus more on local and domestic cheeses here." "Over the past eight years, there have been more than 1,000 cheeses in and out," he adds. "We're always trying to find new stuff." Dallas' turophiles are particularly fond of the creamy and gooey cheeses, Rogers says. "We sell a boatload of triple cream and brie-style cheeses," he says. "The most popular for the last year at Oak Lawn has been a goat Gouda called Bra- bander. If you'd told me in 2008 that our most popular cheese would be a goat Gouda from Holland, I would not have believed you, but it has been." Rogers himself is particularly fond of the stinky cheeses. "I'm really into Good Thunder, an amazing washed-rind cheese from Minnesota," he says. "The other one would be Seven Sisters from The Farm at Doe Run. It's a really easygoing mild cow's milk cheese, but after you take that first bite, it really opens up into complexity. A great snacking cheese." For those of his customers who are just venturing into the world of artisanal cheeses and aren't yet sure what they like, Scardello offers a range of classes as well as the more casual interactions between cheesemonger and customer that happen in his shops every day. "We want to make them feel at ease. We want them to feel like they've had a great experience, that we're excited that they're there. Cheese can be quite intimidating, and that's the last thing we want," he says. "We are nothing but detectives. We are trying to find out what someone's palate is into, and that's a fun part of the process.... A lot of people who come into the store for the first time now have a better understand- ing of cheese and know a little more what they like. That's one thing they get out of the classes, which put cheeses in front of people that they might not have tried for themselves.... Being a cheesemonger is the best job in the world. Even when you hand them a stinky cheese, and they get that squinchy face, it's still a great gig." GN farmers, our chocolates are not only deli- cious but environmentally and socially conscious." USDA Organic and Certified Fair Trade, Alter Eco's new dark chocolates stay true to the brand's steadfast dedication to full-circle sustainability throughout its operations and supply chain. In addition to reforesting the land and ensuring fair farmer compensation, the bars and truffles are wrapped in sustainable packaging – the chocolate bars wrapped in recyclable FSC certified paper and the truffles in com- postable wrappers made of eucalyptus and birch. Like all Alter Eco chocolates, the new products are also certified gluten free (excluding Dark Salt & Malt Organic Chocolate Bar), Non-GMO Project Veri- fied, and free of soy, emulsifiers and artifi- cial flavors. Equal Exchange is a farmer-owned coop- erative that produces Fair Trade coffee, chocolate and other foods. Headquartered in Massachusetts, it's one of the largest worker co-operatives in the United States, and the world's largest worker-owned cof- fee roaster. The company partners with 31 coffee farmer co-ops in 13 countries and purchases fairly traded foods from approx- imately 44 small farmer co-ops in 19 coun- tries or territories. The company donates up to 10 percent of net profits to non-profit organizations and small farmer co-ops. Of the remain- der, at least 60 percent of the income is reinvested in the co-op, and up to 40 per- cent is divided equally among the em- ployee-owners. Seventh Generation, a Vermont-based certified B Corporation, makes plant-based cleaning products. The mission-driven company works to nurture nature, enhance health, transform commerce and build community. Pacific Foods is an organic food producer that has been a pioneer in verifying the origin of all of its ingredients through its Certified to the Source pro- gram, which has been in place since 1997. The com- pany supports transparency in labeling, commits to non- GMO ingredients that are sourced locally when possi- ble and uses no artificial ad- ditives or flavorings. The company works constantly to lessen its carbon foot- print, conserving energy in its own operations and using packaging that re- quires no refrigeration. The company was awarded the BEST award as one of Portland, Oregon's, sustainable lead- ers in 2010. Guayaki Organic makes traditional yerba mate. The company was started in 1996 with a vision of protecting and restoring the South American rainforests and em- powering the native forest people, and has been a leader in managing its own carbon footprint and in reforesting the South American rainforests where its yerba mate is grown. Guayaki Organic has built rela- tionships with growers committed to sus- tainable forest production in Paraguay, Ar- gentina and Brazil, working together to produce yerba mate which is rainforest- grown, certified organic and fairly traded. Sweetwood Cattle Co. makes beef jerky in Colorado's Elk River valley. The com- pany's mission is to promote American agriculture and the Western way of life, and it promises that its products are both deli- cious and naturally raised. Wild Planet Foods is committed to look- ing for ways to maximize the health and re- sources of our planet, and thus boost its food production output and its ability to sustain harvesting. The company selects only 100 percent sustainably caught seafood for all of its packaged products, and believes in putting the welfare of the planet above its own economic gain. Ah Cacao offers cacao and coffee prod- ucts produced on Mexican plantations. A strong supporter of wildlife conservation, Ah Cacao has partnered with Conservation International Mexico to help farmers grow cacao with sustainable practices and sup- ports Plant-for-the-Planet, a global youth- directed, tree planting and environmental education program. The company gener- ates the electricity for its factory and office with solar panels on its roof and has de- signed its facilities to use natural ventila- tion instead of air conditioning. Natural Grocers itself has designed its stores with a range of eco-friendly ele- ments, including formaldehyde-free con- struction materials, low-watt recirculating fans and LED lighting. The stores compost and recycle produce scraps when that's pos- sible, uses only non-toxic cleaning and san- itizing products, recycles bulk food plastic bags, pallets and plastic pallet wrap and cardboard shipping containers as well as selling only 100 percent USDA-certified or- ganic produce, which supports sustainable agricultural practices. 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