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Restaurant Daily News 5 5 Saturday, May 20, 2017 TWENTY-FIRST AMERICAS FOOD AND BEVERAGE SHOW WELCOMES INTERNATIONAL ATTENDEES The 21st Americas Food and Beverage Show welcomes food professionals from around the world to beautiful Miami Beach on September 25-26, 2017, for the Western Hemisphere's largest two-day food and beverage tradeshow. Come join thousands of food retailers, distributors, exporters, importers and foodservice pro- fessionals from more than 100 countries who will gather to share ideas and inno- vations, present new products and explore new sales, marketing, distribu- tion and branding opportunities. "The Americas Food and Beverage Show continues to provide opportunity for businesses in the food and beverage sector to connect with colleagues, clients and customers in the Americas. The Caribbean markets in attendance are per- fect for targets for new and small exporters," said Megan McDonald, Director Meetings and Events, for the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. The show is sponsored by the World Trade Center Miami (WTCM) with spon- sorship from the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). FAS works to promote the export of U.S. agricultur- al products and reports on agricultural production and market development in all areas of the world. FAS, NASDA and WTCM work together to promote the Americas Food and Beverage Show and Conference. In addition to assisting with international promotion, NASDA produces the USA Pavilion at the show. Discover New Opportunities The Americas Food and Beverage Show provides the answers and products atten- dees are looking for. Unlike many other events, the Americas Food and Beverage Show does not focus on a specific part of the food business. Business visitors include representa- tives from the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America and increas- ingly from other parts of the world, representing foodservice, retail, resort and cruise businesses. They attend to meet innovative suppliers from many parts of the U.S., Canada, Ecuador, Turkey, Thailand, North Africa and Latin America (including National Pavilions from Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Algeria and the U.S.A.). This event is of interest to anyone in the food industry. What to See and Do On the show floor, the aisles will be packed with new and tasty foods and beverages from countries around the world. The event is strongly endorsed by trade promotion groups from Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Jamaica, Thailand, and Turkey. International visitors will be par- ticularly interested in the New Products Showcase, conference programs and the U.S.A. Pavilion. Mark your calendar to attend the 21st Americas Food and Beverage Show in Miami Beach, September 25-26, 2017. For more information, visit the 21st Americas Food and Beverage Show website at www.americasfoodandbeverage.com or contact the show management office by phone at 305.871.7910 or by email at afb@worldtrade.org. OREGON CHERRY GROWERS: 'QUALITY – IT'S HOW WE GROW CHERRIES & HOW WE DO BUSINESS' By Matthew Gillespie, Director of Marketing, Oregon Cherry Growers Established in 1932, Oregon Cherry Growers, Inc. is a grower-owned cooper- ative of family farms located in Oregon's bountiful Willamette Valley and along the Columbia River Gorge. What began with 700 fruit tree "rootings" brought by covered wagon in 1847 has matured through generations of dedicated growers to become the world's largest producer of sweet cherry products. We support all classes of trade, including foodservice, industrial and retail markets. More Than Cherries It's important to note that we actually produce much more than cherries. We take great pride in bringing our family- owned farms' natural bounty to market, including cultivated and wild blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and more! Sustainability is Our Way of Life We believe in sustainability, not only in terms of the environment, but with regard to our cooperative. We are one of the first agricultural cooperatives in the world to earn the third-party B Corp™ certifica- tion, in recognition of our environmental- ly responsible operations, progressive employment policies, quality products and community engagement. See more at www.bcorporation.net/community/ore- gon-cherry-growers-inc. Foodservice Whether you need the best-tasting maraschinos to garnish drinks in your bar, or are looking for all- natural ingredients to incorporate into meals and desserts at your restaurant, healthcare facility or school cafeteria, Oregon Cherry Growers has a product catalog with the quality and vari- ety you'll appreciate. We distribute our brands under the Royal Harvest™, Royal Willamette™ and Willamette Valley™ labels, but also do a considerable amount of co-packing for our foodservice cus- tomers. Industrial There are several world-class brands whose well-known products feature fruit ingredients from Oregon Cherry Growers. Our customers rely on the highest quality from our fruit preps and purees, glacé, frozen fruits and dried fruits made with all-natural, non-GMO ingredients, to make the desserts and products their customers know and love. If you love eating cherry ice cream and it was made in the United States or Canada, there's a better than 90 per- cent chance those cherries came from Oregon Cherry Growers! Retail All of our packaged products are chef tested and shelf stable. This means our traditional and premium maraschinos keep their crunch, and our dried fruits retain their flavor, texture and color through the shipping and resale process. What's more, our Royal Harvest line includes maraschino cherries and dried fruits made with non-GMO ingredients and free from artificial colors, flavors and preservatives that meet the growing demands of health-conscious customers. For more information, visit www.oregon cherry.com or stop by booth #10107. EMPOWERING FARMERS, GROWING SUSTAINABLY, STAYING TRUE TO ORGANIC Founded nearly 20 years ago, ecoLife ® was established with a passion to offer sustainable organic food, all while empowering and improving the daily lives of farming families. ecoLife pro- vides farming communities with assis- tance and free education in current social, economic and environmental best prac- tices. It's a relationship and a way of doing business that truly sets the compa- ny apart. ecoLife offers more than 20 organic items across four food categories, includ- ing aromatic Basmati rice, Jasmine rice, ancient grains, pulses and many other nutrient-rich items. The unique item in the line is the Quick Cook Brown Basmati Rice. What differentiates this organic brown rice is its reduced cooking time of just 12 minutes, a convenient alterna- tive to the 40 minutes normally required to prepare brown rice. The full range of authentic rice, ancient grains, pulses and beans are all USDA Organic and Non- GMO Verified products. With a farm to fork approach, ecoLife partners with farming families to offer sustainably grown, cultivated and harvested products from their country of origin. Good for people. Good for the planet. Live the ecoLife™. For more information, visit www.live ecolife.com. DEMAND TO GROW FOR MEAT PACKAGED IN POUCHES Demand for pouches used in meat pack- aging is forecast to climb 5.3 percent per year to $220 million in 2021, with unit gains expected to advance 3 percent per year to 1.6 billion units. Above average gains will be driven by the growing pref- erence for products that make meal preparation more convenient. These and other trends are presented in "Meat Packaging Market in the US," a new study from The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industry research firm. Stand-up pouches are well-posi- tioned for growth in the frozen meat and jerky sectors, while retort pouches will continue to see more use in the packaging of processed meat. However, many con- versions have already occurred, mitigat- ing gains somewhat going forward. According to Analyst Katie Wieser, "Pouches have a number of advantages and disadvantages that impact their posi- tion in meat packaging." For processed meats, the ability to be easily displayed is a key benefit, resulting in greater use of stand-up and peggable formats and high- quality printing. Additionally, the ability to integrate value-added features has allowed pouches to gain share in all major markets for meat packaging. However, cost and slower produc- tion speeds will limit gains for many processed meat applications. Furthermore, the packaging of ready-to- eat meat products in pouches is not feasi- ble in many cases due to the fact that these often must remain upright in their packages.