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GOURMET NEWS AUGUST 2017 www.gourmetnews.com Naturally Healthy NATURALLY HEALTHY 1 4 Meat Snacks Made from Grass-fed Beef Born in Virginia BY LORRIE BAUMANN Landcrafted Food is a brand that's about an idea as much as about its products. That idea is that there's a place in the American market for responsibly raised grass-fed beef and the family farmers and ranchers that produce it. The company was started a decade ago by Gary Mitchell, Charlotte Hanes and Brantley Ivey, neighbors in Grayson County, Virginia. The county sits in Vir- ginia's Blue Ridge Highlands, firmly at the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, and it's mostly famous for the quality of its blue- grass and old time music. It's unpreten- tiously rural, and the people who raise cattle there call themselves farmers rather than ranchers. Both Mitchell and Ivey grew up on fam- ily farms and wanted to be able to pass that legacy on to their own families. Mitchell's family has farmed in Grayson County for four generations. Ivey moved to the area about 10 years ago to manage the Hanes farm, and it didn't take long after he and his wife showed up in the county for them to get together with Mitchell for a conversation about how they were going to wean their cattle op- erations from the marketplace for commodity beef and generate the revenue that would allow them to give their cattle a qualify life. "The first goal was to raise cattle the way we wanted to and to earn a premium price," says Mitchell. "Selling into the commodity market, there's not much motivation for doing it better." They went to the nearest folks they could find who might be interested in paying pre- mium prices for quality beef – the white tablecloth chefs in Washington, D.C. Once they'd explained to those chefs how they were raising their cattle – out on pasture year-round, with no hormones or antibi- otics — chefs started buying even before the company had its first meat ready for the market. "Restaurants began to tell us they wanted us to be grass-fed, and since we were in the mountains of Virginia, where there's plenty of grass and no corn, it was a natural fit," Mitchell says. "There is no market for grass-fed beef unless you develop it for your product," adds Ivey. "We developed the market." Among the three of them, they own and rent about 3,000 acres, and they began partnering with other local farmers – their friends and neighbors – who saw what they were doing and wanted the premium price that Mitchell, Hanes and Ivey were paying for beef raised to their requirements. Now, they have enough beef available to branch out with a new value- added product that's shelf-stable so they can sell it on the national market, and the team have just built a processing facility in Independence, Virginia, to make smoked meat sticks. Their Landcrafted Food Smoked Meat Sticks are now available in two flavors, Sweet Smoked and Original Smoked. Each 0.9-ounce stick is packed in a countertop caddy of 20 that's ready to be merchandised either for individual sale or in the whole box of 20. Each stick has 100 calories, with 3 grams of saturated fat. Be- cause the meat sticks are made from grass- fed beef, they're lower in saturated fat and cholesterol than most other beef sticks on the market, and they're also made with less sugar than most processed meat snacks, so they're particularly Paleo-friendly as well. Marketing support for the product will include shopper marketing, and a social media campaign is in the planning. The brand will be available on Amazon, and ad- ditional retail distribution is in process. For further information, call 276.773.3712, email gary@landcraftedfood.com or visit www.landcraftedfood.com. GN Enjoy Life Foods Tantalizes Taste Buds with Three New Baked Chewy Bars Enjoy Life Foods is launching three new fla- vors in its line of Baked Chewy Bars: Caramel Blondie, Carrot Cake and Lemon Blueberry Poppy Seed. The launch follows Enjoy Life's steadfast portfolio expansion across multiple aisles of the grocery store as it fuels the growth of the Free-From industry, which is projected to reach $20 billion by 2020. "The foundation of our brand is to give the millions of people with food al- lergies quality products, but it's equally as important that our offerings are deli- cious with knockout flavors that today's shoppers will gravitate towards," said Enjoy Life Chief Sales and Marketing Of- ficer Joel Warady. "Our new Baked Chewy Bars are crafted with innovative ingredients that are perfect for the health-conscious consumer, and the au- thentic flavors are great options for breakfast, a mid-day snack or a post-din- ner indulgence. From bars to baking mixes, we're taking over the center aisles so when people see our logo they know that they're getting a superior product without the worry of what's inside." The new Baked Chewy Bars are packed with pure and simple ingredients, featur- ing real inclusions and a proprietary Pure Life Balanced Dry Blend™ (hulled sun- flower kernels, cassava flour, white pearled-grain sorghum flour, quinoa flakes). As with all Enjoy Life products, the new bars are made in a dedicated nut-free and gluten-free bakery, are certified gluten free, Non-GMO Project Verified, kosher- and halal-certified, and are free-from the top veight common food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soy. They're offered in three flavors. Caramel Blondie offers the sweet sensation of caramel bits and chocolate chips in every bite, while Carrot Cake brings sweet and spicy flavor notes derived from real shred- ded carrots, hull-roasted pumpkin seeds and California raisins. Lemon Blueberry Poppy Seed offers tangy and light lemon combined with bold blueberry, The new Baked Chewy Bars will ship to natural and conventional retail stores in July with a retail price of $4.29 per carton. Each carton contains five 1.15-ounce bars, an increase from the original line's 1-ounce sizes. GN Hawaiian Wild Harvest Antelope Now Available Nicky USA is introducing Hawaiian Wild Harvest Antelope, the first USDA-certified antelope available in the United States, to the American market in both wholesale and retail packaging. The antelope comes from the "forbidden island" of Niihau. Eland, the largest of the antelope family, are native to the dry African desserts, and have thrived on the arid desert Hawaiian island of Ni- ihau ever since they arrived in 1998. This Wild Harvest Eland is one-of-a-kind, a 95 percent lean protein that has more protein than beef, half the calories of beef, and all the delicious flavor. Just in time for sum- mer grilling, it's a healthy and unique op- tion added to Nicky USA's game line up. The animals were raised on Niihau Ranch, a 100 percent free-range, all-natural ranch producing sustainable meats raised on pristine Niihau forage. All livestock are raised without antibiotics, growth hor- mones or steroids and are processed in a USDA-certified abattoir. Niihau Ranch is located on the privately owned island of Niihau, 17 miles west of Kauai, and boasts the title of the western- most ranch in the United States. This 72- square mile island was purchased by Eliza Sinclair from King Kamehameha IV in 1864. Known as the "Forbidden Island" due to its limited access, Niihau is home to a closely knit community of native Hawaiians who are descendants of the island's original families. Referred to as a "shoal in time," the residents live in balance between modern ways and ancient traditions. Niihau Ranch is dedicated to providing the economy to support this last truly Hawaiian island. The Hawaiian Antelope is available for wholesale now and will soon be available in retail packages. Nicky USA will feature antelope in its Carter Cutlery Game Cook- ing Competition at Wild About Game on October 8, the meatiest culinary celebra- tion in the Northwest, where samples of the antelope will be available for all attendees to taste. Visit www.nickyusa.com for more information and ordering. GN

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