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Produce Show Daily 3 7 Friday, October 20, 2017 Sultry Spices and Silky Fruits Propel First-Time Entrant to Five sofis By Lorrie Baumann Le Bon Magot ® surprised the specialty food community at this year's Summer Fancy Food Show with a display of five sofi Awards, all earned this year with the new company's very first entries into the sofi Award competition. Naomi Mobed, the company's Founder and Chief Executive Officer, launched the brand in February 2015 and then exhibited in the 2016 Summer Fancy Food Show to test its flavors with Fancy Food Show atten- dees before she was really ready to face the sofi Award competition. "Actually, we validated the taste and flavors of our products with trusted palates even before being incorporated into a company," she said. With her five 2017 sofi Awards on her shelves, Mobed is ready to scale up production to meet the demands of the national market. She's debt-free and looking for investment capital to help her grow. "We're keen to attract external investment and believe we have a sound and scalable business model," she said. Le Bon Magot currently offers just five products, all based on regional African, Middle Eastern and South Asian flavors, with sophisticated spice blends with depth and nuance that also appeal to contemporary American palates. Each of them reflects their branding – "magot" is a French word that means a hidden treas- ure. "The name was for a variety of rea- sons – one was the pure marketing reali- ty that the common language among gourmets continues to be French," she said. "I like the fact that it doesn't have one specific meaning, not just a treasure, but jewels, loot, coffers, bounty and booty. Each one of our products is of a vibrant gem-like color. I came from a finance background and I am passionate about jewelry, so our name also has a tongue-in-cheek element to it." Her Tomato and White Sultana Chutney, winner of this year's gold sofi Award in the condiments category, was her first product and is still her compa- ny's top seller. The chutney marries the sweet fruitiness of tomato to Kashmiri chiles, ginger and garam masala. Next in production were the White Pumpkin and Almond Murraba and the Brinjal Caponata, made of purple aubergine, cumin and curry leaves and the winner of the bronze sofi Award in the pickles cate- gory. The Brinjal Caponata is a tradition- al western Indian condiment made from a recipe that came from Mobed's grand- mother by way of her mother, who tweaked it a little bit, and that Mobed herself played with also before settling on its current formulation. The White Pumpkin and Almond Murraba includes cardamom, cinnamon and vanilla in a preserve that's traditionally used for cel- ebrations in Central Asia and Middle East. Spiced Raisin Marmalata won a gold sofi Award and an award for the best new product in the jam and pre- serves category. This product offers jumbo black raisins imported from South Africa blended with ras al hanout, dried rose petals, green car- damom and smoked cinnamon. "We wanted to recreate the oud scent but for the palate," Mobed said. While oud is the distinctive scent of a resin found in agarwood trees that is used for incense and perfumes and valued in many cul- tures for its distinctive fragrance, Mobed uses smoked cinnamon along- side dried rose petals, cardamom and other spices to recreate the musky notes. Like the other products in the Le Bon Magot line, Spiced Raisin Marmalata was made to pair with cheese and charcuterie, but can also be used as a cooking ingredient, perhaps to be added to a spiced oatmeal raisin cookie or a Linzer cookie. The compa- ny's final product is its Lemon-Sultana Marmalata with Caraway and Saffron, the winner of a bronze sofi Award in the jam and preserves category. All of the products are made from recipes that came from Mobed's grand- mother and great-grandmother that were originally written down in a dialect that Mobed speaks but doesn't read. Her mother translated them, interpreting measurements that came from a system that was once used across Asia but is no longer common. Mobed is a Parsi born in Pakistan with family from India. Her father was employed in the oil industry, while her mother worked in the pharmaceuticals industry, and they raised Mobed in Iran, Hong Kong and Europe as well as in the U.S. Her first American home was in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. She left the U.S. to go to the London School of Economics when she was 21, after receiving her undergraduate degree at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. "I'd always wanted to be in the food business since the latter years of my undergraduate degree," she said. "I was applying to grad school and culinary school. I decided to go to the London School of Economics, thinking I could do culinary later." Mobed lived in London after finish- ing her education there, eventually moved to Muscat, Oman, then came back to England, and did some more moving around from Johannesburg to Dubai and all points in-between before returning to the United States two years ago. Her business is now based in New Jersey, where she says she is settled for the immediate future. "A business settles you," she said. "My mother lives here. My grandmother now lives here. I'm as settled as I ever will be." She says that, while she brings her finance experience with her into her busi- ness, making and selling food is a part of her family culture that she values highly, and a number of her female family mem- bers have flourishing food businesses around the world. "For a lot of women in Iran and Pakistan, catering and foodser- vice is a way for women to gain inde- pendence and empowerment without leaving their homes," she said. "The same goes for other countries in the Middle East as well. That's why you have so many female entrepreneurs." Just Ryt Foods Adds Anchovies, Antipasto, Olives to Giusto Sapore Line Expanding its Giusto Sapore line of imported Italian fine foods, Just Ryt Foods has added anchovies, antipasto, olives and bruschetta spreads. Each new category is carefully sourced to ensure excellent quality and authentic taste, as well as distinctive packaging for strong shelf appeal. Imported from Sicily, known for the excellent anchovies found in the Mediterranean Sea, Guisto Sapore Anchovies are firm and meaty fillets, lightly salted and packed in sunflower oil. The selection in 90g (3.17-ounce) glass jars includes Flat, Hot and rolled with Capers, each retailing for $7.99. The flat Giusto Sapore Sicilian Anchovies also come is a 230g (8.1- ounce) size, packaged in a large mouth, glass Le Parfait jar with swing top lid for $17.99. The Giusto Sapore antipasto selec- tion is a delicious assortment of spicy and savory condiments, packaged in 10.23- ounce Orcio glass jars and carefully curated to complement a meat and cheese antipasto platter. Choices include Pearl Onions in Vinegar, Caper Berries in Vinegar, Quartered Artichokes in Oil, Spicy Garlic in Oil and Peperoncino in Vinegar, each retailing for $11.99. The selection of olives includes "Nocellara" Castelvetrano, bright green olives from western Sicily (whole and pitted); Bella di Cerignola, extra large whole olives from southern Italy; pitted Greek Kalamata olives; and both a whole and pitted selection of Italian Style Mixed Olives. Also packed in Orcio glass jars, Giusto Sapore Bruschetta Spreads include Black Olive, Green Olive, Garlic, Mushroom, Sundried Tomato and Eggplant Caponata (10.23 ounces for $11.99). These savory spreads are deli- cious on crackers, crostini and of course, bruschette. Or mix with mayon- naise to create aioli, with toma- to sauce for pasta or as an accompaniment with grilled meats. "We are excited to offer our customers this expanded selection of fine imported Italian foods," says Justin Camparetto, President of Just Ryt Foods. "Each product is an authentic taste of Italy to be savored and enjoyed. As we like to say, from our fam- ily to yours: 'Buon Appetito.'" Giusto Sapore, (joos-stǒ sa-ṕo-ṝe), Italian for "Just the Right Flavor," is the retail brand for Just Ryt Foods, Inc. The Florida-based company, founded in 2010, specializes in importing Italian and Mediterranean fine foods. Bay Baby Produce Launches Organic Delicata Squash, Silhouette Pumpkins Bay Baby Produce was founded by Michele Youngquist and Liz Mitchell in 1999. The farm is located between Puget Sound and the North Cascade mountain range, and produces the best organically grown squash and pumpkins from 400 sustainably farmed acres. This area, the Skagit Valley, is one of the most fertile growing regions in North America. The company is part of a histo- ry of farming that is currently responsible for producing much of the world's fresh agricultural products. Bay Baby Produce grows pumpkins, along with a wide vari- ety of edible organic squash. The compa- ny began with just 30 acres of soil, and an idea to give pumpkins a personality by painting a face on them. The idea was a hit, and since then the company has developed a proprietary painting and pro- duction process that is able to consistent- ly provide top quality painted pumpkins. "We pride ourselves on being the premier provider of value-added painted pumpkins, ornamental pumpkins and high-quality organic winter squash with recipes. In our category, our quality and service are unmatched," says President and co-Founder Michele Youngquist. The company plans on providing customers at the show with examples of the best fall décor and its deli- cious organic winter squash, including Butternut, Spaghetti, Acorn, Delicata, Red Kuri, Carnival and others. It is launching two products this year, the new bagged Organic Delicata Squash with a delicious recipe included, and the new bright-white, pie-sized Silhouette Pumpkins – an eye-catching combination with the orange Silhouette Pumpkins. Youngquist adds, "We are very proud of the compliments we receive from our customers regarding the quality of our pumpkin and organic squash – espe- cially that we are able to provide consistent, uni- form sizing." The company works with produce and floral departments, customers who enjoy fall cooking, and those who love pumpkins as fall décor. It offers unique varieties of best- selling, long-stem ornamental and paint- ed pumpkins. Bay Baby Produce prides itself on excellent service, quality and competitive pricing, all of which makes its products wonderfully appealing. For more information, visit www.bay babyproduce.com or call 360.755.2299.