Oser Communications Group

5 December 2017 SNACKING NEWS Bare Snacks Launches bare Organic Chia Coconut Bites Bare Snacks ® is launching bare ® Organic Chia Coconut Bites, a USDA-certified or- ganic spin on the company's line of bare Chia Coconut Bites. Available in the same flavors, including Chia + Vanilla, Chia + Pineapple and Chia + Flax, bare Organic Chia Coconut Bites give con- sumers an organic superfood snack that combines the power of chia and coconut into one tasty bite. "When we launched bare Chia Co- conut Bites earlier this year, we wanted to introduce a new kind of superfood snack – one that follows our 'less is more' ingredient philosophy, while still delivering on nutrition, incredible flavor and maximum crunch appeal," said San- tosh Padki, Chief Executive Officer at Bare Snacks. "The launch was met with wide-open arms from both consumers and retailers, so developing an organic version that appeals to ingredient-con- scious shoppers was only natural. We're excited to upgrade the snack aisle with our new organic line and offer everyone a superfood option for snacking wher- ever their day takes them." Bare Organic Chia Coconut Bites are made from delicately sliced coconuts that are sustainably harvested, lightly sea- soned with whole-food ingredients and baked with a generous sprinkling of chia seeds. The crunchy new snacks are Non-GMO Project Verified as well as certified organic, gluten free, and con- tain no trans fats, added oils or preservatives. The Chia + Vanilla variety is made from thin slices of organic coconut slow- baked with authentic Madagascar vanilla and coated with organic chia seeds for an exotically satisfying and crunchy bite. Chia + Pineapple Coconut Bites offer tropical organic pineapple that comple- ments the naturally sweet flavor of or- ganic coconut, all finished with a dusting of organic chia seeds. Chia + Flax Co- conut Bites have a nutrient-dense combi- nation of two powerful organic seeds, chia and flax, resulting in a super healthy and crunchy duo. Bare Organic Chia Coconut Bites are available now at natural and specialty re- tailers with a retail price of $5.69 for a 2.8-ounce bag. Like all bare snacks, the organic bites are baked, never fried, using bare's proprietary slow-baking process. n For Rudolph Foods, Tradition Leads to Trend-Worthy Snacks BY ROBIN MATHER A well-established company with a history of high-quality snacks, Rudolph Foods has added a line of artisanal pork rinds to its product offerings. "Southern Recipe is one of Rudolph Foods' regular lines," says Mark Single- ton, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the company. "It's a great old brand, and has millions and millions of loyal fans. Most of our sales – 68 percent – are sold south of the old Mason-Dixon line. But we've developed a huge following up north, too, and it's one of our fastest grow- ing lines. Sales in Boston and Seattle are booming, and those are hardly pork rind markets." John and Mary Rudolph founded the company in 1955 in Lima, Ohio, Singleton says. "John was way ahead of his time, and it soon became apparent that he had a knack for making pork rinds." Though some may think of pork rinds as a down-market snack, Singleton says, they're actually pretty good for you. Pork rinds, made from the skin of the pig, are 70 percent protein, with no carbohydrates. That makes them a popular snack for peo- ple who follow a low carb diet, where the light, crisp pork rind substitutes for chips or pretzels, and for anyone who's looking for a protein-boost snack. Explosive Growth for Pork Rind Sales The Snack Food Association, based in Alexandria, Virginia, says that pork rind sales are up almost 18 percent, three times more than snack foods overall. The association says that sales of pork rinds have risen from about $300 million in 1997 to $400 million today, and have increased 15 percent or more every year. That's a far cry from the $22 billion in salty snacks sales that Packaged Facts reported for 2015, a category that in- cludes potato chips, tortilla chips, pret- zels and ready-to-eat popcorn. But Singleton says he expects the market for pork rinds to continue to grow. "We've been in this business a long, long time," he says. "Snacking has been taking a better-for-you trend, and we knew there would be a market for these Small Batch rinds." In developing Rudolph Foods' South- ern Recipe Small Batch rinds, he says, the company started to ask questions. "What if we take 40 percent of the salt out? What would happen?" he says. "This was an opportunity for a bunch of guys who'd been doing pork rinds their whole lives. It was such a fun product for our team, and we thought our customers would appre- ciate and get a kick out of it." One ques- tion led to an- other, and the end result was the new line of rinds. Small Batch flavors available now in- clude sea salt and cracked black pepper, kimchi Korean BBQ, spicy dill and pineapple ancho chile. Additional flavors are on the horizon: Blackberry habanero and Tupelo honey and chipotle, Single- ton says. The new rinds are fried in sun- flower oil, not lard, and use clean ingre- dients. They have no MSG and no artifi- cial colors. "More than half the fat in pork rinds is monounsaturated fat, the kind of good fat associated with olive oil," he says. Small Batch rinds come in six-count cases and can be displayed on shelves or pegs. Suggested retail price is $1.99 for a two-ounce bag and $3.99 for a four-ounce bag. Part of the Nose-to-Tail Movement While most consumers don't think about it when they're buying pork chops, pork rinds prevent the waste of a by-product of pork production. Certainly many chefs have become adept in the nose-to-tail movement, which means they try to use up every part of the animals they buy. Singleton says he's proud that his company also helps in that movement. Rudolph Foods sources skins from meat suppliers all over the United States and Canada, Singleton says. "The skins are brought into the plant in Lima, Ohio, where we inspect them all, cut the skins into cubes, cure them and dry them," he says. At that point, they're "pellets," and they're shipped to one of the company's two production plants – East of the Rockies, the rinds are produced in a sub- urb of Jackson, Mississippi. West of the Rockies, the rinds are produced in a brand new, state-of-the-art 120,000- square-foot plant in Beaumont, Califor- nia. As an aside, Singleton notes that skin from different parts of the animal produce different flavors. "Shoulder skin is like armor, because it evolved to protect the shoulder from other pigs' long tusks," he says. Do-it-yourselfers can buy the pellets to fry at home, Singleton says, at www.rudolphfoods.com. Rinds in the Kitchen Singleton suggests that pork rinds can be more than just a snack. "People use them for all kinds of things," he says. "Garden and Gun magazine printed a great recipe for oysters served with pickled jalapeños on pork rinds" from chef Vivian Howard. She is the chef-owner of Chef and the Farmer restaurant in Kinston, North Car- olina. Howard co-created and stars in the PBS series "A Chef's Life." Even the venerable magazine Good Housekeeping has jumped on the pork rind bandwagon. "Grind them up in the food processor and use them as you would bread crumbs," the magazine sug- gests. "Think chicken cutlets, fried green tomatoes, crab cakes, pasta or mac 'n' cheese." For Singletary, Small Batch rinds repre- sent an interesting switch-up in the mar- ketplace. Millennials and others have a deep interest in the production process of a snack, he says, and they're focused on healthy ingredients. A serving of peanuts has less protein and more fat than a serving of pork rinds, he says. "People just need to reimagine pork rinds. We want to challenge people to dig the pig." n

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