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GOURMET NEWS JANUARY 2018 www.gourmetnews.com Supplier News SUPPLIER NEWS 1 1 BRIEFS Bellucci Takes Next Steps for Traceability BY LORRIE BAUMANN Bellucci has long planted its flag in the ground around traceability and authentic- ity in its 100 percent Italian extra virgin olive oils. At this year's Winter Fancy Food Show, the company will unveil its advance on that front with third-party verification from Bureau Veritas. In addition, Bellucci will be bringing its new Sicily PGI Organic Extra Virgin Oil to the Fancy Food Show. The PGI indicates a pro- tected geographi- cal designation that verifies that the olives were grown, pressed and bottled in Sicily. This is the second oil in the company's Leg- endary Series, which started with the intro- duction of its Toscano PGI in 2014. The Toscano PGI be- came Toscano PGI Organic in 2016. Both Legendary Series oils are extra- premium bottles, retailing at $16.99 for the 500 ml bottle, and they'll be available for tasting during the Winter Fancy Food Show. Visitors to the booth will also be able to taste Bellucci's Classic and Organic100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil that will be bearing a Bureau Veritas ISO 22005 seal this year. "It's very specific. It really ensures the traceability of any food system. They have verified our traceability system down to the growers, down to the trees," said Susan Testa, Director of Culinary Innova- tion and Corporate Branding at Bellucci. "I think that's adding another level of credibil- ity and authen- ticity of what we are bringing to the market." With that, the company is also updating its marketing tag line to "Trust Through Trace- ability," which Testa says re- flects a philoso- phy that trust has to be earned, and giv- ing consumers confidence that they can know where their food is coming from is the way to do that, particularly in the case of a product that's widely known to be frequently fraudulent. "If you love the flavor and quality standard of an Italian extra virgin olive oil, you should know where it's coming from," she said. "We have to earn trust, we have to earn the trust of the buyers and retailers and consumers, every day." Testa thinks that traceability is likely to be the next wave of consumer demands from customers who are already trained to look for label verification that a product is free of gluten and genetically-modified in- gredients. "We now have Bureau Veritas ISO 22005 certification on the neck of our bottle," she said. In addition to the bottle labeling, Bel- lucci, which is majority-owned by a grower cooperative, has posted additional information on its website, including pic- tures of how the olives are grown and processed, videos introducing the farmers and millers, instructions on how to pour and taste extra virgin olive oil and a li- brary of approachable recipes. "We also have a very vibrant social media program on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube," Testa said. The company also offers resources to re- tailers to help drive traffic to stores, includ- ing social media campaigns in support of promotions and demonstrations and tast- ing trainings for store staff, so that they'll be knowledgeable in front of shoppers. "We want to have everybody be knowl- edgeable food professionals at store level," Testa said. "It also continues to bring loy- alty to the retailer. That consumer feels more and more that this is my store." GN Get Crazy About Walnuts with Crazy Go Nuts BY LORRIE BAUMANN Crazy Go Nuts offers a line of walnuts coated with other natural flavors. There are currently nine flavors of the nuts: Banana, Orange, Coconut, Chocolate Espresso, Oatmeal Cookie, Garlic Parmesan, Buffalo, Rosemary Pink Salt and a plain salted flavor that's slightly mis-labeled "Boring." All the same flavors are offered in jarred butters, except that there, the Rosemary Pink Salt becomes Sage and Rosemary. All of the butters are low sugar. "Our goal is al- ways to have the cleanest ingredients and the simplest flavors," says co-Founder and CEO David Wolfe. These are packaged in 9-ounce jars that retail for $6.99. Both the butters and the packaged nuts will work as an accompaniment for a cheese platter, and most of the butters will work as a smoothie ingredient as well as a spread. In addition to the interesting flavor pro- files, the Crazy Go Nuts products also offer nutritional benefits sought by the health- conscious. Walnuts are a particularly rich source of Omega-3 fatty acids, and Crazy Go Nuts promotes this benefit with front- of-package labeling that describes the prod- uct inside as "loaded with Omega 3s." "Flaxseed has more, but nobody eats an ounce of flaxseed," Wolfe says. "Our main thing is clean labels and simple ingredi- ents. More and more consumers are demanding that, and because wal- nuts are so healthy, we try not to weigh them down with nonsense." "We try not to ride solely on health ben- efits," adds Courtney Carini, the company's Chief Marketing Officer. "Walnuts are so delicious, and we want people to enjoy them." Nuts are packaged in three sizes: 1.5- ounce grab and go, 4.5-ounce and an 8- ounce resealable bag for the pantry. They retail for $6.99 for the 8-ounce bag, $4.49 for the 4.5-ounce bag and $1.99 for the 1.5- ounce bag. They're currently sold in specialty retailers around the country. The company started as "a whim" in Los An- geles, with two people managing it out of an apart- ment, and has grown from there. "We started going to Walnut Board meetings," Wolfe says, and "We met with several different companies that were inter- ested in investing in us and helping us grow." For more information, email sales@cgn walnuts.com or info@cgnwalnuts.com. GN New Report Highlights Specialty Food Co. Acquisitions Food and beverage companies are capitalizing on today's selective consumer, with the need to innovate driving investment strategy, according to the "Consumer Products & Retail Insider," an industry report released by Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL). Differentiated brands catering to better-for-you and other specialty food segments are in high demand, with the pace of acquisitions accelerating across all sectors. Nestle (Sweet Earth Natural Foods), Campbell Soup Company (Pacific Foods of Oregon), Kellogg (RXBAR), and Dean Foods (Uncle Matt's Organic) each announced recent acquisitions in the space. They also make up a growing number of large companies that are backing disruptive brands —many promising start- ups— to get a foothold in emerging markets while keeping a pulse on evolving consumer trends. Campbell's venture arm, Acre Venture Partners, has invested in more than ten start- ups during the last two years. Eurofins Experchem Opens New Accredited Food Testing Laboratories Eurofins Experchem announced the official opening and accreditation of the first Eurofins food testing laboratory in Canada. The two laboratory complex, offering chemical and microbiological analyses, has already achieved ISO 17025 accreditation as certified by the Standards Council of Canada. In the announcement, Eurofins leadership promised to bring the Canadian market 'farm-to- fork' product testing capabilities, as well as food safety training, certification, and auditing services. The Toronto laboratories will bring Canadian food producers and retailers test methods and services not available anywhere else. Pinnacle Foods Inc. Named Processor of the Year by FOOD PROCESSING Magazine Pinnacle Foods Inc. has been named Processor of the Year by FOOD PROCESSING magazine. The annual award was announced recently on the publication's website. It recognizes a consumer packaged goods company that excels in sound financial performance, including expanding sales and profitability; innovative product development; leading manufacturing technology; managerial excellence; and general industry leadership and service. Good Water Farms Achieves Biodynamic Certification Good Water Farms, located in New York, has now achieved Biodynamic ® certification from Demeter USA. In order for a commercial farm or product to legally use the term "biodynamic," it must have obtained certification through Demeter USA, which is a non-profit organization that is the sole holder of the U.S. Patent Office certification mark for it. Biodynamic agriculture is an ecological farming system that views the farm as a self-contained and self-sustaining organism.

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