Oser Communications Group

GOURMET NEWS www.gourmetnews.com n JANUARY 2018 n GOURMET NEWS 7 4 Superfood Credentials Butter Up Chocolate Introductions By Lorrie Baumann The winter of 2017-2018 promises to be bountiful for the innovative options offered by today's chocolatiers, who are enjoying a heyday of enthusiasm for chocolate that's boosted by its superfood status and con- sumers' willingness to pay more for quality products that boast fair trade and organic cer- tifications. Healthy snack producer NuGo, to name one brand, has figured out that a lovely coat of luscious chocolate can enhance the appeal of a protein bar, and it's now offer- ing a range of protein bars coated in dark chocolate at retail prices that range from $1.59 to $1.99 per bar. The real dark chocolate that envelops each of these pro- tein bars is made from the cocoa butter and non-fat cocoa solids found in cacao beans, so it's full of the antioxidants, and what- ever health benefits that go along with them, of a real chocolate. The range in- cludes NuGo Slim, which offers 16 to 18 grams of protein and only 2 to 3 grams of sugar in a gluten-free bar; NuGo Organic, which offers 10 grams of protein in a vegan snack; NuGo Free, which offers 9 grams of protein with no soy or gluten. The NuGo Stronger is a high protein ver- sion with 25 grams of protein and no soy. The Stronger bar retails for $2.39. The company's newest product is a protein cookie that's gluten free. The protein cookies are offered in four varieties: Dark Chocolate Chip, Double Chocolate, Peanut Butter Chocolate and Oatmeal Raisin, which does- n't have chocolate in it. All four cookie vari- eties are vegan, gluten free and non-GMO, with 16 grams of plant protein and 12 grams of fiber per cookie. The chocolate chips in the varieties that include them are real dark chocolate, and none of them contain artificial sweeteners, dairy, soy, eggs, palm oil or mar- garine. The individually packaged cookies retail for $2.39 apiece. Navitas Organics, long a darling of health- and socially-conscious consumers, special- izes in products that offer superfood nutri- tion, and its Coffee Cacao and Cacao Goji Organic Power Snacks are its newest plant- based superfood snacks. These are chewy cubes that are packaged in 8-ounce pouches that retail for $9.99. A serving delivers 90 calories and 20 to 25 percent of the daily value of Vitamin C. OCHO Candy, known for organic filled candy bars that are organic twists on familiar favorites, is also introducing for the spring holiday season its Organic Peanut Butter Eggs and Organic Caramel Eggs as well as Organic Peppermint Squares for this winter. The eggs are offered in 100-gram packages that retail for $4.99. The range of bars for which the company is better known includes OCHO Coconut, OCHO Peanut Butter, OCHO Caramel & Peanut and OCHO Dark Chocolate PB. The Dark Chocolate PB is the company's newest offering, while Coconut is its best seller. All of the bars are made from simple, high-quality ingredients, and they're all non-GMO and gluten free, with soft centers made from organic ingredients and coated with a thick layer of chocolate outside. Each bar retails for $1.99. The company is also making bite-size versions of the bars in Peppermint, Peanut Butter, Coconut and Caramel varieties. Each 3.52-ounce pouch of OCHO minis contains eight snack-size pieces and retails for $4.49 to $4.99. All of the products are made from the company's state-of-the-art facility in Oakland, Califor- nia. The Happy Chocolatier, based in Acton, Massachusetts, is launching a dark chocolate orange truffle Cubze™ to augment the com- pany's line of confections. This new all-nat- ural truffle Cubze has a dark chocolate center infused with essence of orange in a cube- shaped truffle serving. There's an inspira- tional message about happiness hand-wrapped into each piece. The com- pany's new seasonal gift collection presents the truffle Cubze in elegant silver gift boxes featuring festive bands. For specialty food outlets and gift shops, the truffle Cubze are available in a new counter display that fea- tures the happiness theme and is filled with individual servings of an assortment of the truffle Cubze flavors. Brownie Brittle has six new products that make perfect snacks or gifts. Thindulgent Chocolate Bark will be offered in two new flavors: Dark Chocolate Peppermint and Caramel Pretzel Milk Chocolate. Each bag retails for $4.49. Brownie Brittle is also offering two new seasonal flavor twists on the company's flag- ship product. Chocolate Chip Brownie Brit- tle will now have a white drizzle, and Salted Caramel Brownie Brittle will have a dark drizzle. These bags sell for $3.49. Brownie Brittle Bites are now offered in Milk Chocolate Caramel and Peppermint Dark Chocolate flavors for $4.49 per bag. For the Milk Chocolate Caramel flavor, chocolate chip Brownie Brittle morsels are covered in a layer of caramel and milk chocolate, while Peppermint Dark Chocolate Bites are chocolate chip Brownie Brittle morsels as well, covered in a layer of pep- permint and dark chocolate. Chocolove is in the midst of a strong in- novation and marketing drive that's going to result in a wealth of new product intro- ductions for 2018. Among the new prod- ucts, we'll see bars with Almonds, Toffee & Sea Salt; Almonds & Sea Salt and a filled bar with Strawberry Creme. The large 3.2-ounce bars will retail for $3.19. The company will also be offering ele- vated versions of the nut butter cup with Hazelnut Butter Cups in Dark Chocolate and Salted Caramel Cups in Dark Choco- late packaged in two-packs that will retail for $1.99 and individually packaged cups that will retail for $1 each. The company will also be unveiling two new pouched Bites, Almonds & Sea Salt in Dark Choco- late Bites and Assorted Bites. These pouches of individually wrapped Bites contain a bit less than 6 ounces and will retail for $7.99. Chocolove is also intro- ducing a range of unwrapped chocolate- covered snack bites that are built around the company's best-selling flavors. Dark Chocolate Salted Almonds, Dark Choco- late Almond Toffee and Dark Chocolate Pretzels will be offered in a 4.5-ounce pouch to retail for $4.99. Chocolove's chocolate is imported from Belgium and crafted into its products in Boulder, Colorado. Chocolove participates in or funds a number of programs that at- test to the company's commitments to sus- tainability and social justice throughout its supply chain from farm to consumer, in- cluding the workers in its Colorado facil- ity. Endangered Species Chocolate has just added its Polar Bear bar, which is dark chocolate with caramel and spiced apples, as well as Chocolate Bites of its top three sell- ers, the Panther, Owl and Bald Eagle. Pan- ther Bites are a low sugar option, with two pieces coming in at 2 grams of sugar. Owl Bites are sea salt and almonds in dark choco- late, and Bald Eagle Bites are caramel and sea salt in dark chocolate. The Bites are sold in 4.2-ounce packages that contain 10 to 13 pieces and retail for $4.99. Bars retail for $2.99 for 3 ounces. NibMor's newest offerings are Dark Chocolate Bites with Tart Cherries and Dark Chocolate Bites with Maine Blueber- ries. These bites are made with 52 percent cocoa, and they're gluten free, certified vegan and Non-GMO Project Verified. The 6-piece serving comes in at 240 calories, so this is an indulgent treat, but the 19 grams of sugar are less than the sugar content of competing fruit and chocolate bites prod- ucts, says NibMor Inc. Chief Executive Of- ficer Ralph Chauvin. The 5.4-ounce stand-up pouches retail for $4.99. Divine Chocolate Celebrates 20-Plus Years of Empowering Women Cocoa Farmers For more than two decades, Divine Choco- late and the Kuapa Kokoo Cooperative in Ghana have shared a commitment to em- powering women. Together, they are helping women in cocoa farming develop the skills and confidence to grow better cocoa, build better communities and thrive in business. It's as much a business model as a so- cial mission. Divine Chocolate is the only 100 percent fair trade chocolate company co-owned by cocoa farm- ers. Of the 85,000 Kuapa Kokoo farmers who co- own the company, more than a third are women. For Kuapa Kokoo and Di- vine, encouragement and mentoring of women has always been a priority. Investing in programs de- signed to teach valuable personal and professional skills is helping thousands of women bring money into their families, even when there is no cocoa to sell. With financing from Divine, Kuapa Kokoo has estab- lished targeted activities, includ- ing intensive adult literacy and numeracy classes, primarily fo- cused on women. For more information, go to www .divinechocolate.com. Farmstead Launches First Free, 30-Minute Grocery Pickup Hub in San Francisco Farmstead, the new AI-powered digital micro-grocer that sources and delivers fresh food from farm-to-fridge in 60 minutes, has just launched a new 30-minute express pickup service at strategically placed micro- hubs in San Francisco and San Mateo. The new service puts Farmstead on par with the largest incumbent players in the rapidly ex- panding online grocery delivery space, many of whom do not yet offer online order and pick-up services in San Francisco. "At a time when the tech sector is trying to figure out what the future of grocery shop- ping will be, we are rolling out a new digital grocer that solves for convenience, food waste, and geographic density," said Farm- stead Chief Executive Officer and co- Founder Pradeep Elankumaran. "Our suburban customers requested a free rapid pickup option from their nearby Farmstead hub to help them replace time-consuming last-minute trips to the supermarket - we're thrilled to bring them this carefully designed, compelling new experience." With Farmstead's new express pickup serv- ice, groceries are ready for pick-up within 30 minutes of placing an online order. When cus- tomers arrive at the pick-up location they can tap an "I'm here" button on their phone, and a Farmstead employee will place the custom packed grocery order in the car. "The addition of Express Pickup to Farm- stead's fulfillment model makes it possible to launch lightweight, software-defined hubs anywhere in the US to quickly and easily meet consumer demand, fitting in seamlessly with their existing grocery habits," said Farmstead Product Manager Jennelle Nystrom. Offering express pickup service for the first time in San Francisco is the latest step toward Farmstead's goal of fundamentally reinventing the $670 billion grocery sector. By using artificial intelligence technology to optimize the sourcing and distribution of food from farms to customers, Farmstead's fulfillment model is specifically designed to reduce food waste in the grocery industry while saving customers time and money. Founded just 12 months ago, Farmstead has completed over 17,000 deliveries to thousands of Bay Area customers, and has raised $2.8 million in seed funding from Resolute Ventures, Social Capital, Y Combi- nator, and Joe Montana's Liquid 2 Ventures.

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