Oser Communications Group

GOURMET NEWS www.gourmetnews.com n JANUARY 2018 n GOURMET NEWS 2 8 Droga Debuts New Flavor Within Money on Honey Line Droga Chocolates, LLC, maker of Money on Honey, 2016 sofi winner and the first and only ever line of wildflower honey caramels, announced that it will be debuting new vari- eties and consumer-focused certifications. Droga, which debuted its first Money on Honey caramels in 2011, has rapidly ex- panded the line into numerous flavor vari- eties across both gift and food, drug, mass and club packaging. Money on Honey caramels eliminate all corn syrup and are sweetened only by pure honey and cane sugar blended with real cream and butter and finished with Certified Fair Trade dark chocolate, creating a premium, delicate and more wholesome alternative to other caramels in the market. These new offerings that will be seen for the first time include: Dark Chocolate Toasted Coconut Almond Money On Honey caramels in a variety of sizes, including FDM and Club size stand up pouch bags; new certifications for all of the current Money On Honey varieties, including non- GMO, gluten free and True Source Honey in addition to the current Fair Trade Certified ingredients; and a three-piece grab-and-go pack of Money on Honey Dark Chocolate French Sea Salt launching in a caddy for easy mer- chandising. "We are excited to be debuting our brand new flavor of Toasted Coconut Almond within our award-winning Money on Honey line, a flavor pro- file that's extremely on trend and we expect to be- come a best seller just be- hind our number one French Sea Salt," says Michelle Crochet, Droga's Founder and President. "Our na- tional distribution in Starbucks and Wal- greens and key regional distribution such as Wegman's and Whole Foods in the past year has been driving more awareness of our brand nationwide, and we expect strong sales with our new SKUs, particularly driven by our new certifications that consumers are asking for, including gluten free and non-GMO, which sets us apart within the candy category." A portion of all Money on Honey sales is donated to Project Apis M., a non-profit organiza- tion whose mission is to fund and direct research to enhance the health and vitality of the honey bee population. For more information, contact Rosie Mattio of Rosie Mattio Public Relations at 917.583.6349 and rosie@rosiemattiopr.com, or visit booth #355. Gourmet Hawaiian Products from Salty Wahine Salty Wahine Gourmet Hawaiian Sea Salts is a family owned business that has its roots on the island of Kauai. Salty Wahine special- izes in tropically infused seasonings and cane sugar. Laura Cristobal Andersland cre- ated Salty Wahine in June of 2008 as a sole proprietorship. Salty Wahine's business revolves around her mission statement of "Making Eating Healthy Fun." Laura learned the value of Hawaiian sea salts at a young age from her paternal Hawaiian grandmother. The award- winning Salty Wahine products fulfill the need to prepare meals with healthy premixed gourmet seasonings that enhance the dining experience. Salty Wahine uses the local fla- vors of not only herbs and spices, but also of tropical fruits to create amazing fruit infused blends that not only taste good, but also are eye appealing. Salty Wahine takes pride in the fact that 84 percent of its end product is Hawaii origin. Laura started selling Salty Wahine prod- ucts at her sister's business "Aunty Lilikoi" and craft fairs on Kauai. Salty Wahine's products can be found at over 200 stores and restaurants worldwide, including Hawaii Commissaries, Navy Exchange, Safeway, Foodland, ABC stores, Lamont's, Whalers General Stores and Accents throughout Hawaii, the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. Laura promotes her products at Specialty Food Association Fancy Food Shows in New York City for the Summer show and San Francisco for the Winter Fancy Food Show and the Tokyo Food and Beverage Show in April. Salty Wahine pro- motes its products at Hawaii Aloha Festivals in California, Nevada and Arizona. Salty Wahine will be attending the Fiery Food Show in New Mexico to re- ceive six Scovie awards: 1st place for the best dry rub seasoning – Hawaiian Rub, 2nd place condiments Hot & Spicy and 3rd place meat required dry rub for Island Volcano Seasoning, 3rd place in the meat required Unique category for Island Curry, 3rd place in the Cook It Up Unique category for Salt-Free Passion Fruit, Or- ange, Guava Pepper, and re- ceived a 3rd place in the marketing and advertising website category. Salty Wahine has grown from a small part- time business to a nationally recognized fam- ily owned company. Laura has used her business experience to prepare her children to expand the Salty Wahine brand world- wide. Laura's children are the fifth genera- tion to live on Kauai, have graduated from college and have become full time employ- ees assuming all responsibilities, allowing Laura and her husband David to travel to food shows to further market the business. Salty Wahine has won the 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013 "Best of the Best Kauai Made Product" five years in a row, 2017 Pacific Edge Best Hawaii Family Business, 2017 SBA Hawaii Exporter of the Year, Hawaii's 2017 Ho`okela Awards for Retail Merchant of the Year and Fastest Growing Retail Mer- chant in Hawaii, 2016 Pacific Business News Fastest Fifty Award, 2015 Kauai Fil- ipino Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year, and 2012 Kauai Economic De- velopment Board Agricultural Business Plan Competition 1st Place Winner. For more information, go to www.salty wahine.com, call 808.378.4601 or visit booth #6212. Funky Chunky Makes Chocolate Truly Unique Everyone seeks the unique, special item. Nearly everyone loves chocolate. So how do you make chocolate truly unique? Funky Chunky ® does "unique" one bite at a time, along with a side of fun. Funky Chunky is a gourmet snack featur- ing buttery caramel popcorn drizzled with different types of chocolate with added com- binations of other sweet and salty surprises. With funky, fun flavors like Chip-Zel-Pop (potato chips, pretzels and popcorn), Peanut Butter Cup Popcorn (popcorn, peanuts and peanut butter cups) Sweetheart Mix (cinna- mon flavored caramel popcorn with red hot cinnamon pieces) and nine more surprisingly unexpected combinations, each bite reveals a slightly nuanced flavor palette. You simply cannot stop yourself from having a second, third, fourth (and so on) bite. Funky Food Trends According to Packaged Facts, food gifting sales hovers around 18 billion, up nearly 5 percent. Funky Chunky's decadent delicious- ness checks all the boxes when it comes to fulfilling gift wish trends. Unique Pre-Wrapped Foods Special or unique items, things people would not ordinarily purchase for themselves, are at the top of the gift-givers' list. Pre-wrapped, pleasing gift packaging that showcases product variety and comes from a trusted brand are also priorities. Funky Chunky comes in bags or canisters, gift-ready for family, friends, business associates or for your- self when you need a little decadent pick-me-up. Healthier Chocolate Chocolate gifts still top the most-wanted gift lists. But as consumers are driven to make healthier choices, mix-ins such as dried fruits, nuts and pretzels make for a more sophisti- cated and substantial snack. Funky Chunky's combina- tion of sweet and salty ingre- dients such as dark, white and milk chocolate, caramel, pretzels, potato chips, peanut butter and even espresso beans takes mix-ins to a whole new level. For more information, visit booth #1248, go to www.funkychunkyinc.com, email info@funkychunky.com or call 888.473.8659. Just Jan's Remakes an Old Favorite When Just Jan's started, there were 13 fla- vors. As a new brand, launching with that many flavors was ambitious. With so many choices it was difficult to get a following for all of the flavors, and so some flavors were archived. In the meantime, the company has its core product mix while creating new flavors and continuing to look for new and innovative ways to reach its audience (2016 sofi Final- ist, Tangerine Sriracha). Even though it's al- ways trying to create new flavors and prod- ucts, those early flavors remain a constant source of inspiration. Customers who were fortunate enough to taste some of those first products still pine for them, and new cus- tomers want to try what they missed out on. This has been particularly true of the Apri- cot Pepper Spread. Over the years, it has been one of the company's most requested old flavors. Whether in messages to the web- site or in person at shows, customers always ask about Apricot Pepper. For years, the company told them it didn't have it, but that it might come back. Apricot Pepper was always a favorite of Jan's, and she prom- ised herself that one day she would re-release it. Jan being Jan though, this flavor could not sim- ply be re-released, so Jan revis- ited the original recipe. For this new version, Jan switched from dried apricots to fresh apricots. In addition, the blend of peppers has been changed. This blend will feature jalapeno as well as the bell pepper from the original. The result is a sweet spicy spread that will pair per- fectly with cheese or any dish you want to add a kick to. This Apricot Pepper is sure to delight fans both new and old. Look for this new old favorite this month. For more information, go to www.justjans.com, call 818.282.6236, email jan@justjans.com or visit booth #1374.

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