Oser Communications Group

1 2 SNACKING NEWS February 2018 Croccantini Bites Seasoned Snack Crackers La Panzanella ® Artisanal Foods Co., maker of America's No. 1 specialty food cracker, introduces Croccantini ® Bites, ideal for today's on-the-go generation seeking healthier, natural and palate-pleas- ing snacks. The new Croccantini Bites launched a few months ago with three bold flavors and a newly-designed 4.75-ounce re-sealable, stand-up pouch. The new Croccantini Bites are based on La Panzanella's original recipe, but add baked-in, natural flavors finished with a light seasoning on top. The new crackers are truly bite-sized and about half the size of the company's popular Mini Croccantini. Flavors available are: Italian Herb – a perfect blend of Italian flavors inspired by a fresh herb garden; Sundried Tomato Basil – the warm flavor of sundried toma- toes balanced with the sweetness of basil; and Spicy Olive – a savory, olive flavor with spicy red pepper adding a touch of heat. "La Panzanella is delighted to introduce our new Croccan- tini Bites that are right on target with the latest trends in healthy snacking and consumers' growing desire for bold, spicy and ethnic flavors," said Paul Pigott, Chief Ex- ecutive Officer of La Panzanella. "In cre- ating the new Bites, we remained true to our original recipe and the hand-crafted nature of our product using only natural, wholesome ingredients. Our customers have come to love the unique crunch and texture of our Croccantini crackers and now they get all of that plus new exciting flavors in a snacking format." Croccantini Bites contain no preserva- tives and offer multiple benefits to diet- and health-conscious con- sumers at 110 calories per serving. They are all nat- ural, low fat, lactose free, cholesterol free, vegan and certified kosher. The Croccantini Bites stand-up, pouch- style packaging provides grocery, conven- ience and specialty food stores flexibility in merchandising the product. The product can easily be displayed on shelves, wire racks, baskets or temporary shipper displays. The brightly colored, award-winning package, featuring a window to view the product, is also re-sealable to preserve freshness and deliver customer convenience. Seattle-area based La Panzanella Arti- sanal Foods Co. is part of the family- owned company Madrona Specialty Foods. The company's mission is to create uniquely-crafted and always delicious ar- tisan foods. From an all-natural, Non- GMO Verified line of Italian Croccantini crackers to European inspired, all natural Dolcetini ® artisan cookies, La Panzanella products are made with recipes and tradi- tions handed down through generations and preserved today. All products are cer- tified kosher. For more information, go to www .lapanzanella.com. n Eliot's Adult Nut Butters Offer Bold Flavor Fabrique Délices Debuts New Retail Packaging Fabrique Délices has redesigned its entire retail line of products: pâtés, rillettes and mousses, truffle butters, dry and cured meat and specialty meats. The new design gives its retail line a fresh look that better re- flects the high quality of the company's products. "We felt it was time to give our packaging a makeover. We wanted to create a style that accu- rately reflects the arti- sanal side of our products with a twist of modernity," said Sébastien Espinasse, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. The new modern design features a bright color palette that catches the eye. Each label is printed with vivid colors and with the product name written on a chalk- board. This emphasizes the authentic and traditional aspect of the products. This combination creates just the right style for Fabrique Délices charcuterie. With this new change, its products immediately stand out on grocery store shelves. Charcuterie prod- ucts have, undoubt- edly, trended over the last few years – however, pâtés, rillettes and mousses are still unfamiliar to the American diet. In order to demonstrate how to enjoy these specialties, Fabrique Délices sleeves pro- vide easy-to-understand instructions: within the sleeve, drawings detail how to build a charcuterie board, how to unmold pâtés, how to store the products and more. "We want to be sure to provide the tasti- est experience for our customers," said Es- pinasse. The new look has now shipped to retail- ers nationwide and has received great feedback from customers. Fabrique Délices is based in Hayward, California, and has been preparing time- honored classics along with innovative products for more than 30 years. With ded- icated attention to consistent quality, Fab- rique Délices has created an offering of more than 100 traditional French delica- cies, including all-natural pâtés and mousses, duck breast, duck rillettes, boudins, sausages, truffle butters, corni- chons and many more. Fabrique Délices charcuterie is made in the USA with authentic French recipes using simple and high-quality ingredients to provide the best products. Products are available nationwide in local specialty food stores such as Wholefoods Market, Mollie Stone's, Andronico's Market, Draeger's Market, Lunardi's Market, Mill Valley Market, Woodland Market, Schaub's Meat, Sunshine Foods, Bev' Mo Walnut Creek, Gourmet Corner, Gourmet & More, Dean & Deluca, as well as local Bay Area Farmer's Markets in Palo Alto, San Mateo, Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Campbell. For more information, go to www .fabriquedelices.com, email info@fabrique delices.com or call 510.441.9500. n BY LORRIE BAUMANN There are actors for whom subtlety is just overrated. They like to make a splashy en- trance onto the scene. Enter Eliot's Adult Nut Butters, which showed up in the sofi Award competition this year for the first time and promptly took home a silver sofi for Harissa Cashew Butter and the bronze sofi for Spicy Thai Peanut Butter. Harissa Cashew Butter pairs the complex Moroccan hot pepper sauce's flavor with the rich creaminess of cashew butter. The subtle heat and intense spices of Harissa pair incredibly well with the natural sweetness of the cashews. Spicy Thai Peanut Butter blends true Thai flavors, featuring kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, and cayenne chili. It makes great peanut noodles or sauce for broccoli, chicken, tofu or salad rolls. Not a lot of subtlety there — just bold, authentic flavors from a company started just four years ago by Michael Kanter. "I started the company in the Eliot neighbor- hood of Portland, Oregon," Kanter says. "I wanted to pay a homage to the area." The Harissa Cashew Butter and Spicy Thai Peanut Butter are two of Eliot's Adult Nut Butters' current line of seven flavors. The others are Garam Masala Peanut But- ter, Espresso Nib Peanut Butter, Honey Chipotle Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chili Almond Butter and Sriracha Sunflower Butter. They're all based on the concept that adults don't have to grow out of their love for peanut butter as they grow into an appreciation for complex flavors. "We wanted to stand out from a shelf domi- nated by kid flavors and packaging," Kan- ter said. Kanter decided to make the nut butters after taking a step back from his career as a chef. After cooking in restaurants in New York, Seattle and Portland, he was munch- ing on some spiced cashews one day while having a think about his next career move. It occurred to him that he was enjoying that flavor by the handful, so he might also like it as a nut butter. A quick experiment convinced him that the idea had merit. Today, his Spicy Thai Peanut Butter is his best seller. One reason for its success is that the home cook can easily to more with it than just spread it on a cracker, and it's an easy few minutes from having a jar of Eliot's Adult Nut Butters Spicy Thai Peanut But- ter on the shelf to a peanut noodle entree, according to Kanter. "You can make some- thing really foodie-sounding, but the secret is that you just open a jar," he said. "It's a balance of interesting flavors, but they have to work.... I'm not trying to tap into the latest fad." The 12-ounce jars of the peanut butters retail for $8.99. The Sriracha Sunflower Butter retails for $10.99, and the almond and cashew butters retail for $12.99 to $14.99. The products are made in small batches in Portland, Oregon with U.S.- grown peanuts, almonds and sunflower seeds. They're naturally gluten free, and all are vegan. See them at the Winter Fancy Food Show. n

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