Oser Communications Group

1 6 SNACKING NEWS February 2018 Superfood Credentials Butter Up Chocolate Introductions 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 de- livers 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 famil- iar 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 com- pany is better known includes OCHO Co- conut, OCHO Peanut Butter, OCHO Caramel & Peanut and OCHO Dark Chocolate PB. The Dark Chocolate PB is the company's newest offering, while Co- conut is its best seller. All of the bars are made from simple, high-quality ingredi- ents, 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 vari- eties. Each 3.52-ounce pouch of OCHO minis contains eight snack-size pieces and retails for $4.49 to $4.99. All of the prod- ucts are made from the company's state- of-the-art facility in Oakland, California. The Happy Chocolatier, based in Acton, Massachusetts, is launching a dark choco- late orange truffle Cubze™ to augment the company's line of confections. This new all-natural truffle Cubze has a dark choco- late center infused with essence of orange in a cube-shaped truffle serving. There's an inspirational message about happiness hand-wrapped into each piece. The com- pany's new seasonal gift collection pres- ents the truffle Cubze in elegant silver gift boxes featuring festive bands for the Christmas season. For specialty food outlets and gift shops, the truffle Cubze are available in a new counter display that features 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 for this holiday sea- son. Thindulgent Chocolate Bark will be offered in two new flavors: Dark Choco- late Peppermint and Caramel Pretzel Milk Chocolate. The peppermint dark chocolate pieces topped with peppermint flakes practically sing Christmas carols, and Caramel Pretzel Milk Chocolate flavor of- fers both salty and sweet tastes. Each bag retails for $4.49. Brownie Brittle is also offering two new seasonal flavor twists on the company's flagship product. Chocolate Chip Brownie Brittle 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 of- fered 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 Pepper- mint Dark Chocolate Bites are chocolate chip Brownie Brittle morsels as well, cov- ered in a layer of peppermint 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, so we'll be seeing some launches at the Winter Fancy Food Show in January. Among the new products, we'll see bars with Almonds, Toffee & Sea Salt; Almonds & Sea Salt and a filled bar with S t r a w b e r r y Creme. The large 3.2- ounce bars will retail for $3.19. The company will also be offer- ing elevated versions of the nut butter cup with Hazelnut Butter Cups in Dark Choco- late and Salted Caramel Cups in Dark Chocolate packaged in two-packs that will retail for $1.99 and individually packaged cups that will re- tail for $1 each. The company will also be un- veiling two new pouched Bites, Almonds & Sea Salt in Dark Chocolate Bites and Assorted Bites. These pouches of indi- vidually wrapped Bites contain a bit less than 6 ounces and will retail for $7.99. Cho- colove is also introducing a ranged of un- wrapped chocolate-covered snack bites that are built around the company's best- selling flavors. Dark Chocolate Salted Al- monds, Dark Chocolate Almond Toffee and Dark Chocolate Pretzels will be of- fered 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 sellers, the Panther, Owl and Bald Eagle. Panther 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 chocolate, 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 calo- ries, so this is an indulgent treat, but the 19 grams of sugar are less than the sugar con- tent of competing fruit and chocolate bites products, says NibMor Inc. CEO Ralph Chauvin. The 5.4-ounce stand-up pouches retail for $4.99. n BY LORRIE BAUMANN The holiday season just wouldn't be the same without chocolate, and 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 consumers' will- ingness to pay more for quality products that boast fair trade and organic certifica- tions. 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 pro- tein 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 doesn't have chocolate in it. All four cookie varieties 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 in- clude them are real dark chocolate, and none of them contain artificial sweeteners, dairy, soy, eggs, palm oil or margarine. The individually packaged cookies retail for $2.39 apiece. Navitas Organics, long a darling of health- and socially-conscious consumers, specializes in products that offer superfood nutrition, and its Coffee Cacao and Cacao

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