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GOURMET NEWS MARCH 2018 www.gourmetnews.com News & Notes NEWS & NOTES 3 BRIEFS Meijer Simply Give Program Sets Record Year The Meijer Simply Give program set a record in 2017 with nearly $8.5 million – the equivalent of at least 84.8 million meals – for food pantries through the Midwest, bringing the program's overall donation to more than $37 million since its inception in 2008. The retailer's most recent campaign – held during the holiday season – resulted in more than $3.1 million, or at least 31 million meals, alone for hungry families. It was the program's best campaign ever. Food Allergy Research & Education Announces Search for New CEO After almost four years at the helm of Food Allergy Research & Education, Dr. James R. Baker Jr. is leaving his posts as CEO and Chief Medical Officer. Under Baker's leadership, FARE has established the FARE Clinical Network, the FARE Patient Registry and the FARE Investigator in Food Allergy Awards, which have advanced innovation and achievement in food allergy research. Janet Atwater, Chair of FARE's Board of Directors, announced that FARE will begin a nationwide search for a new CEO and Chief Medical Officer. The Food Institute Names Chaudary CEO The Food Institute is expanding its management team with the addition of Haq Chaudary as Chief Executive Officer. Chaudary brings 20 years of experience in leading finance, category management and sales teams at companies including ARYZTA, North America; US Foodservice (US Foods) and Sara Lee. Brian Todd, President of The Food Institute since 2002 with more than 37 years of industry expertise, and Chaudary will continue the organization's mission to provide information about the food industry. Carol Medlin Joins Feeding America as Chief Program Officer Carol Medlin has joined Feeding America as Chief Program Officer. Feeding America's network of 200 food banks and more than 60,000 food pantries and meal programs serves 46 million Americans, including nearly 13 million children, and provides more than 4 billion meals annually. Medlin will oversee Feeding America's programs and partnerships that help increase people's access to nutritious foods and support the health and financial well-being for people facing hunger, with the goal of ending hunger in America. Additionally, she will guide the organization's strategic research agenda to identify insights about hunger in America and create a body of evidence and data to help shape policy and strategy for achieving a hunger-free America. Hain Celestial Announces Expanded Credit Facility The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. has announced the closing of an expanded, unsecured $1.3 billion senior credit facility led by Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo Bank. Specialty Food Association Honors Six with Leadership Awards mons of Waiakea Hawaiian Volcanic Water in Culver, California, was recognized for the company's social mission: The com- pany donates a week's supply of clean water to drought-stricken regions of Malawi for every liter sold. More than 500 million liters of water have been channeled to rural regions through the company's charity part- ner, Pump Aid. Sam Mogannum of Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco, California, was also honored in the citizenship category for the company's many contributions to its community, in- cluding a nonprofit called 18 Reasons, a subsidized cooking school that gives con- sumers confidence to buy, cook and eat good food. The program connects with roughly 6,000 students and community members per year. "We're all about community, love, pas- sion and integrity," Mogannum said. Speak- ing of 18 Reasons, he said, "We all need to lead with more love." Mohammed Ashour of the Aspire Food Group in Austin, Texas, was honored in the vision category. Aspire aims to end hunger and protein insuffiencies by producing roasted cricket snacks under the Aketta label here in the United States. The com- pany also grows palm weevil larvae for fam- ily sustenance in Ghana. Thierry Ollivier of Natierra by Brand- storm in Van Nuys, California, was also honored in the vision category. Ollivier's company was the first to offer Himalayan pink salt in the United States, and intro- duced the goji berry to Whole Foods. The company's Feed a Soul program provides a meal for every child in a school in Haiti. "So far, we have provided 350,000 free meals to school children," Ollivier said. "Our goal is 1 million meals in 2018." In a poignant moment, he dedicated his award to his late two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, who died two days before Feed a Soul launched. "These six specialty food entrepreneurs reflect the great power and impact of our growing industry on society at large," said Phil Kafarakis, President of the Specialty Food Association. "It's an honor to recog- nize their positive social, economic, and environmental achievements – all under- taken while also meeting the daily chal- lenges of managing successful businesses." Nominations were made by members of the Specialty Food Association and others in the specialty food industry. A panel of judges composed of industry ex- perts and influencers selected the hon- orees from more than 50 nominees. The judges included: Polly Adema, University of the Pacific, San Francisco, California; Cathy Cochran-Lewis, Whole Foods Market, Austin, Texas; Lou Cooperhouse, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey; Margaret Core, Food Marketing Institute, Washington, D.C.; Maren Kee- ley, Conscious Company Magazine, Seat- tle, Washington; Bruce Nierenberg, Greyston Bakery, Yonkers, New York; John Raiche, UNFI, Providence, Rhode Island; and Lisa Sposato, City Harvest, New York, New York. GN BY ROBIN MATHER The Specialty Food Association recognized the positive contributions of six members who, while running their own businesses, took time to do something to improve their communities and the world. The sixth annual Leadership Awards were presented to the re- cipients at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, California, in January. Former Whole Foods Co-CEO Walter Robb keynoted the awards ceremony, speaking about how quickly things have changed in the specialty foods industry, and the imperative for retailers to keep up. "Salt, butter and sugar — that was the Holy Trinity in the early days of the Specialty Food Association," he said. "We have never seen a rate of change happening this fast. The present has never been this temporary." He urged the audience to "lead from a sense of purpose and of mission," which helped him grow Whole Foods from a "lit- tle natural foods store in 1978" to the retail leader it is today. New retailing opportuni- ties mean that "we're all looking at an in- credibly expanding world of food in an endless aisle." The awards recognized two business owners in each of three categories: business leadership, citizenship and vision. In the business leadership category, honorees were recognized for advancing best practices to benefit food industry em- ployees. Meg Barnhart of The Zen of Slow Cooking in Lake Forest, Illinois, was lauded for the company's social mission of hiring employees with disabilities for their packaging team. The Zen of Slow Cooking also recently became a Certified B Corp. "Who knew a slow cooker would be a vehicle for change?" Barnhart quipped while noting that her company got its be- ginnings in her discovery of the slow cooker as a boon to the overburdened mother. The company's Sichuan Slow Cooker Spice Blend won a sofi Award for best new product in the seasonings and spice category last year. Christopher J. Patton of the Midwest El- derberry Cooperative and River Hills Har- vest Marketers LLC of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was also honored in the in the business leadership category. Under Pat- ton's guidance, a cooperative of elderberry growers got its start in the upper Midwest, giving growers a chance to compete against imported European elderberry products. "Thanks for recognizing a co-op that harvests this nutrition-dense little berry," Patton said. "It shows that human coop- eration will not go away, despite technol- ogy." In the citizenship category, Ryan Em-

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