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GOURMET NEWS MARCH 2018 www.gourmetnews.com Supplier News SUPPLIER NEWS 6 BRIEFS White Coffee Pours on Innovation, Customer Service BY LORRIE BAUMANN Tremendous competition in the coffee space means that the retailer most likely to succeed is nimble, aware of the trends mov- ing the market and partnered with a pur- veyor who possesses those same attributes along with an appetite for innovation, says Jonathan White of White Coffee. He's a third-generation member of the family that started White Coffee in 1939, when David White started selling coffee to foodservice companies. His mother, Carole, is the company's current President and the woman who makes it the woman-owned company it is today. Jonathan White is the company's Executive Vice President, to the extent that titles ever actually mean very much in a company that's as much family as business. "It's important for retailers to seek out a coffee solution provider that's nimble and creative enough to meet the de- mands of consumers," he said. White Coffee is meeting that standard with proprietary packages and products such as its trademarked Bio-Cup™, the en- vironmentally friendly way to enjoy one cup of coffee convenience. The BioCup is both compostable and biodegradable, with 90 percent degradation after six months. Combined with White Coffee's best coffees, BioCup provides superior quality in an en- vironmentally friendly, convenient plat- form. White Coffee's facilities are rated at SQF Level 3, assuring customers that they can assure their customers that White Cof- fee delivers both quality and safety of the highest order, White said. White Coffee has also entered into part- nerships with major brands to create li- censed coffee and hot chocolate products that combine the White Coffee prod- uct quality with the name recogni- tion of brands like Kahlua, Entenmann's and Jim Beam. Those partnerships also offer retailers the opportunity to benefit by an associa- tion in the consumer's mind between coffee and something else that they already feel good about, White said. "We understand the importance of creative and thematic packaging," he added. White's Coffee serves a broad range of re- tail channels, including mass market stores, club stores and specialty shops, providing insights and best practices from all of those channels to each customer and offering customers a wide range of resources to help sell – including training for sales staff in the field and meeting with department man- agers for tastings and demonstrations. "Our job is to make it easy for them to sell a lot of coffee," White said. Along with those advantages, White Cof- fee also offers great customization and flex- ibility, so that the company's customers can enjoy the opportunity to modify White Coffee products – even those produced under license from another brand – into a product that's unique. K-cup boxes can range from 10 to 100 pieces and Nespresso- compatible capsules are also available. Cof- fee bags can range from 1.5 ounces to 3 pounds, and any of those packages can in- corporate the licensed brand names to cre- ate the product that's the perfect blend of customization, convenience, quality and flavor to distinguish a retailer's product as- sortment from that of competitors, even within the mass market. At the same time, White Coffee has been a pioneer in specialty cof- fee for 40 years, selling single-ori- gin premium coffee brands since long before third-wave coffee shops made those trendy. White Coffee's Ethiopia Yargacheffe, for instance, represents the finest Ethiopian coffee. Sourced from the mountains of southeast- ern Ethiopia, it possesses unique sweetness and fruitiness with floral flavors and winey characteristics with a light, smooth body. White Coffee's Brazil Bourbon Santos, one of the finest coffees grown in Brazil, comes from the Bourbon variety of coffee tree and has a sweet flavor with medium acidity and strong aroma. There's even a certified or- ganic choice from White Coffee: its Or- ganic Rainforest Blend. In addition to its range of coffee varieties and blends, White Coffee has added multi- ple packaging lines to its range within the past couple of years, including hot choco- late products offered in K-cups, tins and single-serving envelopes. "We love the cof- fee business," White said. "We know it's one of the first things people count on every morning, and one of the things they end their day with. Coffee is a vehicle for friends and family to be together, and we want to contribute a great product for them." GN Ronnoco Coffee Hires New CEO Ronnoco Coffee LLC, a leading coffee roaster and specialty beverage solutions provider, today announced the hiring of Terry McDaniel as its new CEO and board Member. He previously served as president/CEO of Inventure Foods Incorporated for the past 11 years where he led the turnaround of the company to become one of the leading growth companies in the healthy natural food segment. As a well-respected and recognized food industry leader, McDaniel brings more than 30 years of food and beverage management experience to Ronnoco Coffee. In addition to his role at Inventure Foods, he has had significant sales and marketing roles at Grand Metropolitan Company (Häagen-Dazs), Nestle and Tropicana Products. Red Duck Foods Announces Recognition as a Certified B Corp Red Duck Foods, Inc., a premier sauce company committed to crafting superior organic products, is now a Certified B Corp. The nonprofit B Lab ® awards its certification to companies that meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance. Red Duck specializes in unique twists on familiar favorites. With a keen eye for honest ingredients and nuanced flavors, Red Duck's artisan products elevate any meal and help to cut time spent in the kitchen. Applegate Relaunches Two Pepperoni Varieties as Snacks Applegate has turned to old-school dry-curing techniques to offer Americans two new pepperoni products that are natural, portable and totally snack-able. Applegate Naturals ® Pork & Beef Pepperoni and Applegate Naturals Turkey Pepperoni provide a dose of zesty flavor without a trace of added chemical nitrites, nitrates or any artificial ingredients or preservatives. Applegate Naturals Pork & Beef Pepperoni and Applegate Naturals Turkey Pepperoni are now available in 4-ounce re- sealable packs at select retailers nationwide. Talenti Gelato & Sorbetto Announces New 2018 Flavors Talenti ® 's new Crafted with Less Sugar flavor line has half the sugar and less fat compared to regular ice cream and 120 calories per serving. Made with the sweetening power of monk fruit, the new line offers consumers better-for-you gelato options without compromising on taste, and features three decadent and delicious flavors: Talenti Vanilla Cinnamon Gelato, made with cinnamon steeped vanilla gelato, sweetened with monk fruit juice and a cinnamon swirl; Mint Cookie Crunch Gelato, made with fresh mint leaves, sweetened with monk fruit juice and crunchy chocolate cookie pieces; and Chocolate Fudge Swirl Gelato, which leads with rich dark chocolate gelato, sweetened with monk fruit juice and an indulgent fudge swirl. Green Dirt Farm Wins 2018 Good Food Award for Cheese Green Dirt Farm, an artisan cheese maker from Weston, Missouri, just northwest of Kansas City, has won a 2018 Good Food Award for cheese with Prairie Tomme, a rustic, mountain-style, sheep's milk cheese. The Good Food Awards celebrate food that is made by pro- ducers who are driven by standards and ideals beyond the profit mo- tive. This year's awards were celebrated on Jan- uary 19 at an awards ceremony and market- place in San Francisco to honor Good Food Award recipients. In its eighth year, Good Food Awards were presented to winners in 15 categories: beer, cider, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, coffee, confections, preserved fish, honey, oils, pantry, pickles, preserves, spirits and elixirs. Awards were presented to producers from each of five regions of the U.S. Win- ning products are entitled to use the Good Food Awards Seal on packag- ing and market- ing materials. "We are thrilled to have won a Good Food Award for Prairie Tomme," says Green Dirt Founder and Manager Sarah Hoffmann. "This award validates our commitment to making fantastic cheese while also being the very best stewards of our land, our an- imals and our people. We know that a proj- ect like this requires not just a dedicated team and lofty goals, but also a whole com- munity of supporters to make the dream a reality, and we are incredibly thankful for this support!" Green Dirt Farm has been making award winning cheeses on an Animal Welfare Ap- proved dairy farm northwest of Kansas City since 2008. The company's cheeses have won numerous accolades, including seven awards at last year's American Cheese So- ciety Judging & Competition. In 2012, the creamery expanded its production to in- clude milk from other nearby dairies that share Green Dirt Farm's passion for hu- mane animal treatment and environmen- tally sustainable farm practices. GN

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