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Kitchenware News & Housewares Review Show Daily Monday, March 12, 2018 3 8 Lunch Boxable Snacks for Millennial Parents By Lorrie Baumann The oldest members of the Millennial Generation are now in their mid-30s, which means that a great many of them have become parents who now have school-age children. That simple calculation has the food industry scrambling to provide products that those parents will feel comfortable about pack- ing into their kids' lunch boxes. As one example, Creative Snacks Co., which just won a 2017 sofi award best new prod- uct in the savory snacks category for its Organic Coconut Snacks with Cranberries, Cashews, Almonds and Chia Seeds, also offers Baked Almond Clusters in five flavors that include various combinations of dried fruit, nuts and seeds for a snack the company is marketing as "Real Good, Feel Good Snacks." The Almond Clusters are made in small batches and offer a 28-day shelf life. The 4-ounce bag retails for $3.99. The company is also launching 1-ounce, 2.75-ounce and 3.5-ounce snack packs, so there's a range of sizes that will work in lunches. GoodnessKNOWS Snack Squares are a similar product that amps up the sweetness with more fruit and dark chocolate. Four bite-size snack squares are packaged together into a bar-sized pack with a 150 calorie count that retails for about $1.49. There are currently six flavors, with five more scheduled to launch in 2018. The current offering includes top-sell- er Cranberry & Almond, Strawberry & Peanut and Mixed Berry & Almond, each of them combining fruit, whole nuts and dark chocolate. Next year's launches will be nut varieties without fruit, which will amp up the protein and lower sugar. The snack squares are non-GMO and gluten free, and they contain no artificial colors, fla- vors or sweeteners. They're offered in 12-count singles cartons and 5-count multipacks. Cheesewich, which is a product with two slices of high-quality cheese from Burnett Dairy sand- wiched around a slice of deli meat, is currently offered in four varieties: Cheddar Jack Cheese & Hard Salami, Colby Jack Cheese & Hard Salami, Provolone Cheese & Hard Salami and Pepper Jack Cheese & Hard Salami. They're packaged in a 2.5-ounce single-serving that's vacuum sealed for a refrigerated 12-month shelf life. Each offers 14 to 16 grams of protein and is gluten free. This fall, Cheesewich will launch Bacon N Eggs, a gas-flushed vacuum- sealed package of two hard-cooked eggs and turkey bacon. The pack- aging offers gro- cers a 60-day shelf life, and the product will retail for some- where around $2.59. G.H. Cretors, better known for its popcorn, just launched Hi I'm Skinny vegetable sticks with a front-of-label claim of 100 calories in each 0.71-ounce single-serving bag. There are three varieties: Sweet Onion, Sweet Potato and Sea Salt. The Sweet Onion and Sea Salt varieties are made with quinoa and whole grain corn meal, and each offers 2 grams of protein and 140 calories per serving. The Sweet Potato variety is made with rice flour and offers 1 gram of protein and 140 calories per serving. Individual packs will retail for 99 cents to $1.49. The company also makes Hi I'm Skinny Protein Snacks in a Mesquite BBQ flavor that offers 5 grams of protein in a 140-calorie serving and Hi I'm Skinny Superfood Sticks in a Mean & Green flavor that includes green pea flour, kale powder and spinach powder in a snack that offers 2 grams of protein in a 130-calorie serving. Nature's Bakery, which markets "Energy for Life's Great Journeys," is offering Organic Brownies in twin packs that are packaged as six twin packs per box. Flavors are Double Chocolate, Cool Mint and Salted Caramel. The company also offers several flavors of Oat Bars that combine oats with various fruits or organic honey. These are also packed in boxes of six twin packs and retail for $4.99 per box. All of these feature the USDA Organic seal on the front and top of the pack- age. One bar of the Honey & Oat bars has 60 calories with 10 from fat and contains 6 grams of sugar. The Organic Brownies, made with stoneground whole wheat flour and organic cane sugar syrup, have about 70 calories per brownie, depending on the flavor, and 6 grams of sugar. SunRidge Farms, makers of organic and natural foods, has just launched its all natural kids mix at the Sweets & Snacks Show in May. The all natural kids mix combines almonds, peanuts, raisins, apples, milk c h o c o l a t e , peanut butter cups and milk chocolate rain- bow drops for a snack that offers 4 grams of protein per serving and is a good source of minerals with low sodi- um. There are no trans fats or h y d r o g e n a t e d oils, and the kids mix con- tains no artifi- cial ingredients. The milk chocolate for the rainbow drops is made with certified Fair Trade Cocoa, and it's non-GMO. Kids mix is offered in bulk cases for parents to package them- selves for those lunch boxes. Finally, You Love Fruit Leather has come up with a healthier alternative to mass market fruit leathers with You Love Fruit and You Love Veggies leathers made with 100 percent fruit and vegetables, so they're gluten free, USDA organic, kosher and non-GMO. The leathers are offered in Mango, Mango Coconut, Apple Cinnamon, Pomberry Acai, Tart Peach, Passion Fruit Punch, Key Lime as well as others, and Carrot & Chia Seed, Spinach & Kale and Spiced Beet Root flavors for the You Love Veggies. They're packaged in 2-serving bags with 45-50 calories per serving. 1- ounce packages retail for about $1.99. Making the Moscow Mule Work for You By Micah Cheek The Moscow Mule has been having a renaissance lately, checking all the boxes for a mixology favorite. A combination of sweet, sour and spicy flavors? Check. Fresh fruit juice? Check. Eye-catching barware? You bet that's a check, and that's what can turn it into a workhorse for your store. The Moscow Mule was created in the early 1940s, and credit for the recipe shifts between a Smirnoff marketing executive, a bar owner and a bartender, depending on who you ask. The distinc- tive copper mug was added as a market- ing promotion. Savvy promoters put up photos of bartenders proudly holding up shiny copper mugs. Now, the Mule is a cocktail classic and bar staple. The Moscow Mule wouldn't be such a classic without that iconic mug. Just like the martini glass, the copper mug is tied to the drink. The warmth and rustic feel of the mug is part of why the Mule is such a popular option right now. A cop- per cup with a nice patina fits right in with olive wood cutting boards, platters glazed to a rustic finish and all the trendi- ness of the farm to table movement that's sweeping the country. A Moscow Mule can make use of a whole set of barware accessories artfully arranged on your demonstration counter: paring knives and small cutting boards for garnishes, jiggers to measure vodka and ginger beer, a citrus reamer for the lime juice, and a zester for both lime peel and fresh ginger. You could set out jars and kits to infuse your alcohol with some extra flavor. The basic recipe is simple: Start with the standard ratio of one part vodka to two parts ginger beer, with lime juice to taste. Substituting tequila makes it a Tijuana Mule, and substituting bourbon makes it a Kentucky Mule. The Parish, a bar in Tucson, Arizona, makes their Caribbean Mule with vanil- la and ginger-infused rum, maraschino cherry liqueur and a dash of bitters. Twist the recipe your- self to make it your own signature cocktail. Put your own new name on it just by adding a different citrus, featuring a local ginger beer, or trying out a fla- vored vodka. Be sure you give it a name that carries along with it a sense of your own brand, just as the name of The Parish's cocktail offers a subtle reminder that New Orleans is the gateway to the Caribbean. Once they've enjoyed the demon- stration in your store, your customers will have learned a valuable lesson in how to build their social capital and plan their own cocktail parties. Offer them your advice on how offering their guests a signature cocktail can simplify their parties. With a photo- friendly mug and a simple recipe, hosts can announce that a signature cocktail will be available, and guests are welcome to bring their own alcohol if they prefer some- thing else. Moscow Mules are also great for batch drinks. Citrus juice and spirits can be mixed together ahead of time. All that needs to happen during the party itself is to pour over ice and add bubbly ginger beer, set- ting the host free from duties behind the bar and enjoy the company of the guests. With a one-time investment in the basic bar tools and a set of copper mugs, all the host needs to do as the actual party approaches is to lay in a bottle of a good spirit and something bubbly to create a focal point for the whole event. And they'll have you and your store to thank for it!