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GOURMET NEWS APRIL 2018 www.gourmetnews.com SUPPLIER NEWS 1 3 Something New Under the Greek Sun Rice's Honey Rebrands to Communicate "Local" Rice's ® Honey, which has been producing high quality, U.S.-only raw and unfiltered honey since 1924, has changed the name and packaging of its flagship honey brand to Local Hive. In addition to raw and unfil- tered Clover, Wildflower and Amber Honey sourced exclusively in the U.S., the com- pany also bottles over 12 local varietals from around the country, which predicated the new direction. The brand overhaul features the new name, new label design, new website, up- dated digital advertising and social media. The work was created by Dallas' award- winning advertising agency Johnson & Sekin. "Since Rice's Honey was founded in 1924 by L.R. Rice, we have always remained committed to providing natural, delicious U.S.-only raw and unfiltered honey, while supporting local beekeepers all across the US," said Tony Landretti, Chief Executive Officer of Rice's Honey. "Our new Local Hive will support our local honey products that are an artisan blend of various floral types that are regionally sourced, packed in Greeley, Colorado, and delivered to partic- ipating grocery stores throughout the United States. The label will also stay true to our history and family heritage since 1924." "Over the last six months, we've spent a majority of our time on focus group re- search and concluded that the top two things honey consumers want are local, raw honey that tastes great," said Cale Nel- son, Chief Commercial Officer. "Our net- work of beekeepers across the U.S. allows us to offer a local variety in each market that helps fill that consumer need." Rice's Honey was founded almost 100 years ago, with a mission to produce, pack- age and sell only 100 percent pure, raw and unfiltered honey that is sourced exclusively from local bee farms within the US. Noth- ing is ever added to this natural honey, and all of the nutrients remain in the bottle. Rice's Honey is offered at affordable prices across grocery retailers nationwide. The Local Hive branding will heavily reinforce this message. The new label design change also coin- cides with Rice's new alliance with PACE, Pollinator Awareness Through Conserva- tion and Education, the Butterfly Pavilion's non-profit global initiative to restore habi- tats, strengthen populations and reintro- duce pollinators into native habitats around the world. This partnership and commitment will be communicated on the back of the new label and will highlight how a portion of proceeds from every bot- tle sold of Rice's Honey will be donated to the PACE initiative to promote and protect the prosperity of pollinators worldwide. Rice's Honey has a mission to help promote all pollinators and sustainable bee farms across the country. GN BY LORRIE BAUMANN It's not often that a story about a food prod- uct for the American market begins with an ancient Greek philosopher, but this one does. That's because a Greek philosopher, Theophrastus, who lived between 371 and 287 B.C. wrote a book in which he told us how the Greeks propagated olives. Which means that the Greeks have been taking olives seriously as a food crop for at least that long. That's important today because a new entrant into the olive category, Alive & Well Olives, have introduced olives into the American market using the same tradi- tional methods that might have been ob- served by Theophrastus. Unlike other olives on supermarket shelves or in olive bars today, Alive & Well Olives are natu- rally-cured by lacto-fermentation, the same process that turns cabbage into sauerkraut and milk into cheese. As a result, Alive & Well Olives contain natural probiotic lac- tobacillus cultures that remain active in the olive flesh and in the brine. "There is some- thing new under the sun, even if it's some- thing that existed a thousand years ago," says Greg Leonard, a Founding Partner of Alive & Well Olives who's intent on liven- ing up a category that even he is used to thinking of as totally mature. Ancient, even. Leonard and four other partners started the company two years ago with the idea that they wanted to bring a product to mar- ket that would fit with the values they'd es- poused through their careers in the natural products industry. Leonard himself spent over 40 years as a senior executive for Tree of Life, a natural and specialty foods dis- tributor that's now part of KeHE. "I cer- tainly understand the challenges of going to market and enjoy navigating that path thoughtfully and in a collaborative way with re- tailers to get to the con- s u m e r, " he says. "If you had asked me three years ago when this no- tion of developing a branded product line came up in conversation, olives probably wouldn't have made the list.... What we quickly came to realize was how little we – or most people who enjoy Mediterranean food – really understood about how virtu- ally all olives today are grown and processed. Our 'aha moment' was the real- ization that ... in the 50s and 60s, the tra- ditional growing and processing techniques were replaced by chemical-based processes designed to speed time-to-shelf and extend shelf life." Most commercially produced olives found on grocery shelves or in olive bars are pasteurized and often lye-cured to accelerate the fermentation process, ac- cording to Leonard. Black olives are either dyed using ferrous gluconate or subjected to rapid cures that are accelerated through artificial means. "Speeding up the process reduces the cost and the curing time to weeks instead of the months required by natural fermentation," Leonard says. Alive & Well Olives are grown in Greece on small family farms and vil- lage farming c o o p e r a t i v e s . The olives stay under the care of the same group of growers throughout the curing process until they're packed. In contrast to commercially produced olives, Alive & Well Olives are organically and sustainably grown, non-GMO verified, harvested by hand, naturally fermented and probiotic, and authentic and traceable back to the groves in which each olive variety is grown. Alive & Well Olives are packaged in the original mother brine in which they were cured. "The mother brine itself is loaded with probiotics and can be used in salad dressings, or in pasta dishes. It adds a nice, round olive flavor to the dish, and you're getting those additional health benefits that come with the probiotics in the mother brine," Leonard says. "To a large degree, it was the fact that these olives had such a ro- bust story and long list of on-trend benefits that caused our team, Legacy III Partners, to go into this particular product category." In contrast with most of those other olives, Alive & Well Olives still have the pits in them, which improves their flavor and prevents the tissue damage to the olives that occurs when the pits are re- moved. Alive & Well Olives, packaged in glass jars, are sold in the fermented foods section of the refrigerator case. They're of- fered in six varieties: Kalamata, which of- fers pungent earthy aromas and the supple nutty accents of the classic Kalamata flavor; Chalkidiki, a firm green olive with crispy, savory and peppery notes that pairs well with sweet accompaniments; Atalanti, which has a complex balance of sweet and savory flavors; Green Rovies, with a rich and buttery flavor with a long finish and a bitter aftertaste; Black Rovies, which offer subtle flavors of peach and pear and end with acidic and balsamic notes that balance out the richness; and Green Mix, which in- cludes a blend of Kalamata, Atalanti, Chalkidiki and Green Rovies. The com- pany guarantees a minimum of six months of shelf life from delivery to retail. GN Red Duck Foods Continued from PAGE 1 ripe, organic tomatoes and other organic ingredients. "We were committed to using organic ingredients. They tasted better, and we thought they were the right thing to do," says Hilbert. Then, last year, the company took an- other step forward by becoming a Certified B Corp. "In addition to sourcing good in- gredients, we wanted to take the next step as a company and let people know we were more than just about making a profit," Hilbert says. It's a project that the company had been working on ever since the partners heard what B Corps are all about: for-profit com- panies certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and envi- ronmental performance, accountability, and transparency. They knew right away that they wanted that model for their business. The long application process was their first hurdle, and what their answers to the detailed questions showed both them and B Lab was that their company didn't yet measure up. "You have to document every- thing," Hilbert says. "We failed miserably the first time we took it." But if the process showed them that they didn't measure up — yet — it also showed them where they could improve. After a year off to regroup and recover from the disappointment, Red Duck tried again. "They're great coaches in helping you put good practices in place to edge closer to that certification," Hilbert says. "We use it to keep ourselves honest and grow a strong business inside and out. What has been most wonderful about joining the growing community has been the outpouring of support from other certified B Corps. They're working with us." For Hilbert, B Corp certification is less a marketing tool, since consumers don't know much about it, than a tool to improve the the supply chain for the ingredients in her company's products, but Red Duck's commitment to transparency goes even be- yond that. We can do everything in our way to make sure that all of our practices mean that the consumer is getting an hon- est sauce. The rising tide lifts all boats. If more companies are committed to trans- parency, maybe we'll see less headlines about people taking shortcuts." Today, Red Duck Foods is aiming at world "condiment domination." The com- pany's products are distributed in 2,500 stores. Most of those are in the United States, but in 2017, the company began ex- porting to Canada, Australia and Hong Kong and is expecting to add more coun- tries to that list this year. "There is a thirst for American-style sauces abroad. But the taste is also for companies with honest in- gredients, transparent business practices, and a good story behind them," Hilbert says. The company's product line-up includes its Original Ketchup, Smoky Ketchup, Curry Ketchup and Spicy Ketchup along with Smoked Applewood Molasses, Hot Honey Chipotle and Sweet Mustard Pep- percorn BBQ Sauces and a Seafood Cocktail Sauce. The newest introductions are a trio of organic taco sauces that can be used both as condiment and simmer sauce. They are Approachably Mild Taco Sauce, Uniquely Korean Taco Sauce and Actually Spicy Taco Sauce. "It's been a pretty fun ride," Hilbert says. "We're seeing a lot of Millennials who are willing to spend money on companies that are authentic and have social values in place. We are Millennials. We can tell that story to our peers." GN

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