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5 April 2018 SNACKING NEWS Quince & Apple Acquires Treat Bake Shop Quince & Apple, the Madison, Wisconsin- based producer of fruit preserves and syrups, has acquired Treat Bake Shop, which makes spiced and candied nuts. Pro- duction of the Treat Bake Shop products moved to Quince & Apple's Madison kitchen in mid-March. "We have long admired the company and brand that Sarah has built," said co- Founder Matt Stoner Fehsenfeld. "We've had the pleasure of working together many times and are very excited to be bringing the Treat Bake Shop brand and products into the Quince & Apple family." "Treat and Quince & Apple are really a perfect fit," said co-Founder Clare Stoner Fehsenfeld. "There are just so many simi- larities in the way we manage our brands, the care we show our customers and, most importantly, the fact that we've both stayed true to small-batch artisan produc- tion methods as we've grown." "I am incredibly proud of the Treat brand I have built and very excited for Quince and Apple's ability to extend its reach even further," said Treat Bake Shop Founder Sarah Marx Feldner. "I have a ton of re- spect for Matt and Clare, and I couldn't think of a better place for Treat to flourish." Quince & Apple, which was founded by the Stoner Fehsenfelds in 2009, has ex- panded beyond its Midwest base to grow its national profile and sales over the past several years by patiently building a trusted network of distributors, brokers and accounts that value high-end, artisan products. "We are excited to be able to use the re- sources we've built to introduce Treat Bake Shop's spiced and candied nuts to a wider national audience," said Matt Stoner Fehsenfeld. This represents the first acquisition by Quince & Apple in its nine-year history, but Clare Stoner Fehsenfeld says she hopes it's just the first of many. "There are so few options for owners of small, artisan food businesses if they want to sell," said Clare Stoner Fehsenfeld. "They make great products and build great brands that have tremendous value, but their companies are often too small to at- tract the interest of larger, conventional food companies or investors. By bringing Treat into the business we've already built, it will give both brands some of the advan- tages of being a part of a larger company, while being able to retain that true artisan touch." "We've lived what it's like to build an artisan food company from the ground up for nine years, so we understand that founders don't want to sell to just anyone," added Matt Stoner Fehsenfeld. "You want to make sure your buyer truly understands what you've built and how much of your heart is in it. You need to feel sure that they will care for it as it grows in a way that you feel good about. That's what we're going to doing with Treat Bake Shop and, hope- fully, we'll have the chance to do the same with other brands in the future." n Something New Under the Greek Sun 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, has introduced olives into the American market using the same tradi- tional methods that Theophrastus might have been observed. Unlike other olives on supermarket shelves or in olive bars today, Alive & Well Olives are naturally-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 lactobacillus cul- tures that remain active in the olive flesh and in the brine. "There is something new under the sun, even if it's something that existed a thousand years ago," says Greg Leonard, a Founding Partner of Alive & Well Olives who's intent on livening 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 market that would fit with the values they'd espoused through their careers in the natural products industry. Leonard himself spent more than 40 years as a senior execu- tive for Tree of Life, a natural and specialty foods distributor that's now part of KeHE. "I certainly understand the challenges of going to market and enjoy navigating that path thoughtfully and in a collaborative way with retailers to get to the consumer," he says. "If you had asked me three years ago when this notion 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 virtually all olives today are grown and processed. Our 'aha moment' was the realization that ... in the 50s and 60s, the traditional 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 gro- cery shelves or in olive bars are often lye- cured to accelerate the fermentation process, according to Leonard. And all are pasteur- ized. Black olives are either dyed using fer- rous 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 village farming cooperatives. The olives stay under the care of the same group of grow- ers throughout the curing process until they're packed. In contrast to commer- cially 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 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 ben- efits 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 robust story and long list of on- trend benefits that caused our team, Legacy III Partners, to go into this partic- ular 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 fla- vor; 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. n Iconic Meat-Sub Category Leader Returns Worthington, an original mainstream leader in plant-based meats, successfully returns to the alternative meats category with the launch of 15 meaty, savory and delicious Plant Powered™ products. Worthington's delicious new lineup of frozen vegan/meatless plant-based prod- ucts is being embraced nationally. New options include the savory and delicious Worthington Burger, Deli Dog, and Stakelets™. Deli-style options include 4 pound rolls and pre-sliced Meatless Deli Slices - Turkey, Ham, Chicken, Corned Beef. Dinner Roast™, Turkey Roast, and Sausage Links are certain to delight the whole family of meat-lovers and vegetar- ians alike. Now for the first time, all Worthington products are made with non-GMO protein, and contain no artificial flavors, no artifi- cial colors, and no artificial preservatives. The Worthington Research & Develop- ment team is led by world-class food pro- tein scientist Dr. James Chen. Dr. Chen has lead major breakthrough advancements in the latest plant-based meat technology, with brands including Morningstar Farms, Gardenburger and Kashi. Since joining the company in 2017, ground breaking new innovations in Plant Powered meat alter- natives have been added to the Worthing- ton lineup. In 2016, Heritage Health Food, led by President/Chief Executive Officer Don Otis, acquired the Worthington brand from the Kellogg Company and combined it with Cedar Lake Foods, a vegetarian foods brand/manufacturing facility. For more information, go to www .eatworthington.com. n