Oser Communications Group

GOURMET NEWS MAY 2018 www.gourmetnews.com SUPPLIER NEWS 1 3 Sweet New Look for Local Hive Honey BY LORRIE BAUMANN Sometimes, it's just true that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Rice's Honey is proving that old saying even as the company departs from its long- standing brands in the marketplace, L.R. Rice and Rice Family Honey, in favor of a new brand that reflects another aspect of what the company has always stood for, Local Hive. The change was intended to communicate more immediately to shop- pers the difference between this product and other honeys on the same grocery store shelf, said Tony Landretti, Rice's Honey CEO. "The rebranding effort is to bring for- ward what we do: local honey. When shop- pers are standing at the grocery store shelf, we wanted the first thing people to see is 'local,' and then for them to pick up and look at the label to learn more about the product; for example, seeing the floral notes that make up the honey," he said. "We wanted to create a point of differenti- ation on shelf." Rice's Honey specializes in raw, unfiltered honey, as it has through four generations since the company was founded in 1924 by L.R. Rice, the great-grandfather of Scott Rice, who today buys all the honey for the company. The company produces 16 hon- eys that are specific to different areas in the U.S. and another three that emphasize other attributes: Amber, Clover and Wildflower. The 16 local variants reflect the floral sources that are prevalent in each region. Col- orado Honey, for in- stance, has floral notes from alfalfa, clover and wild- flowers, while So Cal has notes from citrus, sage and berries as well as alfalfa and clover. The honey is sourced from more than 150 local beekeepers across the country through relationships that have often sur- vived from one generation to the next, Lan- dretti says. The honey collected by the beekeepers is tested on-site to validate quality and consistency and then shipped to Greeley, Colorado, where it's packed and labeled for retail sale as pure, raw, unfil- tered honey that retains all of its natural nutrients. "Bees travel. We validate what the beekeepers are saying before we bring it here — with every single load we buy," Landretti says. "It's honey from your backyard. Transparency in food is important. People want to know where their food is coming from. It's local honey that's from closer to home than a lot of the processed honey sold that you can't identify where it is from." In conjunction with the rebranding, the company also has a new website at www .localhivehoney.com that provides con- sumers a way to engage with some of the beekeepers who provide the Local Hive honey, tips for starting a backyard beehive and information about the company's part- nership with Butterfly Pavilion's Pollinator Awareness through Conservation and Ed- ucation program. A portion of the proceeds from every bottle of Local Hive Honey sold goes to support the PACE program. "We're trying to bring all this to life through our brand refresh and bringing it to shoppers across the country," Landretti says. The site also highlights the company's heritage and four generations of involve- ment in beekeeping and honey packing. Landretti himself is the new kid on the block. He joined the company in late 2013 after a career in consumer packaged goods that included various executive positions with Quaker Oats, Campbell Soup and Pinnacle Foods. He's known the Rice fam- ily ever since he met his wife Carol, who grew up across the street from them, so when the family needed some help with the business, they reached out to their old friend to join their hive. "As I continued to get more involved in the business, we started working collectively as a team to drive the business," Landretti says. "The family is still involved, with Scott Rice doing all the honey buying and Mike Lordemann, Julie Rice's husband, running the manufacturing facility." GN Old Croc's Flavored Cheddar Cheeses Win Gold and Silver Old Croc's New Roasted Garlic & Herb Cheddar earned the best of class award in the pasteurized process cheese slices cate- gory, while Old CrocHorseradish Cheddar took second place in the flavored pasteur- ized process cheese category at the World Cheese Championships Contest. " We are tremendously honored to be so highly recognized in this competition be- tween the best cheeses around the globe," said Ken Meyers, President of Trugman- Nash, makers of Old Croc cheese. He added, "With the growing demand for bolder, more flavorful cheeses, we are con- tinually striving to raise the bar in the fla- vored cheese category". Old Croc Roasted Garlic & Herb com- bines the signature bold "bite" of Aus- tralian sharp cheddar with a zesty blend of real garlic and aromatic herbs, while the horseradish cheddar delivers a hearty and distinctively tangy tasting experience. These flavorful cheeses are made with non- GMO ingredients with no added hor- mones. Old Croc's flavored cheddars are distrib- uted by Trugman-Nash, LLC, and will be available in 6-ounce retail chunks, 6-ounce pre-sliced shingle packs and 12-ounce and 1.5-pound variety trays. GN Schuman Cheese Celebrates World Championship Honors Seven new medals prove Schuman Cheese continues to earn its reputation as a world- class cheese maker. Schuman's flagship brand, Cello, earned best in class honors in the Aged Asiago category, as well as medals in other categories. Meanwhile, Schuman's Yellow Door Creamery picked up a silver medal for Tuscan Hand-Rubbed Fontina. Both brands earned recognition in several other categories, as well. All winning entries were made at Schu- man's Lake Country Dairy, which Schuman Cheese opened in 2006 with a singular pas- sion: to make great specialty cheeses. Thanks to rich pastures, pure, fresh water and the careful husbandry of a select group of family farmers, the very best milk from Wisconsin's dairyland goes into every wheel. The result is a family of highly awarded cheeses, including these winners from among this year's record-break- ing 3,402 entries in the World Champi- onship Cheese Contest: Cello Asiago proves that some things truly do grow better with age. Aging for 10 months, a bit longer than most, results in a superior, traditional smooth and balanced flavor. Cello Asiago took best in class honors in the aged Asiago category, while a Cello Extra-Aged Asiago wheel earned third place in the category. Every wheel of Cello Artisan Parmesan is brined, hand-turned and shelf-cured for optimal quality and a complex fla- vor composi- tion that is truly a deli- cious work of art. In the Parmesan cate- gory, Cello Artisan Parmesan earned a silver medal, while Cello Organic Copper Kettle Parmesan rounded out the category with a bronze medal. The heritage of Italian cheese making – hand-crafting, brining and care- ful shelf-curing – gives Cello Fontal its smooth, creamy texture and mild, slightly sweet fla- vor. It also gave Schu- man Cheese a silver medal in the open class for semi-soft cheeses. Schuman Cheese's Yellow Door Creamery brand encourages people to enjoy the amazing range of flavors possible with cheese. The Yellow Door Creamery Hand- Rubbed Fontina line continues to validate this award-worthy concept with its robust rubs hand-smeared on wheels of creamy fontal cheese. The Tuscan variety (a rub of classic Italian herbs and spices) earned sil- ver in the open class for flavored semi-soft cheeses, while Bergamot & Hibiscus (a cus- tom bergamot and hibiscus spice blend) earned a bronze medal. GN

• Cover