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GOURMET NEWS JUNE 2018 www.gourmetnews.com SUPPLIER NEWS 1 5 Bolthouse Farms Launches Plant Protein Milk As consumer appetite grows for more nu- tritious plant-based, dairy-free products, Bolthouse Farms, the largest producer of baby carrots in North America, has combined over 100 years of farming tradition with modern nutrition to develop Bolthouse Farms ® Plant Protein Milk. Re- frigerated and non-dairy, Bolt- house Farms Plant Protein Milk contains 10 grams of pea protein per 8-ounce serving, versus only one gram of protein in almond milk, and has 50 percent more calcium than dairy milk. A protein-packed, delicious al- ternative that appeals to both tra- ditional dairy and alternative dairy milk drinkers, Bolthouse Farms Plant Protein Milk is a nutritious option every- one can enjoy. With a creamy consistency and clean flavor, Bolthouse Farms Plant Protein Milk is vegan, non-GMO and does not contain common allergens like dairy, nuts and soy, or intolerances like lactose and gluten. "Current alternative milk options don't address the needs of more than 40 percent of people seeking great tasting, nutrient rich, allergy-free options," said Suzanne Ginestro, Chief Marketing and In- novation Officer, C-Fresh, the divi- sion of the Campbell Soup Company that owns the Bolthouse Farms brand. "Our Plant Protein Milk was created to satisfy the grow- ing number of consumers seeking plant-based proteins, as well as tra- ditional dairy milk drinkers looking for better food choices that are also rich in calcium." According to recent data from In- formation Resources, Inc., the non- dairy milk segment is expected to grow to $4 billion by 2020. Bolt- house Farms Plant Protein Milk will drive the plant-based alternative milk category forward by aligning with consumers de- mand for great-tasting, better food choices that connect with their nutrition and lifestyle needs. Bolthouse Farms is committed to making great-tasting, nutritious products more ac- cessible and convenient to consumers na- tionwide. Bolthouse Farms Plant Protein Milk is available at retailers nationwide in- cluding Kroger, Safeway East and Shaw's among others. Plant Protein Milk is avail- able in four delicious flavors — Unsweet- ened, Original, Vanilla and Chocolate — and can be found in the refrigerated dairy section in a multi-serve 48-ounce bottle with a suggested retail price of $4.99. It can be enjoyed like a traditional dairy milk or almond milk – straight from a glass or in smoothies, cereal, coffee and in recipes. For more information about Bolthouse Farms Plant Protein Milk and local availability visit www.bolthousefarms.com. GN Slow Cookers Continued from PAGE 1 her, that made the slow cooker a truly spe- cial appliance. Home cooks can't leave the oven on before heading to work, and no one can really trust a hot stove while they're helping the kids with homework, she said, because those appliances require more physical attention. "For most people with young families, either they aren't physically home at 5:00 when everyone else gets home, or they don't have the time to do the food prep. A slow cooker gives you a unique ability to create that healthy meal at a time that works into your sched- ule." The company offers 10 unique slow cooker spice blends, including Moroccan Tagine, Sichuan and Coq Au Vin. The glob- ally-inspired, non-irradiated spice blends are certified GMO-free, contain no addi- tives or fillers, "and only two have a little bit of salt in them," said Barnhart. Each packet is pre-portioned, makes a recipe for four to six people and there are two packets per pouch. "A lot of what's on the market are seasoning packets, which have other things in them – fillers," Barnhart said. "Ours are just spices, pre-packaged, pre- portioned, meant to be used in combina- tion with our recipes for the slow cooker or the Instant Pot. All the blends have recipes on the back of them, and when you go to our website, we have multiple recipes for each spice blend." With recipes for both slow cooking and pressure cooking avail- able, home cooks can make a meal while away from home or pressure cook a meal in minutes. Barnhart and McKay still post to the blog, too, offering even more recipes and tips for their fans. "I write one Zen inspira- tion per month where I share a little per- spective on how to bring a little Zen into your life, and Jane follows up with slow cooking recipes," she said. "It's very or- ganic. We don't advertise on it or anything, and we love to bring new people into our slow cooking journey." And she invites people of all back- grounds into that journey. Zen of slow cooking reaches out to underserved com- munities to provide education and assis- tance to those in need. Barnhart teaches classes in places like South Side Chicago, to show how slow cooking can be simple and help struggling families. On top of that, a percentage of each purchase is given to the Drishti Donation giving-back program, which provides Slow Cooker Community Boxes ― filled with zen spice blends and a slow cooker ― to group homes for spe- cial needs adults. A mission to change the world for the better, Barn- hart said, is what got the b u s i n e s s started: "In 2010, I started studying what life was like for people with d i s a b i l i t i e s , cognitively and intellectually, in the state of Illinois, and I found the sta- tistics were pretty grim," she said. "Only 24 percent of adults with cognitive chal- lenges are employed. My son is absolutely, incredibly wonderful and positive with so much to offer the world; I couldn't imag- ine a world where he couldn't shine his light ― and I decided I had to create a business for him. That was really the gen- esis [of the company]." Planet Access Company, a third-party logistics provider and social enterprise of nonprofit Search, Inc., was already providing employment for learning disabled individuals, so Barn- hart partnered with them to take care of her company's packaging needs. She sends the spice blends to Planet Access, and its team packages them in pouches. "The cool part about Planet Access is it's a tiered employment model," she said. "Those in training work on one part of our business, and as they gain more skills, they can work in the warehouse part of the busi- ness. They have a full-service warehouse, and there, it becomes more of an inte- grated employment model, where people with disabilities are working with people who don't have disabilities." With an ex- panded skill set both social and profes- sional, she said, disabled individuals can go on to find employment elsewhere if they so choose. "It's an unlikely pathway to success, but [zen of slow cooking] re- ally started with this passion to create em- ployment for people who don't have employment opportunities," she said. "I have a child with challenges; it's gratifying to know I created a business he can work in someday. When we started with Planet Ac- cess Company, we had four adults with disabilities working in the business, and we're now up to over 30. We have to keep growing that." Zen of slow cooking blends appeal to a wide range of consumers. "The fun part about our product is that we really are a lifestyle company. We have a lot of college kids who love us for tailgating," said Barnhart, adding that young professionals also like the blends. "Our primary demographic is 30- to 55-year-olds, mostly women, and men who love pressure cooking. That's actually a demographic that's really ris- ing; those are people who are cooking seven days a week— often they have fam- ilies, and they don't have the luxury of figuring out what they want to eat at 8:00 at night or ordering pizza. They usually have to get food on the table for their families by six, so they use the slow cooker all the time. Then, we get to the Baby Boomers, who often aren't cooking as much but buy the blends for their kids who are getting started. Then, we've got the elderly, a generation of people who love us because it's so easy to slow cook. Our recipes all take 20 minutes or less prep, some as little as 5 minutes of prep; if you have any kind of ability issues, or challenges standing for a long period of time, you can put our recipes together quickly and have a meal waiting for you." Retailers who carry zen of slow cooking blends get plenty of help selling them. "We spend a lot of time educating the grocery teams because they're the front line for us once we leave the store," Barnhart said. "When we go and do a demo, we spend a good hour talking to everyone at the store ― the grocery buyer, anyone stocking the shelves, the butchers. We leave them sam- ples. These are the people who are helping us build the brand." Through its robust brand ambassador program, which demon- strates the blends in-store, word of mouth spreads quickly. "We get about 10 people or more, customers who stop by and love us. They're so excited about what we're of- fering; they love our social mission, they love our product, the ease and simplicity of it, the health surrounding it ― they end up helping us sell it! They tell their friends, and once we've gone into the store one or two times, there's this velocity that starts to flow." Barnhart also has tips for retailers and grocers who want to sell zen blends. "The stores that put us on a flat wall by the pro- duce or the butcher, our packets fly off the shelf," she said. "The butchers love us be- cause we help them sell more meat. We're designed to do that. It sells well anytime we're right next to where fresh food is, be- cause that's how the packets are designed to be used, in combination with fresh food ― it's not a product where you just add water, it's something that requires you to cook with fresh foods." As for kitchenware retail displays, she said it's best to put the blends right next to a slow cooker or pres- sure cooker. "We're in a couple of culinary stores that sell them. Any store that's ac- tually selling the slow cookers is a perfect fit for us. A lot of people like to use our blends as gifts. They'll buy a slow cooker, an Instant Pot, and put three blends in to make it a gift for a new homeowner, new bride, new mom. It's a great companion product." Zen of slow cooking spice blends have a suggested retail price of $6.99 per pouch. For more information, visit www.zenof slowcooking.com. GN

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