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Gourmet News July 2018

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BY LORRIE BAUMANN Grocery shoppers are asking more questions about the food they're buying, and even though today's food manufacturers are designing their labels to include more information about what's inside the package, consumers still aren't getting the information they feel they need to make edu- cated choices about what they're going to feed themselves and their families. "We've reached that point where people are finally starting to question, not only what our government does, but what everybody does," said David Noll, Executive Director of Pa- cific Resources International, which imports its brand of Peering into the Haze Around Transparency manuka honey and other food products from New Zealand into the American market. He's been in the health food business for 40 years after visiting New Zealand and falling in love with the cul- ture there in a country whose total population is about 4 mil- lion people. "You can't really spin something that's not true because somebody will know," he said. "Crime is very low in New Zealand, because if you commit a crime, somebody will know. I learned to love it.... They produce very high quality products, and they're willing to stand behind them." His manuka honey is a product, that, because it's used for medici- nal purposes as well as a food, has a value that's highly dependent on being exactly what it says it is, since low-quality manuka honey won't have the same medicinal value as the premium-quality product. Because that quality isn't distinguishable from anything that can be readily observed by the consumer who's buying the honey in the store, those shop- pers are particularly dependent on whether they can trust that the product really is what the label is representing it to be. That it sometimes isn't inspires distrust, Noll said. "Things cannot be hid- den anymore – they're coming out all over. People are becoming dis- illusioned.... We find out that Union Market, a growing neigh- borhood grocery store with loca- tions across Brooklyn and downtown Manhattan, opened its new Grand Army Plaza loca- tion at 342 Flatbush Avenue be- Union Market Opens Grand Army Plaza Location on May 16 Continued on PAGE 10 Continued on PAGE 11 Continued on PAGE 12 tween 8th Avenue and Sterling Place in Prospect Heights, Brook- lyn, New York, on Wednesday, May 16. Marko Lalic and Martin Nunez, who, with Paul Fernandez, are co- Owners of Union Market, said, "We're excited about bring- ing Union Market to Prospect Park and be- coming part of the neighborhood. Our love of food and com- mitment to commu- nity will be apparent in our Grand Army Plaza store, just as it is in our other four store loca- tions. "We work hard to bring our customers healthy, delicious, and innovative food without compro- mising on the values that matter most to us – quality, convenience and sustainability. That means finding the best products at the best value, striving to keep our business green and sourcing our products in a responsible and sus- tainable manner." The new 4,500-square-foot store will be Union Market's largest in Brooklyn and will fea- ture handcrafted sushi presented in partnership with Rosanjin Tribeca. Its sushi menu will fea- ture 50 items, including favorites like Sushi Brown Rice Salmon Av- ocado, Sushi Komaki Combo, Sushi Brown Rice Roll and Nigiri and Sushi Tuna Avocado Roll. They, along with seaweed salad and a variety of dumplings, will be made fresh on-site every day. The new store will also offer Union Market's popular $9.99 lunch special, which features a daily selection of sandwiches and Hale and Hearty Soups, and sea- sonal prepared and grab-and-go items developed by Union Specialty Food Market Drives Social Justice BY LORRIE BAUMANN Brooklyn is famous for being an attitude as well as a borough of New York City, and a taste of the food produced by Brooklyn Whatever will teach you some- thing about what that means. Brooklyn Whatever is a family company founded by Rachel Shama and her son Abe, who make Shpickles, Shmolives, Shnuts, Shpreads and sauces. "I'm born and bred in Brooklyn," says Rachel Shamah. "Suddenly Continued on PAGE 17 Brooklyn Whatever is Brooklyn All Over I'm famous." "Our first product was our Shmolives," she adds. "I'm a yogi – I prac- tice yoga almost every day.... I was in class one day, and it just came to me. 'Sh' is a play on 'Shama,' and it's a play on how Brooklyners talk. It just came to me in a quiet moment." Her company name, Brooklyn Whatever, came to her in a lawyer's office while her incorpo- ration papers were being pre- pared. "They said we could call it anything," she tells the story. "Well, Brooklyn – we're in Brooklyn. Brooklyn – whatever," BY LORRIE BAUMANN Americans' appetite for social jus- tice as well as better food is pay- ing premiums for farmers in developing countries. In its 2017 report on "Today's State of the In- dustry," the Specialty Food Asso- ciation reported that in the United States, specialty food had grown into a $127 billion busi- ness, with a 15 percent jump in total sales between 2014 and 2016. By comparison, the growth rate for all food sales during the same period was just 2.3 percent. Consumers are responding to brands that invest in social jus- tice. According to a 2011 report on research by scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology, Harvard University and the London School of Economics, "A majority of surveyed con- sumers claim to prefer ethically certified products over non-certi- fied alternatives, and to be willing to pay a price premium for such products." What that means for farmers around the world is that specialty food producers who command premium prices from American consumers are able to spread some wealth to the farmers providing their raw ingredients. Under the brand The Ginger VOLUME 83, NUMBER 7 JULY 2018 n $7.00 NEWS & NOTES n Addressing the Problem of Food Waste PAGE 6 RETAILER NEWS n Kroger Supports USO through Honoring Our Heroes Campaign PAGE 12 SUPPLIER NEWS n Indulgent Ice Creams Sport Sophisticated Flavors PAGE 14 NATURALLY HEALTHY n Flax4Life Adds Two Cakes to its Gluten Free Bakery Products PAGE 18 News ..............................................6 Ad Index .......................................22 Calendar.......................................22 www.gourmetnews.com G OURMET N EWS T H E B U S I N E S S N E W S P A P E R F O R T H E G O U R M E T I N D U S T R Y ® HEALTHY LIFESTYLE: Artisan Salt Company SEE PAGE 19 SUPPLIER NEWS: Ruth's Mustard SEE PAGE 15 HOT PRODUCTS: Kitchen & Love SEE PAGE 21

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