La Vita Launches New Cookies
Posted - December 18, 2008
Crunchy, Healthy Cookies Deliver Old-Fashioned Good Taste: La Vita Introduces Eight New Prebiotic Cookie Varieties
La Vita Health Foods has introduced a line of cookies with a low glycemic index that are also prebiotic, vegan and Kosher, and cholesterol, wheat, dairy and lactose-free. These La Vita All Natural Crunchy Cookies contain no high fructose corn syrup, maltitol, artificial sweeteners, or preservatives and still have a year-long shelf life.
“When family and friends visit this year, hosts can offer adults and children alike La Vita Crunchy Cookies,” said Zina Minz, founder of La Vita Health Foods. “They’re suitable for guests with special dietary needs, or just watching what they eat. As a family-run business, those values are so important to us at La Vita and are always at the forefront of our minds.”
Industry-savvy attendees at the 54th Fancy Food Show in New York City recently proclaimed the cookies the best-tasting sugar free and gluten free cookie they had tried.
“Until now, most healthy, high-fiber cookies simply have not been very enjoyable to eat,” Minz said. “We developed La Vita All Natural Crunchy Cookies to have a delicious homemade taste and fresh-baked texture that melts in your mouth.”
After two decades of research and testing in Israel and Europe, La Vita’s unique soy-flour recipes and baking processes now allow the firm to offer its nutritious alternative to “traditional” grocery-store baked goods, which usually contain artificial preservatives, colors and flavors.
La Vita Crunchy Cookies are available in eight varieties, based on classic recipes updated with a modern twist to appeal to today’s health-conscious eaters. These include Poppy Seed, delightfully matched with a whisper of light lemony goodness, Peanut Butter, for that rich, satisfying wholesomeness, and Cajun, which features cayenne, red peppers and chicory and is subtly sweet with a pleasant saltiness.
Try some out at your next party or as a gift. For once, you can be sure no one will miss the “junk” food!
About La Vita Health Foods, Inc.
Based in Monsey, New York, La Vita Health Foods is dedicated to providing consumers and retailers with the very best “Gluten-Free and Sugar-Free Foods for a Healthy Future.” Its Crunchy Cookies are available in Almond, Chocolate Chip, Chocolate, Strawberry, Poppy Seed, Raspberry Lemon, Cajun, and Peanut Butter. For more information, call (845)368-1073 or visit www.LaVitaHealthFoods.com.
Pasta Profits
Posted - November 1, 2008
Alb-Gold : Inspiring noodles
By John Coghlan – as printed in O.W.N. Fall 2008
How can you succeed with noodles? In 1977, each day, Alb-Gold produced about 110 pounds of Spatzle – traditional German noodles. Today the company produces, each day, a thousand times that much. A European leader in the tough high-quality noodle market, now it’s time for Alb-Gold to increase its market share also in the United States. In Amana, Iowa, where one hundred fifty years before inspired German-Protestant mystics built their communities, Alb-Gold is opening a plant in a joint venture with successful German beverage manufacturer Bionade. Alb-Gold will build the 50 million US dollar factory following the highest environmental standards. Connecting the Alb-Gold plant with the Bionade bottling plant, will be an information and nutrition center open to the public, a similar successful concept of Alb-Gold at its main plant in Germany.
Egg Crisis, Sunny-side Up
The story begins with Klaus Freidler’s father who had established a chicken farm in 1968. Freidler, Alb-Gold’s CEO, remembers the farm as it was forty years ago:“The egg market was in a big crisis. Prices went down and we had lots of problems selling our eggs for good money.” But one day when visiting a local fair, Freidler turned the egg crisis sunny-side up – into opportunity. An exhibitor was showing onlookers how to make good noodles with a noodle machine. What hit Freidler was how many eggs went into the dough. “That was the answer to our problems. We had tons of eggs, why not produce high quality egg-noodles? I bought the machine the same day.” Alb-Gold hatched.
Creativity and Ecology
Alb-Gold became “bio“. To be even more eco-friendly, Alb-Gold has also used advanced technology to decrease its environmental footprint and reduce the use of natural resources, including solar panels installed on the processing plant. Lost heat from pasta-dryers now heats administrative buildings. But Freidler was too creative to stick to traditional spinach and tomato Spatzle. Alb -Gold moved to making ginger, herbal and other exotic noodles The menu at Alb-Gold’s on-site restaurant “Sonne” (which means the sun, also the firm’s logo) and the cooking studio include lemon, chocolate and gingerbread Spatzle for desserts.
Freidler showed how Alb-Gold added eco-consciousness to the company’s ethos. Alb-Gold stipulates that its spelt farmers must put flower strips around their fields. “For most of our organic products, we use cardboard boxes. There is no extra plastic bag for the noodles,” says Friedler. “We think this is one of the best ways to pack the noodles and to avoid plastic in the landfills.” Then Alb-Gold further committed itself to quality and went organic. It started offering organic pasta in the early 1990s. Today 25% of the firm’s noodles are certified organic. The premium specialties, the ecological and organic and last but not lesast exotic tastes and forms have lead Alb-Gold to success.
Noodle-Beverage Fusion
Then, in 2004, at a mountainbike-event sponsored by Alb-Gold, Freidler showed his creativity yet again: he met Peter Kowalsky, managing director of the German well-known organic beverage company, Bionade. Both were committed to regional values, high food quality and sustainable development. From this and further opportunities to share values and visions came the idea of opening joint plants in Iowa.
Alb-Gold’s success also comes from connecting direct consumers with the roots of the food they taste.Each year, the plant hosts over 350,000 visitors. They see how the noodles are produced; try them at the restaurant; learn some recipes at the cooking studio; walk through the herb garden to learn about the local herbs used in Alb-Gold noodles; shop at the store that features many regional foods and hand-made products from local artesans; visit the stalls where companies offer food samples; and attend the many cultural and sports events the company supports each year – a host of activities to inspire.
Alb-Gold produces 15% of its noodles for export, most going to the United States and Canada. In 2010, when the new plant in Iowa opens, US sales will doubtlessly go up.
But success aside, Freidler wants Alb-Gold to avoid the big mass supermarkets, where price, not quality or health, comes first. The company will continue to sell through the gourmet channels, to natural health stores, specialty food shops and will also provide its line to the food service segment. To meet distributors who share their views Alb-Gold will exhibit along with Bionade at fairs like Expo West, All Things Organic and the Fancy Food Expo in NY. This fall they will also be present at Biofach America, parallel event to Expo East in Boston. A good showing for a remarkable year and company: Alb-Gold is celebrating its fortieth year – contact them and earn a 40th anniversary-discount.
Chocolate for a Good Cause
Posted - November 1, 2008
Pacari Chocolate Goes Beyond Sweet Actions
By Lucia Lorente - as printed in O.W.N. Fall 2008
In Ecuador, some rural areas do not have access to electricity. Communities use a huge number of battery-operated flashlights, consuming 10-12 batteries per month at a total expense of around 5-8 USD – a high portion out of an income that is often less than 2 USD per day!
Further, batteries are toxic products that contain harmful metals and substances. The used batteries are not properly discharged. They fill fields all over, and children are found playing with the colourful used “toys,” even putting them into their mouths!
Aware of this situation, Pacari Chocolate, the first organic and fair trade chocolate developed in Ecuador from bean to final product, and its parent company Ecuadorian Organics have started a new program. The community-minded firm imports solar-powered flashlights to help farmers get around 5-6 hours of light. The batteries required last around three years, saving tremendous expense and waste.
The solar energy flashlights offer a temporary but smart solution, until the government brings electricity to those families, that also implies loss of more natural resources, as more forests are cleared to give space to new roads and antenas. “Solar energy is still one of the few free clean commodities available to all”, says Ecuadorian Organics co-founder Santiago Peralta. “We also aim to help limit the use of other fuels for lamps and candles that can cause domestic fires”.
Ecuadorian Organics has also launched the Organic Agriculture Educational Project, providing technical support in organic farming as well as used computers collected from overseas clients and donors who ship them to rural schools in Ecuador. A pilot project has served 1,000 children and the next phase plans to include other schools.
Amish and Organic
Posted - November 1, 2008
Amish Naturals: Sharing the grain
By Adrian Larose - as printed in O.W.N. Fall 2008
Many would agree most people do not connect with nature these days. We’re separated by walls of technology, away from nature’s rhythm. Yet, you needn’t visit the rainforest to get back in touch. The North American Amish have lived this way since the 18th century.
To say the Amish live in harmony with nature is an understatement. Eschewing modern conveniences like electricity and motor vehicles, the peaceful farming communities are strong in many places across the United States, as well as some parts of Canada.
The Amish’s traditionally organic, hardworking and quality-focused nature leads them to do differently than most. Amish furniture enjoys a quality reputation, and most recently has this extended to another area: food.
This reputation is due mostly to firms such as Amish Naturals. The company brings all-natural and organic products to market while supporting traditional Amish communities.
Amish Naturals began with pasta. Later additions include granola bars, a wheat-derived fibre supplement and microwave popcorn. Some products are organic; others are all-natural; all are kosher. The firm retails through 3,600 US based stores, with Canada and Europe in the works.
Its pasta facility in Holmes County, Ohio is largely operated by Amish. All staff believe firmly in Amish farming traditions.
“Almost 80% of the company’s workforce is Amish or Mennonite, a related denomination with many of the same core values,” says COO and Executive Vice-President Troy Treangen. The company recipes are similar to long-used Amish ones. “We’ve just taken that same process, same ingredients, and made it on a mass scale that they still operate. If you walk in our facility, you’ll see Old Order Amish guys and gals,” says Treangen.
The Amish lifestyle extends to helping others, no matter their faith. When a Holmes County Amish community helped non-Amish neighbour David Skinner recover from severe flood damage, he in turn decided to help them. Feeling there might be a market for the all-natural food the Amish enjoy, he created Amish Naturals and now works as its CEO.
“The Amish take a lot of pride in their work, whether it’s farming, making quilts, or furniture,” says Treangen. “They have the values that bring good quality food to the table. That’s what we’re really about, the wholesomeness.”
Those values have resulted in the firm’s wheat-derived fibre additive, for which Amish Naturals has filed a US patent. “It doesn’t alter taste at all,” says Treangen. “The additive is already in Amish Naturals’ high-fibre products. Other manufacturers could easily replace some flour with this additive.”
Not everything has been smooth sailing. Many Amish prefer to withdraw from the world. This can cause problems with organic certification.
“The Amish are organic farmers by definition,” says Treangen. “Organic is the old, natural farming method. Yet the Amish cultural desire to stay disconnected from the broader world, for independence, security and religious unity, can hamper organic certification.”
It is difficult for some to accept a direct relationship with authorities. Others have nonetheless taken the plunge and are fully certified, including the firm’s egg supplier.
Perhaps combining new and old is the real story. “What we’re doing is taking an ethnic brand, an ethnic culture, an ethnic product, and bringing it to national exposure,” Treangen said. “You do have to apply certain levels of technology to do that.”
The Amish, meanwhile, grow quality crops under organic methods and contribute labour to a company that brings their culture and food to a wider audience.
“We want to be the largest Amish employer in Holmes County,” Treangen said. With 40 employees after only 18 months, Amish Naturals seems to be well on its way.
Colombian Organic Firm
Posted - November 1, 2008
Daabon Sets Mood for a Greener Colombia
By Adriana Michael - as printed in O.W.N. Fall 2008
Daabon Organic, a third generation family-owned business in Colombia, is run by Alberto Davila Diazgranados, affectionately known to all as Don Alberto. He has turned a family farm founded by his father in 1914 into a progressive international enterprise, a pioneer in sustainable agriculture and a leading grower and exporter of organic bananas, palm oil, cacao and coffee. Don Alberto is an easy to approach man who enjoys the company of others. He certainly meets many people, running a company that employs over 1500 people and deals with over 400 contractors.
Keeping a business alive for almost 100 years is a challenging task.What has been the formula to its success? “Being fair with yourself and others, listening, setting clear rules for all family and co-workers, and finding the best people who share your vision and will be involved to reach the goals,” he says. Don Alberto learned from his father’s experiences as a banana exporter and plans on keeping the management of the business where it started: in the family. His five children are all employed by Daabon Organic, and a structure is in place to welcome the 4th generation into the company as well.
“They all can join but need to show genuine interest in what we do, study abroad, work first for another company.Everyone is free to stay or to sell and leave”, he says. “So far everyone is still in…and with clear responsibilities and area of work, like in any other company”.
How has Don Alberto been able to transform such a large business into a completely organic enterprise? Throughout the seventies and eighties Daabon introduced conventional farming of African palm, cotton and rice crops. Soon they were aware of the incredible amount of pesticides the rice and cotton crops required. “We were stuck in a vicious cycle spending lots of money in infrastructure to spray the fields up to 28 times per year!”. The bugs got resistant and more inputs were needed. His son Manuel, raised the concept of organic farming. There was a market, particularly in France. Daabon converted the farms in 1993. “In the tropics you really need to be careful of what you do. We do not have seasons, but a rich biodiversity to protect.”
Another key to their success was to convince small land owners from the surrounding communities to become organic, and to show them a way of thinking and a lifestyle that went beyond conventional farming methods. They worked patiently with their local partners at all levels to show them why organic was the best way to go.
To that end, Daabon has created farming co-operatives, in collaboration with the government, to ensure the farmers receive technical assistance and financial support. Don Alberto describes one of his most rewarding experiences - he and his wife co-signed bank loans on 188 small farms, to allow the farmers to borrow capital to purchase seeds and start their own organic palm tree plantations. The effort has brought a 94% success rate, as most farmers understood the benefits of the concept.
Don Alberto and his team are in the process of converting Daabon Organic into a carbon-negative enterprise. He realizes that it will be a lengthy process, but one that will offer customers a new standard in conservation.
Sustainably-Packaged German Snacks
Posted - July 30, 2008
Herr Foods Furthers Sustainably with Pump Retrofit
Germany’s Herr Foods has taken its sustainability to the next level by retrofitting a key part of its packaging line. The company plant’s 15 TNA machines, used to roll, film and seal its foods, are being retrofitted with P6010 vacuum pumps from PIAB.
The new system reduces noise, generates no heat and provides suction at extremely low pressures. Its compact size places it closer to the suction point, consuming less compressed air.
For 60 years, Herr has introduced innovative snack foods and packaging. The firm now offers 340 products, including potato chips, pretzels, popcorn, and onion rings.
“The most important environmental issue challenging Herr’s and other snack food manufacturers is with packaging materials,” states David Sexton, a firm electrical engineer for automation. The company leads in “modern and progressive manufacturing and packaging,” he says.
“The company started using automated cooking techniques as far back as 1952, and in the next decade began to revolutionize its packaging design and materials.”
Before the retrofit, the firm’s line was equipped with noisy mechanical pumps. This generated too much heat and required frequent maintenance.
“Reducing the noise and heat levels was very important to us,” remarked Sexton. “Not only did we want to improve the working environment in our facility, we wanted to reduce our maintenance and repair costs.”
Herr has a history of ecological awareness and conservation. For instance, it reuses water via irrigation and sludge as fertilizer. At Herr’s Angus Farm, sub-standard products get a second life as cattle feed.
The company has designed its manufacturing to be as environmental and efficient as possible. Steam-recovery saves fuel; exhaust filters prevent residues from being emitted; a heat exchanger uses manufacturing-generated hot water to heat the factory.
By creating fruitful and forward-thinking partnerships, this manufacturer and producer of tasty treats is sure to bring insight to the industry.
Guilt-Free Sweets
Posted - May 1, 2008
Guilt-Free Candy to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth:
Fair-trade, organic and vegan treats heating the shelves as organics expands beyond health
By Adriana Michael - as printed in O.W.N. Summer 2008
Fruit drops. Gummy bears. Lollipops. Chocolate bars. Many consumers have a love-hate relationship with sweets, and today many consider the environmental effects of products containing everything from high-fructose GMO corn syrup to synthetic calorie-free or GMO-derived sweeteners, colours and flavours.
More entrepreneurs are beginning to create sweet treats in certified organic and fair trade qualities.
A craving for sweets is only natural.”The very first food we taste is mother’s milk, and that’s very sweet,” says Luna Roth, president of Canadian organic candy firm Pure Fun Confections. “We’re born with a craving for sweets.” In moderation, a sweet treat is a good thing.
Pure Fun is among the companies offering guilt-free snacks healthier for shoppers, the environment and the workers who produce them. Its products are certified organic, kosher, vegan, and fair trade.
Red beets naturally colour the organic candy cane Pure Fun launched this Christmas. Organic brown rice syrup is Pure Fun’s sweetener. Roth says it is more nutritious than common sweeteners, but about 3 times more expensive.
The certified organic, gluten-, soy- and peanut-free and kosher lollipops with cane sugar from US firm YummyEarth are another guilt-free hit. Says co-founder Rob Wunder: “The very first social implication that comes to mind is all the children with severe allergies that are finally able to have a regular lollipop and share them with friends at the playground and at birthday parties.”
Allergic reactions to conventional sweets indicate menacing ingredients. By contrast, YummyEarth’s lollipops are naturally coloured, with red from Japanese purple carrots and colours from pumpkins and blackcurrants. The sour apple lollipop gets its green glow from wheatgrass - and, Wunder says, a nutritional kick.
Crispy Cat, a US company, bills its made-with-organic products as the first organic candy bars. “It’s actually pretty much impossible to find the word ‘candy bar’ in a natural foods market anywhere,” says Eric Usher, sales and marketing director. The vegan, gluten-free bars are sweetened with organic brown rice syrup and contain about half as much sugar as a typical candy bar, but do not yet reach the USDA 95% organic ingredients requirement.
Conventional candy companies, too, have begun to realize organics shoppers crave sweets. “People are very into health and wellness,” says Hillside Candy marketing Vice President Susan Jay. “It’s not just a small part of the market. It’s growing every day.” Hillside, which sells to the Middle East, Asia, South America and North America, started a certified organic GoNaturally hard candy line in 2006 and now offers 6 organic flavours.
Made with cane sugar and brown rice syrup, GoNaturally sits oddly alongside the firm’s most popular line, GoLightly sugar-free candies. That line contains artificial colours, flavours and sweeteners.
Some pioneers, like Canada’s Cocoa Camino, have enjoyed long-term organic growth. In a church basement about 8 years ago, the co-operative made $40,000 in sales; in 2007, with proper offices, it sold $5.4 million of fair trade, certified organic, co-operatively sourced chocolate.The Cocoa Camino brand sources 70% of purchases from co-operatives. Joining the dark chocolate trend, Cocoa Camino has launched a Los Intensos dark line including a Chilean Spice flavour at 71% cocoa and a Panama Extra Dark at 85%.
With an impeccable packaging comes Ecuadorian Organics , also with a fairly-sourced organic dark chocolate. Its Esmeraldas bar is 60% cocoa and supports about 25 families in Ecuador’s poor Esmeraldas province. This is the first organic certified chocolate line entirely made in Ecuador. It pays growers a fair price by eliminating the middleman, says co-founder Santiago Peralta. “It is a win-win relationship. At the end of the day, we need the good cocoa beans to have a nice chocolate. We want quality, and we are willing to pay more for it. We are giving them the tools and the know-how so they can do it.”
And to get a perfect combination of a delicious chocolate and a healthy treat, try Udo’s Choice Bija Omega Truffles from Canadian firm Flora Manufacturing & Distributing Ltd. Each certified-organic bar, available in 3 flavours, contains 13 grams of Udo’s 3-6-9 Oil Blend - a tasty and easy way to get essential fats missing from many diets.
Whether you fancy an earthy cocoa drink or a sweet handful of lemon drops, chances are you can now find that favourite treat previously missing from the natural and organic health stores. “I think that’s the most important thing about candy,” says Pure Fun’s Roth, “in moderation, it makes people feel good.”
Delicious Ecuadorian-Made Dark Chocolate
Posted - April 16, 2008
Pacari: Delicious Dark Chocolate from Ecuador
The world’s first made-in-Ecuador 100% organic certified chocolate, fairly-traded too, is set to make its US debut.
Pacari Chocolate co-founders Carla Barboto and Santiago Peralta studied European chocolate-making techniques before working closely with several small communities in Ecuador to create their company’s current product line.
After selling Ecuador-origin chocolate to European chocolatiers for some time, the young entrepreneurs eventually decided it was time to create a made-in-Ecuador, own-brand. “We realized that our chocolate couvertures were being used to produce some award-winning chocolates in Europe, so it was time for us to create our own label,” said Peralta.
The first-ever ‘bean-to-bar’ organic offerings from Ecuador are the firm’s 3 regional dark chocolate bars and several specialty chocolate-covered treats, now sold in Europe and set to hit US shelves later this Summer.
Working with local communities and using 100% organic ingredients, fairly traded, was the best approach. Pacari Chocolate sticks with local cacao farmers in the 3 origin regions of its bars, including the economically-depressed Esmeraldas province that produces its 60% cocoa bar. The firm provides workers with technical support and training as well as a guaranteed premium cocoa price - and a lasting business relationship.
“Selecting the right beans is one of the most crucial steps in creating quality chocolate,” Barboto said. Close supplier relations are win-win, as the buyer can work directly with farmers to develop the desired crops.
After two successful European exhibitions at the ISM (the International Sweets and Biscuits Fair) in Cologne and BioFach in Nuremberg this year, Pacari Chocolate will exhibit at All Things Organic, Booth 3927, in Chicago April 27-29. Visit to enjoy a tasty treat and learn more about the methods and people behind the firm.
Please visit http://www.pacarichocolate.com for more.
Beyond Corn Syrup
Posted - September 1, 2007
Save Us from Corn Syrup:
Try Low-Calorie Natural Sweeteners
By David Giovinazzo - as printed in O.W.N. Fall 2007
A visitor to our planet viewing the six o’clock news couldn’t help but seeing that in many countries, huge waste-lines and diabetes are big problems. The American Centre for Disease Control and Prevention states that, in the past 15 years, the number of people suffering from diabetes II has more than doubled. The culprits? Certainly two are refined sugar and corn syrup. Many think high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is the main cause.
HFCS raises insulin levels higher than refined sugar. And it causes the liver to make triglycerides - a bad cholesterol. In the past years, with sugar tariffs up, and corn prices down, HFCS use has boomed. Now you can find it in almost all processed foods, from breakfast cereals to canned foods - much to the detriment of those suffering its consequences.
What can be done? Several low-calorie, natural sweeteners have come to the rescue. One of the most popular is stevia -a plant related to the chrysanthemum and sunflower. Three hundred times sweeter than sugar, it was first discovered 200 years ago by the Guarani people in Paraguay. But both the US Food and Drug Administration and Health Canada have banned it as a sweetener, only allowing it to be advertised as a dietary supplement.
The European Union has also banned it. But, given the need for sweeteners to replace refined sugar and corn syrup, why hasn’t more research been done on stevia? At least one lobby group in the European Stevia Association (EUSTAS) founded in 2006 wants just that. EUSTAS’ goal is the compilation of an application for the permission of the sweet contents (steviol glycoside) of the plant Stevia rebaudiana as food additive to be submitted to the Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) of the European Commission.
Meanwhile, the giants Cargill and Coca Cola have joined to “refine” stevia, to reduce it’s aftertaste that some users have complained about. The two giants have described rebiana, the processed stevia, as “the industry’s first natural, zero-calorie sweetener.” But the rebiana is processed, so not so natural. And, with stevia’s two hundred-year history, neither is a natural, zero-calorie sweetener new.
Nor is stevia itself the only natural, low-calorie, sweetener. Wholesome Sweeteners, a Texas-based company, has come out with “Organic Zero”, made from organically grown sugar, but without calories. Seventy percent as sweet as sugar, and with a glycemic index of zero, consumers can use it in baking. Glycemic indexing ranks carbohydrates according to their effect on blood sugar levels - so is vital to diabetics and other with metabolic disorders. Karen Stevenson of Wholesome Sweeteners explains, “Organic Zero is also highly digestible - important for people who prefer calorie-free, low glycemic-index sweeteners as many of the others on the market cause significant digestive distress.”
Another natural sweetener is banana syrup. “As far as we know” says Daniel Orlich of Florida Products, of Costa Rica, “we were the first company developing banana syrup as an alternative natural sweetener that blends well with milk.” The syrup, he adds, is good at masking unpleasant flavours in some foods, and is rich in potassium. A company also busy making low-glycemic syrup is New York based Organic Nectars. It makes one from the agave plant, known for its lowest glycemic index of all natural sweeteners.
And then there is panela a “peasants food” Latin America, also common in Asia and India. It is a granulated, yellow-brown caramel product that you can eat as is, or dissolved in liquids. It is sweet, but has more nutrients than sugar, such as vitamins A, C, D and E and glycolic acid, according to Juan Manuel Duran of sugar cane farm Lucerna in Colombia.
Meanwhile, growers are cultivating stevia in South America, China and Canada. While the Coca Cola Cargill project is recent, smaller producers have promoted it for years. Cindy Levington, who, with her husband Paul, runs Suede Hills Organic Farm in Savona, British Columbia states “The farm first grew stevia about four years ago, starting with 400 plants. Now, we plant about 15,000 annually.” But the market for stevia shows its growth in her e-mail box. “I receive e-mails daily, from those who want to buy not only my product, but also my entire crop!”
In 2006, Global Industry Analysts have reported that the global sweetener market is growing at 3.7%. Where health improves, profits follow. With refined sugar and corn syrup - and certain artificial sweeteners, showing themselves far from ideal, little doubt the market for low-calorie, truly natural sweeteners like stevia will boom. And hopefully, many waste lines will bust.
Taste of Brazil
Posted - September 1, 2007
Fazenda e Casa Joins Taste of Brazil
By Adriana Michael - as printed in O.W.N. Fall 2007
Fazenda e Casa, a Brazilian producer of pickled foods and preserves, will join the Carnival mood at Whole Foods Market (WFM) early in September. As part of the promotional campaign “Organics Brasil”, WFM has introduced “Taste of Brazil,” a day to celebrate Brazilian culture at its retail stores.
The largest organic and natural products retailer in the world has already celebrated “Taste of Brazil” at two of its 25 stores located in Southern California.”This is a great opportunity to connect consumers with our culture and the products we are promoting,” says Jacqueline Gracie, the marketing consultant who introduced the Organics Brasil brand to WFM last year.
In a fiesta atmosphere surrounded by Brazilian artists, massage therapists and professional chefs, shoppers as well as the store’s sales force get to learn about the richness of Brazilian cuisine and the ingredients behind Brazilian brands. “People taste new flavours, such as acai juice with granola, or try out Brazilian organic certified cosmetics with unique Amazon ingredients like Cupuaçu, while in the hands of a professional massage therapist,” says Gracie.
Ming Liu, project manager for Organics Brasil, believes that educating and training the workforce at the retail outlets will reflect in greater sales under the Organics Brasil label. “We expect to reproduce the marketing model we are developing with WFM in other countries too,” says Liu.
Currently only a select group of Brazilian organic companies have been accepted as suppliers under the umbrella Organics Brasil. Headquartered in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil, the Organics Brasil Project is a result of a joint initiative between APEX-Brazil (Brazilian Export Promotion Agency) and IPD-FIEP (Federation of Industries of the State of Paraná).
Over its nearly 27 year history, Whole Foods Market has helped not only to promote natural and organic foods, but also supporting local food artisans. With its store-based buying program, every WFM store tailors itself to its community by seeking out local and ethnic culinary treasures. In Southern California, the Latin American community has a strong presence, which explains the advantage of Organics Brasil at WFM stores in the area. How about a trip to WFM for a delicious acai-acerola drink of O.N.E. and the tantalizing royal hearts of palm from Fazenda e Casa at the rhythm of samba?
