Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://specialtyfoodmagazine.epubxp.com/i/235863
category spotlight N at u r a l ly "Once they taste kombucha, they will buy it—so we do a lot of sampling." Cheese straws | Cookie straws Cookies | tea Cookies simple, all Natural ingredients. No Preservatives & No trans Fats. Winter Fancy Food Show Booth 529 Kombucha Wonder Drink in Asian Pear & Ginger lished beverage in high demand for its relatively fewer calories compared with sports drinks and sodas and its abundance of naturally occurring minerals and electrolytes, including sodium and potassium. "We can't keep it on the shelves. It's nature's Gatorade," says Jungle Jim's Weed. Sales of coconut water shot past $100 million in mass-market outlets in 2012, according to Packaged Facts. The field is dominated by two major brands, Vita Coco and Zico, that have broadened awareness among the general public through advertising and wide distribution, including in cost clubs, fueling growth for other brands, says Craven. Between 2008 and 2012, the number of product introductions more than quintupled, up 540 percent, according to Mintel International. Recently, the number of entrants has slowed, as has the innovation, says Craven. But with the maturing of the sector, customers have developed preferences for pulp or no pulp and pure coconut water or a blend of flavors such as pineapple, peach mango, strawberry banana or tropical fruit. While most of the sales of coconut water are for grab-and-go, single-serving sizes, customers are buying liter-size containers of coconut water for smoothies and at-home use, says Kirstin Hunt, Southern Season's specialty food buyer. Kombucha Comes Back. This love-it-or-hate-it drink is generating a steady following. Kombucha is a blend of tea and sugar that has been fermented with a pancake-like fungus called SCOBY, Winter Fancy Food Show Booth 616 78 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com