(continued from p. 12)
SPECIALTY FOOD NEWS
supplier news
Belgium seeks chocolate trademark status,
universities produce specialty foods and more news
Belgian Chocolatiers Seek
Trademark Status
Belgian chocolate makers want their
renowned pralines to have similar protection
as French Champagne or Italy's Parma ham.
They plan to apply to the European Union
seeking to make the term "Belgian chocolate"
theirs exclusively and want to crack down on
rivals touting products as "Belgian-style" or of
a "Belgian recipe."
ATALANTA APPOINTS NEW
DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE
FOOD SAFETY
Atalanta, Elizabeth, N.J., has appointed
Linda Gavin its new director of corporate food safety and quality assurance.
Gavin previously has managed the food
manufacturing operations for Pathmark
Supermarkets and the Manischewitz
Company.
Acme and Crepini Team Up
for New Product
Acme Smoked Fish Corporation, Brooklyn,
N.Y., has partnered with Crepini, a nearby
producer of specialty crepes, to launch Wild
Smoked Salmon with Cream Cheese Crepes.
The new crepe product combines Acme's signature smoked wild-caught Alaskan salmon
with cream cheese in a classic and delicate
pancake shell, sold in 11-ounce, five-crepe
trays ready for retail and foodservice.
CHOCOLATIER EXPANDS IN
CHICAGO AND NATIONWIDE
Chicago-based Vosges Haut-Chocolat is
dramatically expanding local operations to
support national distribution at Target and
Walgreens this summer. Founder Katrina
Markoff is adding employees, buying new
manufacturing equipment and refurbishing
a former Whole Foods bakery that will
serve as offices, manufacturing, packaging and distribution for the Vosges and
Wild Ophelia brands. Plans also call for
adding public tours, a cafe and gastropub. It's a critical moment for Vosges, Ltd.,
which expects sales to reach $100 million
over the next three to four years, from an
anticipated $35 million in 2013.
Kameda USA Buys Major
Stake in Mary's Gone
Crackers
The U.S. subsidiary of Japan rice cracker company Kameda Seika has acquired a
77.8 percent stake in gluten-free and vegan
snack manufacturer Mary's Gone Crackers,
Gridley, Calif., for an undisclosed sum. The
deal reportedly will not involve changes in
Mary's Gone Crackers' management team;
co-founder and chairman Mary Waldner and
co-founder and CEO Dale Rodrigues will
keep their positions.
GLUTEN-FREE COFFEECAKE AND
BATTER NOW AVAILABLE
The Coffeecake Connection Company,
West Chicago, Ill., has launched two gluten-free product lines it claims to be industry firsts. The producer has created a version of its signature product, coffeecake,
for consumers, as well as a wholesale raw
batter, branded as Scoop Cake, for chefs
who want alternatives for their gluten-free
customers.
Universities Becoming
Specialty Food Producers
Washington State University becomes the
latest campus to offer its own branded specialty products. The university's agriculture
studies department shipped the first introductory orders of packed and frozen WSU
Premium Beef earlier this year. Cornell
Dairy Ice Cream from the university's dairy
operation is famous in Ithaca, N.Y. Texas
A&M; Jerky has been a big seller in College
Station since the 1980s. And the Creamery
at Washington State has been selling Cougar
Gold, a white cheddar cheese packed in a can
and named for the university mascot, since
the 1940s.
DETROIT SHOPPERS NAME NEW
SIMPLY SUZANNE'S GRANOLA
Detroit-based Simply Suzanne Natural
Foods asked customers to invent a name
for a variety of its granola debuting at a
new Whole Foods Market, which opens
June 5, in the producer's hometown.
Shoppers sampled the granola at scheduled tastings and submitted suggested
names. The winning name was Apricot
Spice, and its creator will enjoy a year's
supply of Simply Suzanne Natural Foods
granola and a $250 Whole Foods Market
gift card.
Bakery Creates Cakes
with Artisanal Spirits
A Portland, Ore., bakery is getting in step
with a growing trend: artisanal distilling.
Beaverton Bakery is teaming up with the
makers of Portland's Indio Spirits to create a series of unique cakes, such as Blood
Orange Mandarin Chiffon, for which mandarin oranges are soaked in Indio Spirits
Blood Orange Vodka overnight and then
combined with whipped cream as a filling for
the vodka-infused cake. Whisky Fudge Cake
is spritzed with Indio Snake River Stampede
Whisky and filled with a mixture of custard
and more whiskey, then iced with chocolate
ganache and drizzled with a whiskey-spiked
caramel sauce.
MAY/JUNE 2013
87