New products abound at Fancy Food Show

SAN FRANCISCO — With the softening of the economy, food industry entrepreneurs are flooding the market with new specialty food products and variations on what’s already on supermarket shelves. 

That much was evident as the 2012 Winter Fancy Food Show wrapped up last week at Moscone Center after three days of the industry’s top buyers, food service professionals and journalists walking the aisles in search of new, tasty and attention-getting food products.

While several food trends emerged from the nearly 80,000 products on display by 1,300 exhibitors from some three dozen countries and regions, the fact that nearly 200 new member exhibitors joined the fray this year took top billing.

With the economy improving, “more people are looking at becoming ( food industry ) entrepreneurs,” noted Ron Tanner, vice president of government and industry relations for the 2,900-member National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, which produces the annual Fancy Food Show.

“A lot of them had stable jobs. … Some lost them, others just decided they wanted to be their own bosses,” Tanner advised. “There’s great interest in specialty food products — we expect to welcome 300 new members this year. We have 160 new exhibitors at this year’s show and another 30 (at the show) with new products who will become members this year.”

As for food trends, Tanner said Americans are “snacking more than we used to” and he sees producers eager to fill the need. “And they’re doing it with a lot more healthy products.”

Take Colorado’s Snikiddy Snacks, for example. It showed off its newest snack food line, Eat Your Vegetables, tasty chips that contain a full serving of vegetables in every ounce and come in three scrumptious flavors — Sea Salt, Jalapeño Ranch and Sour Cream and Onion. With just 130 calories per serving (about 13 chips), Eat Your Vegetables snacks are made from sweet potatoes, carrots and navy beans. They are available locally at Whole Foods, Raley’s and Cost Plus World Market for a suggested retail of $3.99.

Boasting to be a healthy alternative to potato chips with 30 percent less fat are Turbana Plantain Chips. All six flavors, including the very tasty chili-lime, are gluten-free, with plantains for the chips coming from Colombia. The company is just now lining up retailers in Northern California, but the chips can be ordered eight bags at a crack online.

Simply7 Snacks has just introduced Lentil Chips and Hummus Chips with just a pinch of sea salt, but you’ll have to pick them up at Berkeley Bowl until the distribution system branches out to the North Bay. Also just coming into the marketplace are Pachamamma Raw Kale Chips, produced by a popular San Francisco restaurant of the same name, available only at San Francisco’s Ferry Plaza at the moment. But I suspect this new product is a prime candidate for the
shelves at Whole Food any day now.

A great new snack that is available locally is Jon Sebastiani’s Krave Jerky. Meaty beef, turkey and pork is offered in a moist, flavorful component that’s low in fat and addictively tasty. Beef flavors include garlic chili pepper, curry, pineapple orange, sweet chipotle and chili lime. Turkey flavors include basil citrus and lemon garlic, while pork is offered in smoky grilled teriyaki. The 3.25-ounce packages retail for $5.99 at Raley’s, Nob Hill, Lucky and Cost Plus World Market. You gotta try this to believe it’s jerky.

 

Water takes center stage

It seems that water’s back in the spotlight this year. There are even more coconut water suppliers in the marketplace this year than there were last. 

Now, there’s another twist to the drinks menu. It’s almond water from France, a most refreshing, tasty offering from Victoria’s Kitchen. It’s all natural, kosher and gluten-free. It’s just been rolled out in Southern California, so you’ll have to wait for a bit to see who’ll be carrying it. Otherwise, log on to the Victoria’s Kitchen website and order it for a cost, with shipping, of just over three bucks a bottle for a case of 12.

With all the hoo-ha over plastic bottles, a firm called Icebox is marketing Water in a Box. Resembling pint- and quart-sized milk cartons, Icebox Water in a Box is packaged at the Rustad Spring in Norway. Look for the recyclable packages everywhere soon.

With water coming from all over the planet, why not expect the Swiss to enter the water market? Look for Pure Swiss mineral water in specialty stores any day now.

But if you’re someone who likes to take a bottle of water with you everywhere, why not opt for the new Hydros side-fill filtering water bottle? Made in the United States, it’s dishwasher safe and the filters are good for about 200 fills, according to company spokesman Robert Etin. He pointed out the Hydros bottle is ideal for travelers, as you can take the empty bottle with you through airport security and then fill and filter it with water from an airport fountain just before your flight takes off. The compact 16-ounce bottles retail for around $24.

 

The local food scene

Suzanne Carreiro and William McBain couldn’t believe their eyes when they were searching for a name for their entry into the specialty food market. “From Napa” seemed like such a simple tag, yet no one had claimed the copyright, Carreiro said as she busily handed out individual samples of the St. Helena–based company’s artisan Italian cookies and confections.

“Our food recipes come from Italy, but we hand-make everything in small batches at our St. Helena commercial kitchen,” she pointed out. “We currently have four Italian sweets — two cookies, Roccetti di San Francesco (Italian anise cookies) and Brutti ma Buoni (Italian almond macaroons), and two confections, Panforte (Tuscan honey nut candy) and Panpepato (Umbrian spiced fudge).”

The cookies retail for $7.99 and confections for $12.99, available at Vallerga’s, Genova Delicatessen, Browns Valley Market, Oxbow Cheese Market, Cal Mart, Sunshine Foods, NapaStyle and Oakville Grocery. 

During the food show, From Napa unveiled its newest products: Italian beverage mixers Vin Brulé, a hot spiced wine mixer, and Bellini, raspberry peach mixer ideal for pairing with Italian Prosecco.

Another new sweet treat is manufactured right here in Napa — the Kona Bar, a blend of 100 percent Kona coffee and Belgian chocolate. 

“Ah, no ka oi,” declared Christian Zenger and Joseph Barbera in unison as they passed out tastes of this rich new chocolate bar at last week’s show. There are now four flavors, with hibiscus just added to the line that already includes Tahitian vanilla, macadamia nut and raspberry. 

You can find Kona Bars at ABC Stores on just about every street corner in Honolulu; or in a couple of months, drop by Cost Plus World Market, where they’ll retail for somewhere between $2.49 and $2.99 each.

Napa Valley chef/restaurateur Thomas Keller was on hand to introduce his new gluten-free flour blend. Cup4Cup is a complete, multi-purpose, gluten-free flour blend that replaces all-purpose flour in equal amounts in bread, scone, muffin, cookie, cake and biscuit recipes. Locally, you can find it at Bouchon Bakery in Yountville.

Wine Country Kitchens has teamed up with Food Network chef James Aptakin for a new line of restaurant-quality slow cooker sauces. Ideal for slow cookers and Dutch ovens, the simmer sauces include Hawaiian Short Rib, Country Pot Roast, Marsala Mushroom, Coconut Curry and Apple Bourbon. All are gluten-free and ready to use. The products are so new they’re not even listed on the company’s website as yet. You can contact the valley-based firm on its website about purchasing the new sauces.

Melissa Teaff’s Napa Cookie Company was at the show as well, introducing even more retailers to the savory wine snaps, sweet and spicy shortbread biscuits that are made to order for red and white wine tasting — even tastier with a bit of cheese. Contact the company at 252-7265 if you can’t find them at your favorite retailers, and the staff will be glad to get you and these delicious snaps together.

 

More taste food treats

A little more than five years after Luna Larry launched its first line of Coconut Bliss ice cream — featuring such all-organic ingredients as coconut milk and agave syrup — the company is blazing a new trail with the introduction of four new flavors featuring coconut sugar, a sweetener new to the food
scene.

According to a company spokesman, coconut sugar has added a richer flavor and distinct caramel tones to the four new flavors, which include Ginger Coconut Caramel, Chocolate Walnut Brownie, Mocha Maca Crunch and Lunaberry Swirl. Certified organic and non-GMO, the new flavors are free of soy, dairy, gluten and cane sugar. Most of the Coconut Bliss frozen dessert selections can be found at Whole Foods.

Then there’s Brix, a chocolate made specifically to be paired with wine. Both the cacao bean and red wine are rich sources of flavanoids, a heart disease–fighting antioxidant — a fact that struck Dr. Nick Proia, an Ohio pulmonologist, as quite important. So he developed Brix when it became obvious to him that no chocolate on the market paired well with wine.

He and his colleagues would get together monthly to share a few great bottles and friends would usually bring an appropriate cheese to enjoy with their favorite red. It seemed foolish to Proia to eat fat-laden cheeses after dinner while trying to benefit from the health effects of wines.

Instead, Proia decided to try out the pairing of dark chocolate with wine and after trying all different varieties and “strengths,” he could find no happy medium. Either the chocolate was too much like eating candy or it was so bitter and complex that it dominated a fine wine.

After a good deal of trial and error, Proia crafted the three blends of what would later be called Brix — the first chocolate specifically blended to complement wine. At their root is single-origin Ghanaian chocolate, known for its red fruit tones, mixed with the highest-quality confectionary chocolate. The result is a blend so pure in flavor that it actually enhances those nuances found in great wines, without confusing the palate.

Locally, you can the four varieties of Brix chocolate at Cal Mart, Brix Wine Shop, St. Supéry Winery, Sunshine Foods and NapaStyle.

In the tropical jungle of Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula, nourished by the cooling waters of four natural lakes, lies the majestic remains of the ancient Mayan city of Cobá. Now a company called Cobá has captured the purity and heritage of the ancient beloved drink of the region, aguas frescas. The new firm is just beginning to distribute the four flavors, Guayaba, Jamaica, Mango and Tamarindo, with company reps coming to the Napa Valley soon. Look for Cobá Aguas Frescas on the menu at Napa’s Bistro Sabor by spring.

Here’s a brief rundown on a few other relatively new products worthy of your attention:

• Sir Kensington’s Gourmet Scooping Ketchup — If you’re a ketchup lover, you’ll love the ripe Roma tomatoes sweetened with agave nectar and honey and given a little spice with chipotle peppers. Available in Classic and Spiced.

• Harnett’s Hemp Oil — From Ireland comes this oil with a distinctive nutty taste that’s ideal as a salad dressing, for dips, or for drizzling over root vegetables and pasta.

• Mrs. Renfro’s Gourmet Salsas — The Texas firm has added a couple of new salsas to the portfolio, including an absolutely addictive Tequila Salsa and the brand new Ghost Pepper Salsa, produced with the chile that’s believed to be the hottest in the world. The latter is not for the faint of heart. Available at Whole Food, Raley’s and Nob Hill.

• And just for the guy who can’t get enough bacon, JD Foods of Seattle has come out with Bacon Lip Balm. The company’s motto: “Everything should taste like bacon.”

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