June 2012 - Oser Communications Group

6
GENERAL NEWS
GOURMET NEWS JUNE 2012 www.gourmetnews.com
NRA
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Chef’s Brand Pacific Caught Wild Albacore,
sustainable, preservative-free and
better quality tuna in a pouch; wholegrain,
high-protein Mara’s Pasta; Mfusions,
a fruit-and-tea version of the
vitamin-release water concept by premium
tea company MightyLeaf; and SasaPops,
artisan popsicles in pure fruit and
dessert varieties.
There was a striking variety of products
designed for the new K-12 school
lunch requirements, a foodservice parallel
to the range of healthy kids’ products
coming out on retailers’ shelves.
(Membership in the NRA’s Kids Live
Well initiative has quadrupled in size
this year, according to the organization.)
On the opposite end, restaurateurs
also had their pick of creative
bar foods—from tempura-battered
spicy green beans, to fried “cheeseburger
bites” made from ravioli by
Carla’s Pasta to Sorghum, a bourbonlike
spirit distilled from the grain.
In terms of new forms and products,
there was a rise in Greek yogurt and hummus
options, as foodservice responded to
customer requests for hot retail categories
from 2011, and more interest in vegetable
and herb flavors, but in in non-traditional
categories like drinks and snacks.
Coca-Cola’s Freelance machine,
which allows customers to create
their own sodas from more than 100
options, continued to draw long
lines despite repeated appearances at
the show. The concept is now extending
to shakes and slushes, with
Vitamix showing a conveniencestore
targeted machine that allow
consumers to create and blend their own
flavors of frozen drinks.
There was also strong interest in providing
gluten free foodservice, particularly
for schools and universities. An
education session by the National Foundation
for Celiac Awareness, which trains
restaurant and retail staff to serve the
gluten free market, was well-attended and
drew strong audience response. Gluten
free specialists such as Bready, Schar and
Conte reported strong interest at the
show, and many mainstream manufacturers
highlighted their gluten free options.
With 7 out of 10 American consumers
continuing to cook at home to save on going
out (according to a Harris Interactive poll released
in May 2012), there is a clear need to
find new areas of growth for consumer
restaurants. While optimism and spirits
were high, the challenges remained clear. As
the lines between retail channels—and between
retail and restaurant—continue to
blur, customers are the clear winners. GN
ORGANIC
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cated through the 2012 survey results, indicate
that both organic food and non-food
sales will continue to sustain growth levels
of nine percent or higher.
“With 94 percent of organic operations
nationwide planning to maintain or
increase employment in 2012, the organic
sector will continue to fuel jobs,
rural economies and consumer choice,”
said Bushway.
Besides retail growth, organic food production
also generated more than 500,000
American jobs in 2010, thousands more
jobs than conventional agricultural methods.
This was contained in a second report,
“2010 Impacts of the U.S. Organic Foods
Industry on the U.S. Economy.”
“This report sends a strong message that
doing what’s good for the environment and
The eight categories are dairy products,
breads and grains, beverages, fruits and
vegetables, snack foods, packaged and prepared
foods, condiments and sauces, and
meat, poultry and fish.
Organic food sales now represent 4.2
percent of all U.S. food sales, up from 4
percent in 2010. Meanwhile, organic
non-food sales, representing the personal
care and cleaning sections of many natural
product retailers, reached $2.2 billion
in 2011, experienced strong 11
percent growth, versus 5 percent growth
for total comparable non-organic items.
Prospects for 2012 and 2013, as indiwhat’s
good for industry economics are not
mutually exclusive,” said Congressman
Sam Farr (CA-17), an industry advocate.
The report, produced for OTA by Washington,
D.C.-based M+R Strategic Services,
showed that for every $1 billion in
retail sales of organic products, 21,000
more jobs were created throughout the
economy. In addition, the use of organically
produced ingredients resulted in the
creation of 21 percent more jobs than
would have been generated if the food industry
had relied solely on conventional
farms for its ingredients.
The study attributed the job-creation differences
largely to greater labor intensity on
organic farms, smaller farm size, the need
for an organic certification industry, and reliance
on smaller retail outlets.
The release of the jobs report comes as
Congress shapes the next farm bill, the nation’s
major food and agriculture policy legislation.
Included in the bill are programs
(and funding) critical to facilitating the expansion
of U.S. organic farming.
“This report and OTA’s 2012 Organic Industry
Survey released this week reinforce
the positive contributions of the organic
sector to U.S. agriculture and our economy,”
said the OTA’s Christine Bushway.
“The message is clear—federal organic
food and agriculture programs are jobcreation
programs.”
The OTA is the membership-based
business association for organic agriculture
and products in North America. It
represents over 6,500 organic businesses
across 49 states. GN