Terrapin Ridge Farms - Oser Communications Group

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SHOW NEWS www.gourmetnews.com ■ JANUARY 2011 ■ GOURMET NEWS
Afire Enhances The Grilling
Experience With Natural Ingredients,
Sustainable Materials
Gourmet News talks sustainable grilling with
Marlena Chang of Afire Inc.
GN: Tell our readers a little about your
company. What’s your main line of business?
MC: Afire produces all natural, highperformance
grilling products for outdoor
entertainers and grilling enthusiasts. We are
constantly developing products that will
enhance the grilling experience with all
natural ingredients and sustainable materials.
We have three main product lines. Our
gourmet grilling planks are sustainably harvested,
hand-picked from local farms and
kiln-dried. The planks work magic with our
all natural spice and herb rubs. KOKO
Charcoal is our premium eco-friendly charcoal
made from coconut fiber, which delivers
cleaner, hotter and longer cooking time
than conventional charcoal.
GN: What would you say makes your
company unique?
MC: Being sustainable is very important to
us. Afire uses products that are all natural
and you can taste the difference. Our gourmet
grilling planks are sliced from specially
harvested trees. We preserve the natural oil
and aroma from the tree. More smokiness
than conventional planks means you will
taste more flavor.
Our seasonings are made from all natural,
gluten-free ingredients, with no MSG
ever! KOKO Charcoal is our premium
charcoal for grilling. You use less KOKO
to get higher heat, longer cooking time
and tastier foods.
GN: What was the most significant event for
Afire in the past year?
MC: That’s an easy one! Being featured in
Food & Wine, Shape and Food Network
magazines. That recognition feels great!
GN: What was your marketing
strategy in the past year?
MC: In 2010 we spent a lot of our
time rebranding the Afire brand to
appeal to our target market: natural
born grillers. We changed our
logo, product packaging and created
a new website, which will be launching
soon. This rebranding is a strong foundation
for 2011.
GN: Who are your target end users?
MC: We call our customers ‘natural born
grillers.’ They’re 50 percent male and 50 percent
female, 30-55 years old, enjoy outdoor
entertaining, own a home, and love to keep
up on the latest grilling trends and products.
GN: Describe your current marketing
strategy.
MC: We’re ready to expand by being involved
in the community. We have an extensive
social media plan targeting Facebook
and Twitter groups. We are true believers in
guerrilla marketing. That is why we are also
planning a NASCAR tailgating tour which
will drive more people through our social
media site.
GN: Are you introducing any
new products?
MC: Yes, we are constantly testing,
tasting and designing potential products
that fit within our highperformance,
all natural, sustainable
grilling philosophy.
GN: What distinguishes your products from
the competition?
MC: We focus on being innovative, all natural,
high-performance and sustainable.
That’s the reason we are in business.
GN: Tell us about your trade show objectives,
plans, products, promotions, etc.
MC: We have a lot of goals we want to accomplish
at the Fancy Food Show this
year. We are looking for partnerships, retailers,
distributors and manufacturer’s
reps. We also want to introduce our new
image to the food industry and potential
buyers. We are offering an ‘Apple TV’
giveaway at our booth and will be having
demonstrations of our all natural rubs. We
are offering 10 percent off all trade show
orders placed during the show. Visit us
during the show at booth 1781N.
Gluten-Free Products Abound at
Fischer & Wieser Specialty Foods, Inc.
83% Of Fischer & Wieser’s Gourmet
Offerings Are Gluten-Free
Fischer & Wieser Specialty Foods, Inc.
has long been on the cutting edge when it
comes to trend-setting products, and has
not lagged behind in the gluten-free category.
With 62 gluten-free products (out of
74), spanning nine categories, many of the
company’s best-selling products are
gluten-free.
Going back to the founding of Fischer
& Wieser in 1969, their original product,
Old Fashioned Peach Preserves, is among
the gluten-free best sellers, as is the company’s
signature product, The Original
Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce ® .
Twelve of their top 13 best-selling sauces
fall in the gluten-free category.
Second best-seller in the sauce category,
Mango Ginger Habanero Sauce, a glutenfree
Scovie Award winner, contains sweet
mangos, ginger, honey and just a dash of
habanero pepper. It’s great as a basting
sauce on bacon-wrapped shrimp!
Pomegranate & Mango Chipotle Sauce,
another gluten-free award winner and
third best-seller in the company’s line-up,
blends antioxidant-rich pomegranates
with sweet mango and spicy chipotle
peppers, making a gourmet sauce that is
great on grilled chicken, roasted pork and
baked fish.
Roasted Blueberry Chipotle Sauce,
fourth best-seller, boasts plump, juicy,
Northwestern blueberries blended with
zesty chipotle peppers, creating a taste explosion
that’s perfect over cream cheese
or Brie, and adds artisanal flair to grilled
or baked chicken.
Fifth on the best-seller sauce list,
Charred Pineapple Bourbon Sauce turns
any meal into a tropical getaway. The
hand-roasted, tropical pineapple and Tennessee
bourbon whiskey combo is great
when used as a glaze on ham, or as a
dessert sauce.
Smokey Mesquite and Sweet Heat Mustards,
all salsas, both pie fillings, six out of
seven dressings, 11 out of 12 jams, four out
of five appetizers, and 10 of the 16 Mom’s
products claim the gluten-free mantra.
The No. 1 selling Mom’s product,
Mom’s Original Garlic and Basil
Spaghetti Sauce, is not only gluten-free,
but was named Outstanding Classic of
2010 in the 38th annual sofi Awards
from the National Association for the Specialty
Food Trade, Inc. The sofi Awards
recognize the best in specialty food and
beverages and are a coveted industry
honor. “sofi” stands for specialty outstanding
food innovation.
“With the health concerns that many
have today, we are very proud to offer so
many excellent products to those with
gluten intolerances,” stated Ashley Seelig,
Director of Quality Assurance/Product
Development. “It makes a world of difference
to those with such intolerances to
have a source for great products—
available to them so conveniently through
our website and throughout the country in
specialty, club and grocery markets
around the world.”
For a complete listing of all of Fischer
& Wieser’s gluten-free products, go to
www.jelly.com/glutenfree.
For more information on all of the
fine Fischer & Wieser products, visit
www.jelly.com, or contact Jonathan Pehl,
Director of Marketing and Branding at
jonathan.pehl@jelly.com, call 800-369-
9257 or stop by booth 788.