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://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1061591
NEW CONCEPTS FROM INCUBATORS Food incubators are helping inventive startups bring their ideas to fruition. Following are descriptions of some of the most innovative concepts under development. Compiled by Julie Gallagher "We're excited to see how clean ingredients are disrupting high- potential food categories, like what Chobani was able to do in yogurt. Three areas that are especially interesting to us right now are better- for-you portable caffeinated energy, like products from Matchabar and TeaSquares; clean snacks that actually taste great, like hummus from Ithaca Cold-Crafted and allergy-friendly cookies from Partake Foods; and clean culinary innovations, which help home chefs who want to keep their kitchen free from anything artificial, such as sauce maker Haven's Kitchen and baking products purveyor Supernatural." —Mitch Rubin, incubator program manager, Chobani "We are currently working with a business called Oyna Natural Foods that specializes in making Kuku, a Persian dish that could be compared to a quiche or frittata. They sell it as a packed grab-and-go snack. It's absolutely delicious and unique." —Emiliana Puyana, program coordinator, La Cocina "Taste For Life, LLC, in collaboration with the Food Innovation Center, has developed an innovative snacking solution for people who have issues with swallowing or chewing. Liquid supplements and puddings are their current snacking options but do not resemble foods they used to enjoy. They are also high in sugar. Research and development has led to a product line called Savorease snacks that offers familiar flavors, nutrition, crispy texture options, and visual appeal with none of the added sugar. Our goal is to make people that suffer from this condition enjoy eating again." —Sarah Masoni, director, product and process development program, Food Innovation Center, Oregon State University "An interesting mission has emerged from some entrepreneurs around making common ethnic 'street foods' more known and accessible to the American consumer. The goal in many cases is not just to diversify the food landscape but to evolve the historical association with certain types of ethnic foods. The Chaat is one of our businesses doing a great job of this through both its line of snacks as well as targeted corporate pop-ups. They make Indian Street snacks and want to expand consumers' association with Indian food from just the heavy, curry-based buffets to include light healthy snacks. Mr. Bing is a graduate that is making Chinese Street Food. Egunsifoods, a current member, is making West African soups and other foods known to Africans more accessible and tailored to the American way of engaging foods. —Koblah Asamoah, Hot Bread Kitchen 48 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com