Thursday, February 27, 2014

Superior Farms Lamb, 17th Americas Food & Beverage Show, Miami, Fla.

Lamb is very good especially when it is pasture raised. At Superior Farms in California that's exactly what they have been doing since 1963. This sustainable, employee owned company raises Suffolk lamb breeds naturally without antibiotics or hormones.  "We have our own casing company. We utilize 98 percent of the lamb in our company," said Joey Garrard, Assistant VP of Sales and employee owner, during an interview at the 17th Americas Food & Beverage Show, Miami Beach, Florida.
Lisa and Joey Garrard, employee owners, of Superior Farms, 17th Americas
Food & Beverage Show, Miami Beach, Fla. Copyright 2014 by Helen
A. Lockey
Superior Farms gives back to the community through many sustainable practices like offsetting 50 percent of their electrical needs with a wind turbine plant in Dixon, California.

They also encourage family ranchers to maintain healthy fields free from pesticides and waste. In turn ranchers rotate their flocks from field to field so booth the land and the flocks are able to grow well.

Superior Farms lamb burger with mayo and fresh spinach,
17th Americas Food & Beverage Show, Miami Beach, Fla.
Copyright 2014 by Helen A Lockey
"American lamb is a lot of work. Owners of the company are working with the government to stop older growers from getting out of the business," said Garrard.

Superior Farms sells their lamb wholesale, and retail in Walmart and other locations. To find out more you can go to their website http://superiorfarms.com/retail/where-to-buy/

You can also contact Joey Garrard at 863-508-3230 or email joey.garrard@superiorfarms.com

Friday, February 21, 2014

UpFront Foods, Boca, Fla., Vegan GMO-Free Granola


Upfront Foods® puts their nutritional label on the front of their package. Founder and President Gigi Twist started the company because of personal health reasons. Her doctor told her she needed to eat food that was preservative-free. This was when she discovered how hard it was to find nutritional labels on packaging.

Gigi Twist, President and Founder of UpFront Foods, Boca Raton Based, Fla.
Copyright 2014 by Helen A Lockey
“I just wanted a company that was up front,” said Twist during an interview at Fresh Fest 2014.  “There are no artificial ingredients or preservatives in my granola,” continued Twist. And her nutritional label is up front for everyone to see.

“We won first place in the Florida Restaurant And Lodging show in 2013,” said Twist with a lopsided smile, “but granola is not sexy.”

It might not be sexy but it is delicious. It is vegan, kosher, non-GMO Project verified, and organic. There are seven main ingredients in each of her three flavors of granola: flax seed, organic whole grain oats, organic orange peel powder, maple syrup, brown sugar, Canola oil, and sea salt.

“What we found is that children even like it,” said Twist.

Each UpFront Foods ® granola comes in a single 1.4 oz (40g) serve packet. The granola sells for $1.49 a packets at 18 Whole Food Market Stores, “We are in 23 States,” said Twist.

The three flavors of granola, manufactured in Boca Raton, Florida, are: Upfront Nutty Granola™ with pecans & almonds, Straight Up Granola™, and Straight Up Granola™ with cranberries.

As we finished up the interview a 15 year old girl came up to the booth and asked if the granola was GMO-free. The answer was, yes.

“Her age group are asking the best questions,” Twist said with a smile that stretched from ear to ear.

To find out more about Upfront Foods® you can go to their website www.upfrontfoods.com
or call the office at (561) 886-0209