Natural haircare experts launch new Hydro-Oxygen hair colour and predict revival for home colouring
Researchers say seven-a-day should be new fruit and veg target
Field Leader
FreeFrom Food Award winners 2014 announced
Bristol retailer sets out on ‘Better Food Journeys’
Study suggests high protein diet carries similar cancer risk to smoking
The superfood revolution
Ella’s Kitchen founder hits out at media’s “infantile ‘bad food’ lists”
Natural haircare experts launch new Hydro-Oxygen hair colour and predict revival for home colouring
Free from peroxide, ammonia & ethanolamine – do you know what you’re putting on your hair?
Simply Natural Colour is a new system for the millions of natural loving women who colour their grey at home yet yearn for beautiful, vibrant tones and good quality hair hydration.
Hydro-Oxygen technology is a unique zero peroxide and zero ammonia process that gently oxygenates the colour pigment with warm water. It is then slowly absorbed through the cuticle and locks the colour into the hair shaft providing permanent natural grey coverage. (Further details of the technology are attached).
Millions of women in the UK are ageing their hair with a regular build-up of peroxide that weakens and dehydrates the hair shaft. Most home hair colourants provide a guesswork level of peroxide often leading to over processing and unnatural looking shades. Good quality hair hydration and shine is powerfully anti-ageing.
The system has been developed by experts with a twenty year heritage in professional hair colour and a passion for natural beauty. No longer considered niche, natural hair colour is the future of colouring in the UK, Australia and USA with the rest of the world fast catching on. 83% of consumer claim to have natural or organic priorities (Mintel/GNPD report 2013). In 2013 a national newspaper wrote a small piece about Simply Natural Colour’s Hydro-Oxygen technology and the head office received a staggering 3,000 telephone calls in the first week.
Soho-based hair pioneers Bradley Evans and Scot Carey have evolved the Simply Natural Colour system with a team of experts for over two decades. Thousands of clients have enjoyed their expertise and the website features testimonies from women who have experienced hair care and colour transformations www.simplynaturalcolour.com.
Bradley Evans reports; “When professional hair salons use peroxide in hair colour they monitor a client’s individual need. This can range from high to low. Home hair manufacturers have to guess – resulting in average peroxide levels being approximately 6%. An inaccurate result often leads to inappropriate tones and dehydrated hair. The Simply Natural Colour system is also free from ethanolamine which can be used to replace ammonia to open the cuticle. Like ammonia and peroxide, ethanolamine leads to dehydrated hair”.
Industry insiders love the glossy, natural finish and the odourless technology is ideal for colouring in confined environments at fashion shows. “I’m impressed with the new Hydro-Oxygen technology. It’s gentle, improves hair condition and covers grey beautifully,” says Jason Collier, Art Director at Cobella hair salon in London’s Selfridges.
Simply Natural Colour Director Scott Carey continues to reveal the facts about hair colour; “All permanent hair colour contains an artificial colour pigment such as PPD or PTD. The Simply Natural Colour range contain the lowest possible level of PPD – some as little as 0.1% PTD”
The system officially launches in March 2013 and customers can order from the following website: www.simplynaturalcolour.co.uk. The colour kit including a clarifying shampoo is £9.95 and there are ten vibrant shades to choose from. The website contains direction on how to select the correct hair shade.
Simply Natural Colour is also used in selected professional salons around the UK to showcase the system. For further details or to make an appointment at a Simply Natural Colour hair salon please contact Dawn Driscoll or Ali Fischer at dawn@dawndriscollpr.co.uk.
Researchers say seven-a-day should be new fruit and veg target
Researchers at University College London say that that eating seven portions of fruit and vegetables provides significantly better protection against the risk of death than the current five-a-day guide.
When the UCL researchers looked at the data from 65,226 men and women, they found that the the more fruit and vegetables people ate, the less likely they were to die – at any age. Seven-a-day cut death risk by 42%, five-a-day by 29%, they said
.Using data from the National Health Survey, the researchers found that the risk of death decreased as fruit and veg consumption increased. The data showed that the risk of death by any cause was reduced by:
14% by eating one to three portions of fruit or veg per day
29% for three to five
36% for five to seven
42% for seven or more
Fresh vegetables were shown to have the strongest protective effect, followed by salad and then fruit. Fruit juice appeared to produce no benefit, while canned fruit was associated with an increased risk of death.
The researchers say they had aimed to take account of other lifestyle factors – such as not smoking or nor drinking excessively – which might have accounted for drop in mortality.
But other experts have questioned the value of the findings. Prof Tom Sanders, at the School of Medicine, King’s College London, told the BBC that it was well established that people who ate lots of fruit and vegetables were generally better educated and better off, which would account for the drop in risk in itself.
A Government spokesman meanwhile said that five-a-day was sufficient, adding that achieving seven-a-day would be “a struggle”.
Field Leader
The Organic Herb Trading Company has been at the cutting-edge of the organic herbal ingredients sector for three decades. Here, Natural Products talks with Jim Twine, newly appointed as managing director at OHTC, about his plans to move this “hidden gem” of the organic industry to the next level
Natural Products: You had a high profile role at the Soil Association, the lead organization for the UK organic movement – something you’ve been deeply involved in yourself. What attracted you about the role at the Organic Herb Trading Company?
Jim Twine: On one level my motivation to join the Organic Herb Trading Company was really simple. It’s a great company, it’s got some fantastic products. It works with some really exciting customers – from individual herbalists and healthcare specialists all the way up to businesses like Neal’s Yard and Pukka. And it’s just got amazing potential. I also saw a great opportunity, with my background in organic and business development, to pull together my own interests and experience into a company that is really well placed to grow.
But there’s something else that made the move feel right on a personal level. One of the things I’ve become more interested in as I’ve got older is the impact that business can make as a force for good. Often there’s an assumption that charity equals good, social enterprise is good – but any form of business is, at best, neutral. And I strongly disagree with that – based on the experience I had working at the Soil Association.
One of the things that’s great about businesses is that they can make decisions really, really quickly and put them into practice so they have a real and profound impact. That was an element that really attracted me to the OHTC.
NP: Where do those impacts make the biggest difference?
JT: They’re at their strongest when you’re talking about subsistence farmers in the developing world for whom it’s not an exaggeration to talk about their basic human rights being met. And if you are doing trade ethically and you’re using and supporting organic methods, then I think you can have an absolutely massive impact on people’s lives.
NP: Can you tell us a little bit about the history of the OHTC – and, in a nutshell, what the business does?
JT: Mike Brook started the business in 1982. He was steeped in organic and had a special interest in herbs. It was that interest in herbs, particularly the medicinal properties of herbs, that prompted him to set up Hambleden Herbs – mainly out of a frustration at the lack of organic herbs and spices available to herbalists at the time. The OHTC was originally the wholesale sister company of Hambleden Herbs. Mike eventually sold on Hambleden Herbs to be able to concentrate on the current business.
In essence, the business is about sourcing both existing as well as new herbal ingredients – and blending ingredients to customers’ particular requirements, whether that’s a herbal tea or a curry power.
Mike has a great track record searching out unusual herbs and botanicals. He’s been ahead of the curve on sourcing popular superfoods – seaweed products and baobab as a couple of examples – and getting them through novel foods
I see OHTC as being a bit of a hidden gem – despite being around for three decades! A lot of people really don’t know the full range of products – 700 in all, herbs, spices, oils, all organically certified, lots of them Fairtrade, and a cutting-edge support for and engagement with the FairWild initiative.
NP: So, what are you plans for the business? And what were the first things you did when you arrived?
JT: Probably the most important thing I’ve done since arriving is to talk for an hour or so to every member of staff here. Doing that made me aware of just how much knowledge, talent and passion there is here, right across the business.
In terms of plans, it’s early days, of course – I’m still familiarizing myself with the business and I think it’s natural to expect a period of consolidation. But we’re ambitious about where we can take the company, and I can see three or four areas where growth can come from.
OHTC is a real specialist in the sector. It’s got several genuine worldwide experts. So, opportunity No 1 – spread the word about that, articulate the offer more clearly. And, generally, put a solid base into the business. The second big opportunity is with international business. OHTC is increasingly working with international partners and I think there’s a great opportunity here. Developing the international side of things also builds businesses resilience – it’s great to see the UK organic market taking off again, but it stalled for a few years.
I think there’s also more work we can be doing with food manufacturers. Currently we work with lots of customers who are individual herbalists, artisan producers, or tea specialists. Food manufacturers make up quite a small part of the customer base. There’s a hell of a lot of food products that use herbal ingredients, so I think we should be marketing OHTC’s services to the food sector more.
And the other big area of potential growth is increasingly being seen as a supply chain service provider.
NP: How has OHTC been affected by the restrictive herbal regime we are all learning to live with – and what’s you own take on this?
JT: We had to close down on-site tincture manufacture as a direct result of the legislation, so OHTC has been directly impacted by it. I can really understand the frustration that herbal brands are feeling right now.
I don’t need to tell Natural Products’ readers about how punitive some of this legislation is, and the way it works in favour of large scale agri-businesses at the expense of a holistic approach to health and lifestyle. There are important turning points in food, farming and agriculture, and when people look back it will be in disbelief that something like this was considered a good idea. It seems unimaginable now that DDT was sprayed down main streets in America in the 1960s and 1970s. I think we’ll look back in a very similar way to some of the really punitive legislation that’s been brought in on natural health approaches that acts directly opposite to the public interest.
NP: So do you see OHTC as being part of that holistic world view?
harvesting marigolds copyJT: I think it’s directly rooted into it. Organic is in the company’s DNA. We have an organic farm here and it’s incredibly important for us to have that connection with organic production. It might only be responsible for growing a relatively small proportion of the
herbs we sell, but it means we practice what we preach and we keep our feet on the ground.
That holistic engagement strengthens the relationships we have with suppliers and customers. We’ve just carried out a survey of our customers and as well as telling us some very practical things about the business – about what we do well, and what we could be doing more of, or better – you get the strong sense that our customers are really behind us.
And that’s a characteristic of our industry – and it’s really fascinating. There’s a camaraderie between people in the movement that is really striking. When you first become an organic farmer and you go to your first organic meetings – I remember this with my dad – you’re so pleased to find people who share the same philosophies. I think it makes you very sharing in terms of the information and knowledge you build up. It’s that spirit of collaboration that encourages this sense of wanting everyone to be successful. The sense of family and respect afforded to others that is so much a part of OHTC’s culture is part of that wider fraternity.
NP: You’re just a couple of months into the job but it sounds as if you’re really enjoying the new challenge
JT: It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s incredibly rewarding. One of the things the survey told us was that 98% of OHTC’s customers would recommend us – that’s exceptional. They also told us where they’d like us to do more – for example, offering more technical advice on the functionality of the different products they’re buying from us.
We know we need to make the business more visible – and we’ve recruited some really good marketing and PR people to help us with that. We’re also completely overhauling the website. We’ve also invested in new blending and cutting equipment which means we won’t be held back by capacity issues.
The business has the ability to be really scalable, and once we’ve built on the solid foundations already in place, we’ll be ready to take it to the next level – but, crucially, without diluting any of the core principles that are so cherished here. And it’s a great time to be doing that with the organic sector finally waking from its five year slumber!
And, yes, I’m really enjoying being a part of OHTC – that organic and ethical commitment, our customers and the size and responsiveness of the business. It’s great to be able to sit down with Mike in the morning, come to a decision on something, and be onto it in the afternoon. But it does meanyou are very accountable for your actions. In a business employing 30 people and turning over £3 million, I’m acutely aware that every decision matters.
FreeFrom Food Award winners 2014 announced
The winners of the FreeFrom Food Awards were announced at the Royal College of Physicians in Regents Park on 25 March and presented by restaurateur Antony Worrall Thompson.
Michelle Berriedale-Johnson, director of the awards, commented on the entries: “So many good products, and right across the food spectrum from staples to exotica. From free-from supermarket bread to raw maca powder and coconut frozen yogurt to gluten-free beer brewed from sorghum – there are few areas of the food world where free-from has not now penetrated.”
The awards, run by the FreeFrom Matters team, are now in their seventh year and are judged by a panel including manufactures, chefs, cookery writers, dietitians, nutritionists, coeliacs and allergy sufferers. Below is a complete list of the award-winners as well as those highly commended and commended.
1. Overall Winner of the FAIR trophy for Best FreeFrom Food 2014
Focaccia Per Tutti Focaccia Mediterranea
Runners Up
Amy’s Kitchen Broccoli and Cheddar bake
Bessant & Drury Raspberry swirl frozen yogurt
Tesco Free From fresh seeded bread
Waitrose Gluten free egg watercress and chicken salad roll
2. Special Award for services to gluten-free beer 2014
Green’s IPA
3. The Innovation Award – sponsored by Food Matters Live
Winner
Venice Bakery large seasoned gluten-free vegan pizza base
Highly Commended
Celtic Chocolates Choices rondellos
Commended
Newburn Bakehouse Seeded wraps
Udi’s Cinnamon & raisin bagel
4. Breakfast foods – sponsored by Tesco
Winners
Bfree plain bagels
COYO Coconut milk yoghurt vanilla flavor
Primal Joy Foods Cinnamon nut crunch – no grains breakfast ‘cereal’
Highly Commended
Bessant & Drury Alphonse mango & passionfruit coconut yogurt
Bessant & Drury Morello cherry & Madagascan vanilla coconut yogurt
Bfree multiseed bagels
Perkier Apple, cinnamon & raisin porridge
Tobia Teff Teff meal / Teff flakes
Udi’s Cranberry walnut granola
Commended
Hale & Hearty Quinoa & chocolate granola
Lucy Bee Organic raw virgin fair trade extra virgin coconut oil
Nature’s Path Nice & Nobbly organic granolas (raspberry, strawberry, blueberry & yoghurt pieces)
Of The Earth Dear Me breakfast without cereals, chia & hemp with goji berries & cranberries
St Helen’s Farm Natural goats milk yoghurt
5. Breads – Sponsored by Genius Gluten Free
Winner
Focaccia Per Tutti Focaccia Mediterranea
Tesco Free From fresh seeded bread
Highly Commended
Bfree multigrain wrap
Newburn Bakehouse Spiced fruit loaf
Tobia Teff Teff bread
Commended
Bfree brown seeded rolls
6. Store Cupboard – sponsored by Asda
Winners
Ugg Foods Chia seed and nut bread mix
Vegusto ‘Cheese’ sauce
Highly Commended
Conscious Food Palmyra jaggery powder
Lucy Bee Organic raw virgin fair trade extra virgin coconut oil
Quinola Express quinoa – pearl and black
Truly Simple Foods Sundried tomatoes and sweet chilli cooking sauce
Ugg Foods Chia muffin mix
Commended
Hale & Hearty Chocolate chip cookie mix
Helen’s Quick seeded bread mix
Truly Simple Foods Coconut curry and spinach cooking sauce
Ugg Foods Coconut muffin mix
Ugg Foods Fruit and seed loaf
7. Pasta and Pizza – Sponsored by the Food and Drink Innovation Network
Winner
Amy’s Kitchen Broccoli and cheddar bake
Highly Commended
Dell’Ugo Gluten free fresh penne pasta
Elena’s Gluten Free Way DialSì gluten free pasta tagliatelle
Elena’s Gluten Free Way DialSì gluten free pasta caserecce
The Lab Pizza Genovese
Rizopia Organic brown rice pasta spaghetti
Venice Bakery Large plain gluten free & vegan pizza base
Commended
Hale & Hearty Brown rice penne
Hale & Hearty Corn & quinoa penne
8. Raw Foods and superfoods – Sponsored by Food Heaven
Winner
SaVse Smoothies Super blue
Highly Commended
Lucy Bee Organic raw virgin fair trade extra virgin coconut oil
Ombar Coco mylk
Commended
Creative Nature Organic raw maca powder
Love Smoothies The hulk smoothie
9. ‘Food to go’ and food for vending machines – Sponsored by 24Vend
Winner
Waitrose Gluten free egg watercress and chicken salad roll
Highly Commended
Great Food Spinach & pinenut with houmous – snack pack
Hotch Potch Eggs Arancini
Commended
Clearspring Organic brown rice crackers with black sesame
Creative Nature Heavenly cacao superfood bar
Creative Nature Blissful berry superfood bar
Freeli Wowbutter brownie
The FreeFrom Bakehouse Chocolate ‘digestive’ biscuits
LoveRaw Organic bar – cacao & maca
Udi’s Bagel chips
10. Foods designed for food service – Sponsored by Genon Laboratories
Winners
The Indian Coeliac Gluten free authentic Panjabi pakoras
We Love Cake Gluten free cherry Bakewell tarts
Highly Commended
Delicious Alchemy Mini ginger loaf
Hotch Potch Eggs Tiddlee pies & tarts
Pan’Artisan 10” gluten free pizza base, Italian spiced
Commended
Delicious Alchemy Wheat & gluten free sultana scones
Newburn Bakehouse White wraps
11. Ready Meals
Meat-based meals – Sponsored by Sainsbury’s
Winner
Ilumi Lamb Rogan Josh
Highly Commended
The Black Farmer Chipolatas
Voakes Free From steak pie
Commended
Foodamentalists Fidget pie
Tesco Gluten free breaded pollock
The Black Farmer Premium pork sausages
Tom Hixson & Co Pork & herb sausages
Meat-free meals: Sponsored by Goodness Direct
Winner
Georgia’s Choice Gluten Free Mexican bean bake
Highly Commended
Amy’s Kitchen Thai red curry
Mash Direct Potato, cheese & onion croquettes
Commended
FEEL FREE For Gluten Free Vegetarian Party Pack
12. Foods manufactured in a nut-free environment – Sponsored by Anaphylaxis Campaign
Winner
Ilumi Kerala chicken curry
Highly Commended
Big Oz Organic chocolate buckwheat flakes with raspberries
Just Love Food Co Angry Birds celebration cake
13. Foods designed for children – Sponsored by Delamere Dairy
Winner
Georgia’s Choice Gluten Free chicken bites
Highly Commended
Fun Foods4All Bob the Builder organic free from pasta
Incognito Cakes Cheeky little monkey cake mix
Smooze Mango fruit ice
Sweet Mandarin Sweet chilli sauce
Commended
Moo Free mini moo minty moo
Young’s Seafood Ltd ‘The Ultimate’ 100% Alaskan pollock fillet fish finger
14. Foods for Christmas – Sponsored by Hale & Hearty
Winner
D&D Chocolates Dairy free chocolate minty snowmen
Highly Commended
Voakes Free From special pie
Commended
Sainsbury Freefrom Advent calendar
15. Scones, sweet biscuits and cookies – Sponsored by Mrs Crimbles
Winners
Nairn’s Gluten free biscuit breaks: oats & fruit
Highly Commended
DS-gluten free Bourbon biscuits
Commended
Asda Free-from Belgian chocolate rocky road
16. Cakes, cake bars, cupcakes and brownies – Sponsored by Newburn Bakehouse
Winner
Melsie Jane Bakes Mini lemon drizzle loaf
Highly Commended
The Handmade Cake Company Chocolate brownie
The Handmade Cake Company Raspberry & almond slice
Commended
Morrisons Free from raspberry macaroon slices
17. NEW! After dinner foods – Sponsored by Udi’s
Winners
Bessant & Drury Raspberry swirl frozen yogurt
Pudology Banoffee pud
Highly Commended
Booja-Booja Almond caramel chocolate truffles
Christine’s Puddings Sticky toffee pudding
Okobay Coconut water and pineapple ice
Pudology Chocolate orange pud
Rude Health Corn thins
St Helen’s Farm Goat’s milk vanilla ice cream
Wellaby’s Hummus chips Kalamata olive
Commended
Booja-Booja Hunky Punky chocolate ice cream alternative
Celtic Chocolates Choices rondellos
Eskal Noble Choice dairy free chocolate with raspberries
Food Heaven Smooth chocolate mousse
Nairn’s Gluten free wholegrain cracker
Semper Rosemary & salt crispbread
18. Gluten-free beers – Sponsored by Ilumi
Winner
Green’s India Pale Ale
Highly Commended
CELIA Organic Gluten Free Lager
Estrella Daura Damm
Commended
Green’s Premium Pilsner
St Peter’s Brewery G-free
Bristol retailer sets out on ‘Better Food Journeys’
Bristol retailer The Better Food Company is staging a series of ‘Better Food Journeys’ as part of the Bristol Food Connections Festival, a major foodie extravaganza in the city in the spring (1st-11th May 2014).
The Festival is a coming together of several major events, including Eat Drink Bristol Fashion, BBC Food and Farming Awards, Bristol Good Food Awards and a host of pop-up events around the city.
The Better Food Journeys tours extend the celebrations into the “wild, wild west country” to give the stores’ customers a full field to fork experience.
“Our aim is to connect our customers with the source of their food’ says Better Food Company MD Phil Haughton. “Actually, it’s as much about connecting producers with customers – we all have a stake in telling our stories and understanding the journeys of food.”
He adds: ‘We’d love to take everyone with us, but the organic farms and producers we’re visiting are small and artisanal, so small groups it is. We’ll be making movies of the days though, so you can catch the highlights after the event’.
The Better Food Company, which has a large shop and café in St Werburghs and food hall and deli in Clifton, has won a string of awards including the 2014 Gold Fair Trade award and Best Organic Retailer award. The company has also been at the heart of launching a Community Supported Agriculture venture in the nearby Chew Valley – The Community Farm, whose produce is sold in the shops.
• For details of events and how to book, visit www.betterfood.co.uk
. Tickets from betterfood-journeys.eventbrite.co.uk
Study suggests high protein diet carries similar cancer risk to smoking
In a study conducted by the University of Southern California and published in the journal Cell Metabolism, researchers have found that high protein intake is linked to increased cancer, diabetes and overall mortality, carrying a cancer risk similar to that of smoking 20 cigarettes a day.
The researchers examined the links between protein intake and mortality, concluding that respondents aged 50-65 reporting high protein intake had a 75% increase in overall mortality compared to those eating a low-protein diet. They also had a four-fold increase in cancer death risk during the 18 years over which they were studied.
The university’s Dr Valter Longo said: “We provide convincing evidence that a high protein diet – particularly if the proteins are derived from animals – is nearly as bad as smoking for your health.”
Leading nutritionist and author Patrick Holford commented on the research: “This finding doesn’t surprise me at all. We’ve known about the cancer-promoting properties of both meat and milk for along time. It is this increase in cancer risk that is largely driving the increase in risk of mortality.”
The study also found that high levels of the growth hormone IGF-1 increased the relationship between mortality and high protein intake and that pderived proteins are associated with lower mortality than animal-derived proteins.
However, talking to The Times, epidemiologist Professor Tim Key from the University of Oxford said the findings weren’t conclusive. He said that “nutritional science is still in its infancy, scientists simply don’t have the evidence to back up many of their claims”.
Key is currently carrying out a UK study of vegetarians, involving some 70,000 subjects (the USC study involved around 6,000 people). He has published findings showing that although these vegetarians consume less animal protein and saturated fat, their rates of premature death are the same as with meat-eaters. In addition, the rates of bowel cancer are the same in the two groups
“In relation to cancer and diet, the only two things that are unequivocal are obesity and alcohol – both cause cancer. There are loads and loads of studies and they are completely consistent. Once you get onto other things, meat, bacon, fibre, the data is just not clear,” said Key.
The superfood revolution
Jane Wolfe takes a look at nature’s own functional foods
New superfoods’ have been hailed as one of the top food and drink trends for 2014 by Innova Market Insights, which says that nature’s own functional foods are being revisited and predicts the rediscovery of ancient grains.
What’s in a name?
The term superfood has no definitive definition but it is generally accepted that these are foods exceptionally high in nutritional benefits. Martin Kemp, MD of Supernutrients, says: “Superfoods are food products that are natural and nutrient-rich, providing the goodness that nature delivers with minimal processing.” “To us a superfood is a fresh product that has a powerful healing quality or it is a really good alkalizer, or it may have a higher than average vitamin or mineral content,” says Ilona Wesle, co-founder of MyDetoxDiet.co.uk. “A lot of our juices are made with superfoods like apples, bananas, blueberries, kale, beetroot and spinach. Our food-to-go is also superfood-rich; dishes like quinoa salad, red lentil and carrot burgers and raw chocolate brownies,” says Wesle. “We sell broccoli sprout and wheatgrass juice shots for a daily superfood top up.”
A growing market
“The market is experiencing continued and exciting growth. As consumer awareness increases and superfoods are incorporated into more everyday diets, with people experiencing the benefits of good nutrition, we expect sales to grow in line with this trend,” says Kemp. He explains that although superfoods have a way of selling themselves from the ground up rather than via usual marketing channels, consumers should continue to be educated on their nutritive benefits. “Promotions, PR campaigns and viral or social network marketing all help drive customers in store and retailers could invite trial by, for example, offering smoothie tasters,” he says. So how does marketing a food with a ‘superfood’ tag affect sales? Wesle says it can only be a positive thing for sales if marketed to a conscientious audience who understands the benefits. “I think that eventually the superfood tag will become a bit of a given, the way it already has with foods like blueberries.”
Old and new stars
Most consumers are aware of at least a few superfoods, but there are some less well known gems emerging. Lucuma is one rising star; a sub-tropical fruit native to Peru, it provides 14 essential trace elements and is a rich source of antioxidants as well as being anti-inflammatory. Sales of the ancient grain chia are also set to boom, with Chia drinks touted as the next big thing in this category. Long popular in Scand-inavia and used by Native Americans for diabetes and cardiovascular illness, lingonberries are high in antioxidants, are anti-inflammatory, help lower blood sugar and protect blood vessels. The fruit of the African baobab tree is known for having one of the highest antioxidant capacities of any fruit and a 50% fibre content. Rich in vitamin C, calcium, potassium, thiamin and B6, it benefits the skin, immune and digestive systems as well as combatting fatigue. The Japanese Yuzu is one of the latest superfruits to hit UK shelves. Lauded by celeb chefs such as Nigel Slater and Jamie Oliver, the fruit is exceptionally high in vitamin C, with three times more than a lemon. Another up and coming supernutrient category is tree water. Maple water is high in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and has the potential to reach the same market size as coconut water, according to Julian Mellentin, director of New Nutrition Busi-ness. And birch sap is already popular in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, and is traditionally used for arthritis to boost the immune system and combat tiredness. And juices are still a popular way of getting your superfood fix: “Our Raw Super Green Juice is really popular at the moment,” says Wesle. “We expect to see more companies moving into the juice market.” Finally, superfoods aren’t exclusively for humans. Wickedly Raw Superfoods from Din Dins is a natural and organic blend of superfoods, Seagreens and probiotics specifically formulated in two varieties for cats or dogs.
Hot Stocks
In the mix
Aduna Baobab Fruit Pulp Powder comes in sachets, capsules and loose powder. 100% natural wild-harvested, it can be added to shakes, smoothies and juices or used as an alternative to sugar. BodyMe Ltd offers organic superfoods in powdered, whole or capsule forms for easy mixing into smoothies, juices and breakfasts. The range includes Acai Berry, Apricot Kernels, Barley Grass, Cacao and Fo-Ti. Supernutrients’ newly-launched retail-ready offer comprises 18 superfoods such as Organic Banana and Hemp Protein powders and Lucuma powder.
Kick-start
Get the day off to a great start with Of the Earth Superfoods’ organic, gluten-free Dear Me Breakfast Without Cereals containing a mixture of superfoods including chia, hemp seeds, buckwheat, amaranth, goji berries and lucuma fruit powder. Super snacks IQ Superfood Chocolate offers raw chocolate bars incorporating organic coconut blossom sugar – a superfood high in amino acids, potassium, magnesium, zinc, iron, and a natural source of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6 and C. Tempting bars include Cocao-Nib Crunch, Orange with Wild Raspberry and Cranachan Symphony. Millet Rosemary Crackers from Conscious Foods contains foxtail millet, a naturally gluten-free Indian heritage grain, blended with whole rosemary leaves; its Coconut Nuggets are made with coconut, dates and jiggery.
Blending in
Launching in the UK at Natural & Organic Products Europe are two products from Amazing Grass: ORAC Green Superfood which has 40,000 ORAC units in one scoop; and Raw Reserve Berry Green Superfood which contains over 25 billion probiotics per serving.
Ella’s Kitchen founder hits out at media’s “infantile ‘bad food’ lists”
The founder of organic baby food brand Ella’s Kitchen, Paul Lindley, has condemned what he calls the media’s “infantile ‘bad food’ lists”.
The comments come in a letter to The Grocer in which Lindley argues that “lowest common denominator headlines” and “simplistic analyses” of complex food-health interactions sideline serious debate and demean respectable parts of the media.
On the current blaze of sugar stories in the media, Lindley writes: “Parents who once believed they were doing the right thing by offering their child orange juice instead of a fizzy drink are now being told this decision could be tantamount to putting them in an early grave.”