Posts Tagged “kale”
by Mann Packing Co., Inc.
SALINAS, Calif. – Mann Packing announced a partnership with the California Walnut Board for two of its innovative Vegetable Slaw Blends: Power Blend and Kale Beet Blend.
The promotion includes $1.50 off per pack of slaw when any 7.5oz or larger package of California walnuts is purchased. The promotion will run for two weeks from the end of July through mid-August.
“Recognizing California walnuts’ versatility and variety of health benefits, a partnership featuring our slaw blends is a wonderful opportunity to boost summer sales,” said Gina Nucci, director of corporate marketing at Mann’s. “Mann’s is committed to collaborating and creating a synergy with organizations like the California Walnut Board, and we look forward to working with them to complement each other’s strengths,” she added.
California Walnuts was established in 1948 and represents over 4,800 walnut growers and more than 90 walnut handlers in California. One of the Board’s key efforts is promoting the usage of walnuts across the U.S. through advertising, publicity and educational programs.
“Walnuts are a perfect ingredient for summer salads and we are delighted to partner with Mann Packing on this Summer Slaw promotion,” said Michelle Connelly, executive director of the California Walnut Board. “Additionally, the combination of these superfoods packs a delicious punch of nutrition.”
Additional promotions will be available at Safeway, Albertsons, Meijer, Wakefern, Raleys, Schnucks, and Giant Eagle, among others.
About Mann Packing
In the late 1930’s, when the United States was beginning to recover from the Great Depression, a young Stanford graduate came to California’s Salinas Valley seeking employment. H.W. “Cy” Mann began his career trimming fruit and lettuce for 40¢ an hour. In 1939, he opened a fresh carrot packing operation and a business was born. From day one, Mr. Mann built a reputation for honesty and integrity—one that remains with us today.
In 1976 Bill Ramsey and Don Nucci joined Mr. Mann as partners in the company. Today, the Nucci and Ramsey families lead the firm which now spans three generations. They are a majority women-owned and operated business, and one of the country’s leading suppliers of fresh vegetables, including its proprietary Broccolini® product and award-winning Stringless Sugar Snap Peas.
By National Kay Day
New York, NY— What began as a grassroots effort to celebrate the nutritional benefits of kale as a trending superfood, has grown into a worldwide movement. This year marks the fourth annual National Kay Day, which was held recently.
Spearheaded by Co-Founders Dr. Drew Ramsey & Chef Jennifer Iserloh, authors of the bestselling book 50 Shades of Kale, the movement began in 2013 when Ramsey and Iserloh, along with a dedicated army of kale lovers, hosted the first event in October and reached hundreds of thousands of consumers gaining millions of impressions for kale.
In fact, this year’s kale army has grown into quite a military operation with all DeCA military commissaries throughout the U.S. promoted kale October 3-9, 2016. In addition to the weeklong promotion, all 144 commissaries had special signage and in-store events that included demos and recipes of kale smoothies, stir-fry and salads.
In recent years, kale’s popularity has grown in both supermarkets and on restaurant menus. In fact, Whole Foods Market now buys and sells more kale than all other greens combined and other retailers have reported triple digit sales increases. This growing interest in kale has growers and manufacturers excited about the opportunity to promote not just kale, but all leafy greens. While some say that kale’s day has passed, others know that what no longer appears as trending has moved to the mainstream when it’s become easy to find kale at places like Chick-Fil-A and McDonalds.
This year’s celebrations will focus on building online communities through social media, in-market events and school participation. Facilitated by an advertising grant from Google, National Kale Day will be actively promoting it’s free downloadable e-cookbook featuring nearly two dozen kale recipes, and the $1000 cool cash kale giveaway. In addition to online events, including an evening Twitter party, health care provider Eskenazi Health in Indianapolis, IN will feature a variety of events including giving away over 4000 bunches of kale throughout the community.
In addition, to consumer events, National Kale Day has touched 10 countries, multiple health care institutions, retailers, restaurants and and schools with some of the largest school districts in the country including New York Public Schools planning to serve up kale. Dr. Ramsey remarked, “I have been a proponent of brain foods like kale for years, and there is nothing more exciting than seeing the potential to reach kids early on in their lives and teach them about healthy foods in a fun way.”
Despite all the hoopla in the media over the latest trendy vegetable – kale – head lettuce remains much more popular with American consumers.
At first glance, it looks like kale has taken over the American palate. The number of times restaurants have mentioned iceberg lettuce as a menu ingredient in salads has dropped 17 percent in the last three years, according to research from the market-research firm Mintel. Mentions of kale are “off the charts,” said Caleb Bryant, a food-industry analyst at Mintel. “Kale is just exploding in all restaurants, whether it be salad or roasted kale,” he said. And on store shelves, there is a similar rise in kale products, from kale chips to kale smoothies and juices, he said.
The mentions of kale from 2014 to 2015 as an ingredient in salads jumped 63 percent; before 2014, mentions of kale were so infrequent that there aren’t even kale-and-iceberg comparable data, Bryant said.
American are eating a lot more iceberg (head) lettuce, even though kale appears to be far more popular on menus. The U.S. either produced or imported 13.5 pounds of iceberg per capita for use in 2015, a drop from 20.9 pounds per person in 2005, according to the USDA. Kale, meanwhile, has remained relatively steady for the last decade, with the U.S. producing and importing just 0.6 pounds of kale per person in 2015, up from 0.4 pounds per person in 2005.
Pre-made salads and salad kits at grocery stores have increased in popularity, and many contain at least some iceberg Plus, iceberg is an ingredient in foods that aren’t salads, such as wraps, he said. Iceberg also has a long shelf life and a resistance to turning brown, which may be attractive to restaurants and companies that produce bagged salads.
It will take some time for the kale trend to really change what farmers are producing, because it takes time for Americans to acquire a bigger appetite for it. Agriculture specialists are constantly analyzing restaurant and retail patterns and trying to anticipate what new products are becoming popular. However, even when they can predict a trend, farmers need several years to build up a sufficient supply of seeds and to dedicate land to grow a new crop.
Would you believe kale being served with a Big Mac?
Hum. Fast food giant McDonald’s is looking to add items with kale to its menu.
McDonald’s sources aren’t confirming the reports from dozens of media outlets, but it does appear that the trendy green may make its way to the Golden Arches.
Most of the hype stems from Janney Capital Markets analyst Mark Kalinowski, who cited an unnamed source: “Possibilities include kale for use in salads, or perhaps a kale smoothie.”
With the Oakbrook, Ill.-based chain losing market share in recent years, McDonald’s officials have said publicly that they’re open to anything to turn things around, including rethinking menu choices.
McDonald’s has noted it isn’t blind to Americans’ demand for more nutritious items, and kale has been one of the hottest trend items in U.S. restaurants, in general, over the past couple of years.
Kale-producing farms have nearly tripled from 2007 to 2012, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, and kale is featured on foodservice menus a whopping 400 percent more often today than it did in 2010.
However, McDonald’s seemed among the most unlikely candidates to add kale after a January McDonald’s TV ad campaign specifically vowed the chain would never serve kale, in fact chastising vegetarians and featuring footage of McDonald’s signature sandwich, the Big Mac.
“You can’t get juiciness like this from soy or quinoa,” a narrator says in the ad. “This is not Greek yogurt. Nor will that ever be kale.”
A planned fall rollout at U.S. retail supermarkets of the vegetable Kalettes is planned, which is a cross between kale and brussels sprouts.
It is spearheaded by based sales manager of Tozer Seeds America, said in a news release.
“We started selling seed in the U.S. in 2012 and quickly realized that this new vegetable was going to be a huge hit with consumers due to the popularity of both vegetables,” Kuykendall said. So far, Kalettes has appeared in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. It was developed over more than a decade of research by cross-pollinating brussels sprouts with kale through traditional methods.
Plans for the U.S. launch include consumer and social media activity. A website offers recipes; a Facebook page and other outlets have been established. Rock Garden South, a Miami-based grower and subsidiary of Miami-based specialties distributor Coosemans Worldwide, introduced organic BrusselKale — a cross between brussels sprouts and red kale — last year.
I’m in Central and Southern Georgia this week checking out everything from peaches, to vegetable and pecan shipments for 2012.
As with much of the country, it has been a mild winter in the south, which is resulting in crops — and shipments occurring one to two weeks earlier than normal.
The Georgia peach harvest should kick off around May 8 – 10, with shipments by truck picking up by mid-May. Georgia is the third largest shipper of peaches in the nation, behind California and South Carolina. Georgia ships about two million boxes of peaches in an average year.
As for vegetables, I was standing in a field of kale that was being harvested yesterday and the field foreman said kale will be shipping for another six months. Similar accounts can be said for many other vegetables as Georgia will be shipping good volume through the summer and into the fall.
Georgia Greens from the southern areas of Georgia – grossing about $2800 to New York City.
Here are some excerpts from an article written by the editors of Runner’s World, titled, Battle of the Super Foods. Following are some comparisions of the most nutritional among nutritional fruits and vegetables.
STRAWBERRIES vs. BLUEBERRIES The winner: Blueberries
Both are health all-stars, but a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry reported that blueberries (particularly wild ones) showed the most antioxidant activity of all the fruits tested. “These antioxidants help keep your immune system strong and reduce muscle-tissue damage from exercise.” ,” says Mitzi Dulan, R.D., co-author of The All-Pro Diet.
SPINACH vs. KALE The winner: Kale
Kale’s nutritional might would win over even Popeye. Gram for gram, kale contains four times more vitamin C, and one and a half times the amount of immune boosting vitamin A and vitamin K. “Vitamin K ensures that blood clots properly,” says says sports dietitian Suzanne Girard Eberle, R.D., author of Endurance Sports Nutrition., “but it’s also needed to make a bone protein essential for strong, healthy bones.” Kale contains three times more lutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidants deposited in the retina that work together to protect eye health.
Orange beats apple. They have similar amounts of calories and fiber, but oranges have 12 times as much vitamin C.
Red pepper beats green pepper. It boasts eight times the vitamin A, which keeps your immune system strong.