Health & Wellness

This last presentation cycle R and D concentrated on trends in the industry that target Health and Wellness. The industry is a rapidly growing 4 trillion-dollar business. Some of the topics covered included, Juneberry Blend made into a meat and fruit bar, Orange Grapefruit Turmeric Blend used in a wellness gummies and Lemon Maple Blend to mimic the ingredients in the Master Cleanse.

The health benefits of this little super berry are vast, including anti-inflammatory, immune support, cardiovascular, antioxidant protection, digestive tract, and anti-cancer benefits to name a few. The cranberry outranks all other major fruits and vegetables in its antioxidant levels...

Summer time in Washington not only means warm days and beautiful sunsets it also means Berry Season. For local growers, berries, like Strawberry, are ready to pick and harvest come June. Its not until September that the true berry season is over in Washington. Past years of early heat and late rain have, of course, changed the times when harvest is ready but in general terms when summer starts you can be sure that the farmers markets will start to have those amazing northwest berries... read more

When we say tropical fruits, the masses could agree, we are talking about coconut, passion fruit, papaya, guava, starfruit, pineapple, kiwi, acai, mango and banana.Tropical fruits get a lot of attention usually during the hotter seasons and definitely make an appearance in beverages. Regardless if its a fruit smoothie or a blended alcohol beverage, tropical fruits provide a unique and sweet flavor that can add depth and interest to an otherwise ordinary beverage.

Here in the test kitchen we have been excited to brew our own Kombucha tea. A few of the bases that we have been working with include Pu-erh (black tea), Honeybush, Green Tea, Passion Fruit, and a Coffee Blend. The fermentation can take between 3 to 7 days depending on the desired taste for your Kombucha. The process of brewing your own Kombucha includes four main ingredients; tea, vinegar, sugar and a Scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) culture.