Nonfoods

Be still my heart! Is that a private label brand in your customer’s shopping cart?

The latest nutritious product from Ian’s Natural Foods is Fruitabits, which combines the crispy crunch of rice bits with a coating of real fruit purée.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) yesterday pledged its support of the Affordable Food and Fuel for America Act co-sponsored by Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) and Mary Bono-Mack (R-Calif.) of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The New York Apple Association (NYAA) this fall will once again be offering a full-service promotion support program for retailers promoting “New Crop Apples,” tying in with the huge buy-local produce trend. “We’re going all out to push fresh, local fruit,” said Jim Allen, president of the Fishers, N.Y.-based NYAA, which represents the state’s 695 growers. “Our apples this fall will be coming straight from the orchard -- not fruit from storage.”

Tillie’s Gourmet’s all-natural premium dressings and marinades are so versatile, they can be used on a lot more than just salad, according to the Doylestown, Pa.-based company, which suggests adding them to poultry, seafood (including sushi), chilled or roasted vegetables, and sandwiches.

Lifestyle Foods, Inc. has added to its line of morning snacks for consumers in search of nutritious on-the-go options. The Awake snack combines apple slices, red seedless grapes, an all-natural granola bar and a trail mix of nuts, seeds and dried fruit, while the Essential snack offers a mini honey wheat bagel, light cream cheese, a whole hard-boiled egg, apple slices and red seedless grapes.

The New York Times spent some time interviewing college students, construction workers, c-store owners and others near the University of Maryland recently to study what it calls the “hottest drink category in the country” right now, energy shots.

As the first shipments of navel oranges from Chile hit U.S. markets on both coasts, the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association (CFFA) is rolling out a media campaign to build consumer awareness for its newest addition to the summer citrus lineup.