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WGC October 2016 Member Newsletter
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Dear Oldways Whole Grains Council members,
Hard to believe
Whole Grains Month is now in the rear view mirror. Throughout September, we had fun challenging diners to #SpotWholeGrains in restaurants everywhere, and post their "finds" on Instagram. After we'd heard from people all over the country, we chose four diners to receive a $100 gift card from our contest partners California Pizza Kitchen, Maggiano's Little Italy, Subway, and Pret à Manger - four restaurants that happily serve whole grains.
We're hoping our ongoing attention to increasing whole grains away from home is helping consumers find more options - and helping our members sell more whole grain products in foodservice.
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Conference Slides and Videos Now Online
Speaking of
Whole Grains Away From Home, our conference by that name, held September 25-27 in Chicago, was a big success. It was great to see so many of our members there. If you were unable to join us - or if you were there, and want to review the information presented - we're happy to announce that
PowerPoints and videos from our speakers and demo chefs are now online.
Other conference materials (program book, photos, summary blogs) are also on our website.
We'd like to thank the speakers and chefs who volunteered their time to share their expertise with you, and our generous sponsors who funded the expenses for this conference.
Project Sponsor: Ardent Mills
Event Sponsors: Barilla, Bob's Red Mill, King Arthur Flour
Benefactor Sponsors: Bay State Milling, General Mills, InHarvest, Lundberg Family Farms, Mars, Nature's Own (Flowers), Quaker, To Your Health Sprouted Flour, United Sorghum Checkoff Program.
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Get Your Products Sampled at Supermarkets in March
For Whole Grain Sampling Day, we're connecting our Oldways network of more than 200 supermarket RDs with manufacturers who are willing to donate whole grain products for the March 29, 2017 sampling event. Supermarket RDs tell us they plan in-store promotions 4 months in advance, so if you're interested in participating or learning more, contact Kelly Toups (kelly@oldwayspt.org, 617-896-4884) by December 15.
While we can't guarantee which products our Supermarket RDs will choose to sample, we urge everyone interested to contact us ASAP.
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Calling all Co-Packers (and Other Sales Opportunities)
A maker of a gluten-free, 98% whole grain yeasted bread mix is looking for a co-packer to partner with to scale up production of her product. She is also open to a larger company to license the mix. If you'd like to learn more, please contact Heather Crosby directly at yumuniverse@gmail.com.
As this example shows, we love to connect our members to possible business opportunities whenever possible - it's yet another benefit of your WGC membership. In fact, we maintain four separate lists to help you connect with sales opportunities:
- Co-packers / Private Label Manufacturing list -- for companies doing contract manufacturing
- Foodservice Support & Products list -- for companies helping foodservice outlets serve more whole grains
- Wholesale Ingredients business list -- for companies supplying bulk grains and flours to manufacturers
- Mail Order Grains consumer list -- for companies selling whole grains and flours to consumers
This page explains how you can get on any or all of these lists. If you have questions, contact Caroline Sluyter (caroline@oldwayspt.org or 617-896-4832).
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Caroline's Tip: Calculating Total Grains
Caroline Sluyter, who heads up our Whole Grain Stamp program and handles WGC member service, offers a monthly tip for getting your products reviewed and approved as smoothly as possible.
When you're calculating Total Grains for Product Registration Forms, remember to include the Refined Grains total. We count rice starch, oat bran, wheat gluten, and other Refined Grains in our Total Grains calculation so that we can determine what percentage of the grain in your product is Whole Grain. Products that contain more Whole Grain than Refined Grain earn a 50%+ checkmark on our
Stamped Products page.
Just remember:
Total Grains = Whole Grains + Refined Grains.
Contact Caroline (
caroline@oldwayspt.org or 617-896-4832) with any questions about Stamp usage or membership. This is a good time to download a copy of our
Stamp Usage Guide on this page, and remind all your staff of the rules of our program.
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Best Practices for Reformulating with More Whole Grains
If you want to reformulate more of your products to include more whole grains, but are struggling to master the technical intricacies, check out these insights from AIB International's Brian Strouts. His experience as VP of baking and food technical services informs great tips for working whole grains into a manufacturing system that was designed for refined products.
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It's Vegtoberfest - Join Us!
We often like to close our newsletter with a reminder that the Whole Grains Council is part of Oldways, a nutrition education non-profit with many creative food-related programs.
This month the Oldways Vegetarian Network is partnering with Meatless Mondays and the Humane Society to promote Vegtoberfest, a celebration of plant-based diets. Of course, whole grains are part of the celebration - showing just one more way that the synergies among Oldways programs can benefit your company and the health of all of us. If you'd like to get involved in Vegtoberfest, please email Ashley Owen (ashley@oldwayspt.org), Oldways PR & Media Manager. Happy Vegtoberfest!
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Cynthia Harriman
Director of Food and Nutrition Strategies
... and from all of the Oldways and Whole Grains Council staff
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Oldways is a nonprofit food and nutrition education organization inspiring good health through cultural food traditions and lifestyles. The Oldways Whole Grains Council is only one of our many successful programs. Check out our website to learn more.
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