Interesting Finds—Organic or Not

As I walked down the bowling lanes that comprised the All Things Organic show last week (go ahead, roll a ball … we few amblers are the pins…), I was interested to find a small handful of truly intriguing products—organic or not. Despite the less-than-lively feeling (I really hope the show did OK and that my visit was just an irregular blip in the overall scope of things…), I was interested to find items like green tea and ginger beer (interesting use of tea), black malted barley flour (fiber-rich, whole-grain source of dark color, cocoa replacer), yacón syrup (prebiotic-rich, glycemic-friendly sweetener from the Andes) and coconut sugar (another glycemic-friendly option)—and toss in a little popped sorghum and some grass-fed beef jerky just for fun.

One item that had already blipped onto my radar was a frozen yogurt fortified with DHA (from algae), inulin (prebiotic) and a good blend of probiotic cultures. It also provides a “good” source of calcium and vitamin D. I’m currently looking into whether or not they have any chain-level foodservice distribution. Fortified ice cream? Not a chance in my book. But yogurt already has a healthy halo surrounding it, so it just might work.

Organic or not—and I’m anticipating the rise of “natural” and a leveling of “organic” in the marketplace in the coming year or so—ATO always manages to throw a few fun curve balls my way.