What new food and beverage products can you expect to see on store shelves? We've got six products we think you'll want to check out. You can find more products on our website here.
Dairy-free Cheesy Sauces
Core and Rind was founded by culinary nutrition experts and friends Candi Haas and Rita Childers, who yearned for a non-dairy option that would satisfy their cheesy cravings. After years of development and more than 150 variations, the two finally landed on the perfect recipe: Core and Rind Cashew Cheesy Sauce.
Each jar is a savory blend of pumpkin, cashews and olive oil, with some apple cider vinegar for tang and nutritional yeast for umami. The creamy, dairy-free cheesy sauces come in three varieties: Sharp & Tangy, Bold & Spicy and Rich & Smoky. The duo is working on a non-dairy white sauce that resembles alfredo. The brand recently went through a package redesign, just in time for launching into Midwestern Whole Foods Markets.
“Even from our humble beginnings at our local St. Louis farmers’ market, we've had a vision for our products to be on shelves nationwide,” says Childers. “We’re so excited that Whole Foods believes in our brand and mission. We can’t wait to get our deliciously cheesy sauces into more hands.”
Superfood Tortillas
Mikey’s introduces a new line of vegetable-based tortillas, which are an innovative, colorful addition to the company’s vegan and gluten-free offerings. Crafted with clean, high-quality ingredients and superfoods, the company is redefining the classic flour-based tortilla. The initial launch has three varieties: Sweets & Beets with purple sweet potato and beets, Golden Turmeric with turmeric and hemp protein, and Super Greens with spinach, broccoli and spirulina.
Mikey’s was founded in 2014 when Michael Tierney, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and prior chef in several renowned restaurants, noticed a growing number of companies using the claim gluten-free as a way to convince consumers their products were better for them -- when, in reality, they were loaded with artificial ingredients, fillers and preservatives. So he created his own, with his first product being English muffins made with only eight ingredients. The Mikey’s line now includes pizza pockets and pizza crusts, too. All Mikey’s products are gluten-free, paleo-friendly and free from dairy, grains and soy.
Chickpea Crust Pizza
Banza, a company known for elevating the pasta, rice and mac & cheese categories with its chickpea-based options, is expanding into the frozen pizza category with the first-ever chickpea crust. Banza’s new pizzas have more protein and fiber,and fewer net carbohydrates and sodium than the leading traditional (wheat-based) and better-for-you (cauliflower-based) frozen pizzas in the market, according to the company.
With a high-quality and minimal ingredient list, Banza relies on whole ingredients, such as chickpeas, olive oil, yeast and oregano, to deliver on the taste and texture consumers crave when eating pizza – that means a crispy crust with a doughy center that doesn’t flop over when you pick up a slice. The new line is available in three ready-to-eat varieties including Four Cheese, Roasted Veggie and Margherita, plus a two-pack, build-your-own plain crust option. The suggested retail price is $8.99. Each pie cooks in the oven for less than 15 minutes.
Since launching five years ago, Banza has become the fastest-growing pasta brand in the U.S. and is currently sold in more than 13,500 stores. The company now offers 16 different pasta shapes, four varieties of chickpea rice and six varieties of mac and cheese.
Meal Replacement Puffs
New TakeOut Meal-In-A-Bag Puffs are packed with 21g of protein and 20 vitamins and minerals, turning a salty snack into a crunchy meal replacement. It's developed by Outstanding Foods, a better-for-you, plant-based startup that built a following with its debut product PigOut Pigless Pork Rinds. Outstanding Foods has attracted investments from celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Rob Dyrdek, Emily Deschanel, Daniella Monet and others.
Co-founder Chef Dave Anderson, who led the creation of the Beyond Burger, has packed the nutrition of a full meal into TakeOut’s 3-oz. bag. The puffs come in four varieties: Chill Ranch, Hella Hot, Pizza Partay and White Chedda. They are certified gluten-free, plant-based, kosher, vegan, and free from GMOs, trans-fatty acids, nuts and soy.
“Just about everyone has finished an entire bag of snacks and felt guilty because all they got were empty calories and a bomb of salt and fat,” says Bill Glaser, co-founder and CEO. “For the first time ever, you won’t feel guilty, whether you’re enjoying it as a great-tasting snack or in place of a meal.”
A New Type of Snacking Nut
Known for its plant-based coffee whiteners, hydration products, beverage-enhancing supplements, roasted and instant coffees, teas and hot chocolate, Laird Superfood is now in the snack business with the debut of Pili Nuts. Grown on trees in the nutrient-rich volcanic soil of the Philippines, pili nuts are naturally high in fat, positioning them as a long-lasting energizing and fuel-up snack.
The nuts are wild harvested, sprouted in purified mountain water and slow dried to preserve their delicate, buttery flavor. They come in three flavors. For chocolate lovers, the cacao offering is dusted with a coating of organic Ecuadorian cacao and organic coconut flower sugar. The Himalayan pink salt variety is for salty snack aficionados. The matcha variety uses organic Kyoto matcha made from the tender young leaf tips of shade-grown tea plants cultivated in central Japan. The matcha has a naturally sweet taste with a vibrant green color.
The nuts get a little extra sweetness from the addition of organic coconut flower sugar. One serving of all varieties contains about 18g of protein and is a good source of magnesium and vitamin E. The suggested price is $11.95 for a pack of three 1-oz. pouches.
Going Nutty with Pie Baking
There’s going to be a lot of baking and cooking this holiday season, maybe more so than in years past because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies such as Diamond of California are trying to inspire innovation with new products. After disrupting the baking aisle in 2019 with the rollout of ready-to-use pecan or walnut pie crusts, the century-old brand is unveiling a new chocolatey flavor.
Diamond of California’s new Chocolate Nut Pie Crust is made with a blend of walnuts and pecans. The key difference is the addition of real cocoa to give the crust that rich chocolatey taste, making it the perfect companion for sweet pie filling recipes, such as banana cream and chocolate truffle.
These nut crusts were the first crusts on the market made with nuts and kitchen pantry ingredients, rather than the more typical pressed cookie crumbs commonly made with ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup, soybean oil, additives and artificial flavors. The nut base helps the crusts reduce flour, sugar and carbohydrates, and also contributes polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats that are present in tree nuts.
