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And the Grocery Innovation Winners are…

At this year’s Grocery Innovations Canada show, judges selected the top new and innovative grocery products. Here’s a rundown of some of the foodie winners.

Best Snack:  Sea Stick Dried Seaweed – crispy and crunchy, rolled and baked seaweed snack.

Seaweed snacks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best Packaging:  Bad Dad Tea – each sachet of tea sports a witty and original cartoon. The tea is organic and sourced from free trade plantations.

 

Best Health and Wellness Product:  Humble Seedz Vegan Cream Cheeze – made from 100% Canadian grown sunflower seeds and buckwheat seeds. The products are also dairy-free, gluten-free and soy free. A 2-tablespoon serving contains 80 calories, 7 grams fat and 85-95 mg sodium.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Best Beverage:  SeedLip Distilled Non-Alcholic Spirits – the name was inspired by the seed baskets carried the Founder’s family plus a process of Seed to Lip – thus SeedLip.

non alcoholic drinks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best Frozen Product:  Happy Pops – all-natural ice pops made with real fruit and sweetened with organic cane sugar. Each pop contains 35-75 calories.

frozen fruit popsicles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best Ethnic:  Ready to Heat Thai Premium Curry Sauces – chef-created curry sauces in yellow (mild), red (medium) and green (spicy).

curry sauces

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best Home Meal Replacement:  Rana Meal Solutions – pre-cooked filled pasta, ready in less than 5 minutes.

pasta

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All images courtesy of The Justin Poy Agency

Winners of the 2016 Grocery Innovations Show

Here are a few of the winning products, as selected by the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers.

black-water

blk. Alkaline Mineral Water
blk. is a pure alkaline water that is infused with fulvic trace minerals.This beverage is naturally black with no artificial dyes or colouring. Fulvic acid (also called humic acid) occurs naturally in soil and sediment. Like all plain, unflavoured waters, blk has zero calories, zero sugar and zero caffeine.
My take: Tastes earthy. There are no human requirements for fulvic acid. Might make a good Halloween drink.

goh-goh-granola
goh-goh cereal
goh-goh cereal is made with air-dried milk. The first two ingredients are whole grain rolled oats and goh-goh whole milk powder. After adding water (warm or cold), the cereal is reconstituted. Available in two flavours: Honey, Hemp & Flax; and Raisin & Almond. A servings contains: 270-290 calories, 6-9 g fat, 43-45 g carbohydrates, 8-10 g protein, 3-4 g fibre, 15-20 g sugars and 10-15% DV (Daily Value) for calcium.
My take: Higher in sugars than I’d like, but tastes quite nice and is very filling. A novel idea for those who are camping, travelling or on the “goh”.

chickpea-beverage
Chickpea beverage
Made from organic chick peas, this is the first fortified chickpea beverage in the world. A serving (1 cup) contains: 70 calories, 2.5 g fat, 1 g omega-3 fat (from flaxseed oil), 2 g carbohydrate, 10 g protein, 0 g sugars and 30% DV (Daily Value) for calcium. (Vitamin D content not available.)
My take: Really does tastes like chickpeas. Contains more protein than other plant-based beverages such as almond beverage or rice beverage.