Gourmet News

Zeppole Mix Company Sponsors Italian-American Comedian

Published September 9, 2022

Zeppole, LLC is sponsoring popular Italian-American comedian Mike Marino.

“Marino directs his comedy towards all types of people, particularly Italian-Americans,” said CEO Joseph Camerieri, creator of Zeppole Mix. “But more importantly, he is an Italian-American and so passionate and emotionally excited about the product, hence I could not be happier with our sponsorship of Mike Marino.

“He fits our ideal demographic. We love his comedy tour ‘Make American Italian Again‘ and his podcast ‘Live from My Mother’s Basement‘ with past guests like Beverly Hills 90210 star Ian Ziering and actor Joe Montagna from ‘Criminal Minds’, Sean Kanan ‘Karate Kid Part 3’.”

Although the Zeppole mix has been around for a long time, few people are aware of the back story that led to its inspiration. There was a famous Manhattan Italian Feast of San Gennaro, a booth, a real Italian married couple, and now the company announces they will be sponsoring a well-known spokesman and comedian.

Joseph’s mother, Gaetana “Chickie” Camerieri, was born and grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. While growing up, she often celebrated the Feast of San Gennaro. In 1976, Mother Gaetana moved to Florida along with her husband and three children. Years later, as a member of a newly formed Italian women’s group, she pitched the idea of an Italian Feast of San Gennaro to be showcased in Safety Harbor. Fla. The festival soon grew to 15,000 attendees for a three-day weekend event.

Over the years, this recipe was the reason why over 500,000 Zeppole were sold at numerous Italian festivals. As time went on, Joseph Camerieri decided to develop a formula for turning their popular recipe in to a dry mix that could be sold to make at home. Also, the mix could easily be done at home into the tasty treat offered at the festival.

“We couldn’t believe how our Zeppole became such a hit with the festival goers, every year,” Camerieri said. “We hope this unique delicious mix turns out to be somehow a tribute to mom and dad.”

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California Pizza Kitchen Dressings to Land on Store Shelves

Published September 7, 2022

California Pizza Kitchen has formed a strategic retail partnership with Litehouse Inc., the leading refrigerated salad dressing brand in the United States, according to IRI.

The partnership, designed to leverage growing consumer demand for creating restaurant-quality experiences in the home, will introduce a collection of new CPK-branded salad dressings inspired by the popular salads found on the brand’s in-restaurant menu. Scheduled for early 2023, the salad dressing launch will include a range of new flavor varieties and lean heavily into CPK’s reputation for creativity, fresh ingredients, and unexpected combinations.

CPK and Litehouse restaurant brands bring immediate consumer familiarity, trust and innovation credentials to retail categories that may need fresh thinking. The CPK brand consistently ranks at or near the top for “Brand Image” and “Trend Setting” in the Technomic restaurant brand quarterly report, giving the new dressings partnership built-in momentum.

“Our guests tell us they want more of their favorite CPK items available to bring to their at-home meal experiences,” said Jim Hyatt, CEO and president of CPK. “Our chefs make everything in-house from scratch daily, including our delicious salad dressings. Because we hold ourselves to the highest standards in quality and taste, it was important that our partner share the same exacting standards, and Litehouse is that perfect partner. We are proud to collaborate with a like-minded company to bring CPK dressings to the grocery store shelves for all the fans across the country who crave more than just our pizza.”

Recognized as a leader in refrigerated salad dressings, dips, sauces, cheese, and other innovative consumer packaged goods, Litehouse has made aggressive moves to expand its footprint into different sections of the grocery store, including center store. The CPK partnership allows Litehouse to build on its deep 50+ year history as a leader in freshness and quality, continue expanding into center store, and give consumers and retailers more of what they want – fresh and creative new products that can shake up and reinvigorate traditional categories.

“The Litehouse name is synonymous with best-in-class flavors and product innovations in the dressings and dips categories, just as CPK is in the restaurant category, making this partnership a perfect match,” said Kelly Prior, CEO of Litehouse. “Our category expertise, culinary excellence, and manufacturing capabilities allow us to bring innovative new products to market on an efficient timeline, and we are thrilled to partner with CPK to bring its beloved restaurant dressing recipes to life at retail.”

CPK-branded salad dressings will be available in the salad dressing aisle at grocery retailers nationwide in early 2023.

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UNFI Adds Meal Kits, Frozen Meals to Meet Growing Demand

Published September 7, 2022

United Natural Foods, Inc. has added two meal solutions – meal kits and frozen meals – to its offering to better allow retailers to meet the growing demand for quick, restaurant quality meals, while reducing in-store labor and the time required to create similar products on their own. The meal solutions are available nationwide to the more than 30,000 customer locations UNFI services.

The on-trend meal solutions, fresh meal kits from Cook•Able and flash-frozen meals from Cadence Kitchen, allow UNFI to quickly deliver additional high quality product choices that help customers differentiate their offerings at a time when consumers increasingly rely on their local retailer for meal options.

“With consumers continuing to favor eating at home versus away, retailers are looking to offer delicious and effortless products to time-challenged consumers that replicate the restaurant experience at budget friendly pricing,” said Jody Barrick, vice president of Bakery/Deli at UNFI. “These chef-inspired offerings from Cook•Able and Cadence Kitchen give retailers a fast, delicious and reasonably priced turnkey experience, affording their teams additional time to focus on serving their customers.”

The fresh, simple and flavorful meal kits from Cook•Able feature quick and convenient recipes with pre-portioned ingredients that serve 2-4 individuals and are ready in 20-25 minutes. Shelf stable for 14 days and available at a suggested retail price of $12.99 to $19.99, the meal kits come in familiar flavors, including:

Chipotle Chicken Tacos
Creamy Bacon & Parmesan Pasta with Broccoli
Hot Honey Chicken with Seared Garlic Broccoli and BBQ Roasted Potatoes
Mediterranean Chicken with Olives, Feta & Rice
Pan Seared Orange Chicken with Broccoli
Tuscan Herb Chicken in a Creamy Parmesan Sauce
Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowls with Broccoli & Peanuts
Weeknight Chicken Pad Thai with Broccoli and Peanuts

With a wide range of international menu items, creative flavor profiles and thoughtfully sourced ingredients, Cadence Kitchen meals go from flash-frozen to ready-to-eat in 15 minutes or less. Designed to provide consumers with planning flexibility, the following frozen entrees and sides are available at a suggested retail price of $5.99 to $9.99.

Entrees:

American Beef Stew
Chicken and Andouille Sausage Jambalaya
Chicken Tikka Masala
Five Cheese Pasta (Fiocchetti) in Bolognese Sauce
Gluten Free BBQ Mac and Cheese
Lobster Tortellini
Prime Rib Stroganoff
Prime Rib Beef and Broccoli
Prime Rib with Mushroom Gravy
Shrimp Scampi

Sides:

Four Cheese Mac and Cheese
Mexican Style Street Corn
Vegan Latin Bowl

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