Go Gluten-free with Ceres

Thousands of consumers flocked to the ASB Showgrounds last 23-24 May for the Gluten-free Foods and Allergy Show, an evidence of the growing popularity of the "FREE FROM" types of foods. This is the second year of this event and the number of visitors have grown. So too have the number of products on exhibit.

In particular, Ceres Enterprises had a huge stand filled with a wide variety of products from trusted brands. Leading the pack was Ceres Organics with nearly everything from gluten-free super grains like quinoa, amaranth, millet and buckwheat, to canned beans and lentils, to dried fruits and nuts, to gluten-free snacks like rice chips, banana chips, tamari almonds and tamari cashews, to organic macrobiotic sauces and the popular nut butters.

The Nature's Path and EnviroKidz cereals were a great hit with parents and kids alike who happily sampled the products on their own and then came back for seconds adding in their choice of Rice Dream rice milk or Ruby Grove 100% pure organic fruit juice. The new Quince and Apricot Peach juices were instant favourites.

The next stop was a tasting of the amazing new flavours of Garden of Eatin' corn chips, Nacho Cheese and Red Salsa. It was a surprise to a lot of consumers that the Blue Chips and Sesame Blues were made from organically grown blue corn – not a result of artificial colouring.

Larabar products flew off the sampling counter to the delight of consumers who 'goshed' about the variety of flavours available. The one question everyone asked was "Where can we buy them?" Gluten-free San Remo pasta was a delightful surprise to consumers who said they haven't seen this variant before.

Well now they know it exists and will be looking for the products in their local stores. And, what's the perfect partner for pasta? Zito 100% real Italian pasta sauces made from organically grown roma tomatoes.

From Ceres Enterprises alone, consumers can have a wide assortment of healthy food choices. And they are assured of quality because the products are certified organic. Specifically, Ceres Organics is BIO-GRO certified which is the assurance that the products are TRULY organic.

The other imported brands carry their own original certification too, like QAI, ECOCERT and SKAL. This is important for retailers and consumers to know because there are products out there that claim to be "organic" but in actual fact contain just one or two organic ingredients and the rest are artificial additives.

A first in this year's show was the live cooking theater and Ceres Organics premiered with a 3-course gluten-free meal. Nadia O'Connell and Adrienne Tubbs showed the expectant audience how easy it is to prepare gluten-free recipes at home and come up with delicious, mouth-watering dishes. Recipe cards were distributed to show visitors and the best treat of all was the sumptuous tasting of the Salmon Jerky with Citrus Tahini Dip for starter, Quinoa Risotto with Shiitake Mushroom for main and Tiramisu with Gluten-free Savoiardi for dessert.

Download these recipes here - mouseover to view recipe names, then click to download a .pdf of each recipe.

Overall, it was a great weekend of new food discoveries for consumers and suppliers gaining an insight into consumer needs.