At last month’s Fancy Food Show in NYC, we stumbled upon a booth that is a mixologist’s dream come true. (Before I tell you about it, first let me ask: When did bartenders stop being called bartenders and morph into mixologists? What is the proper etiquette in terms of whether you call someone a bartender or a mixologist? If anyone can educate me, I’d be truly grateful).

Now, back to our discoveries. It was a small booth that was humming with activity. Okay, so it could have been the neat little bar, complete with an accomplished mixologist, that really kept the joint jumping, but after sampling their wares, I understood.

The booth was Tillen Farms. Their products ranged from pickled veggies like dilly beans, crispy carrots and asparagus, both spicy and regular; all absolutely delish and perfect on an antipasti platter or as natural and edible stirrers in your favorite bar drink!

But the item that really caught my eye was a jar of all-natural maraschino cherries, aptly named Merry Maraschino Cherries. They really took me back. As a kid, I loved the few times that we got to eat out at a local restaurant, usually lunch since money was tight, and I always, always, always ordered a Shirley Temple. As an adult, I learned how commercial maraschino cherries were made and that was the end of my love affair with them… that is, until now. MORE…

Sourcing local is a challenge, and selling it is no picnic either. So hats off to Fresh & Easy’s ambitious “Farm to Store in 24” program, which guarantees local produce will be on shelves less than a day after it leaves the farm. The Tesco-owned supermarket chain, which operates 150 stores out west, says the program has been a resounding success — so successful, in fact, that they’re going to expand it.

As much as 65% of Fresh & Easy’s seasonal produce comes from California farms, and that percentage is set to increase as the retailer takes on more growers. This isn’t as simple as going out and shaking hands with a few farmers and telling them the truck will be by next week, however. It’s a collaborative effort, full of the eventualities that come with seasonal growing. Both parties have to do their fair share towards meeting that tight deadline.

“Getting produce from the farm to the store in 24 hours or less is an incredibly tricky task, which makes it important to partner with strong local growers who share our commitment to quality produce,” said Justin Hill, Fresh & Easy’s produce manager, in a statement.

The end result is worth all the effort. This summer’s lineup includes table grapes from the Coachella Valley and strawberries from farmers in Ventura County and Watsonville, on land overlooking the Pacific Ocean. MORE…

It’s a perennial problem faced by the food industry: There is always too much of a good thing.

The latest case involves inulin, an ingredient that’s answered the prayers of manufacturers looking to add fiber to their products. As a result, American consumers looking to boost their fiber intake have been finding more products on the shelves labeled as a “Good Source of Fiber” in large part thanks to inulin, which is extracted from the chicory root.

The choice of inulin as an ingredient has been helped immensely by its properties. It can be chemically manipulated to mimic tastes and textures that appeal to consumers. “It’s like a food manufacturer’s nirvana,” Joanne Slavin, a registered dietitian in the department of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota at St. Paul, told Reuters.

Slavin and some colleagues conducted research to find out how this increase in inulin consumption was affecting a person’s health. The group studied just over two dozen healthy individuals between the ages of 18 to 60. The group that was fed 5- or 10-gram doses of inulin reported a number of unpleasant gastrointestinal symptoms. MORE…

The recession hasn’t been very kind to natural and organic retailers, but there have been a few bright spots — and the brightest one, many will agree, has been the bulk department.

Yes, bulk: Those rows of plastic bins stretching down the aisles that, at just the pull of a lever, dispense everything from trail mix to chocolate nibs to shampoo. Shoppers can save money by taking as much or as little as they want, and save packaging by using the thin produce bags that, at a growing number of stores, come in biodegradable varieties.

Bulk is cheap, and bulk is green. But bulk is also different, and that makes it a complicated opportunity for many of the retailers, especially the mainstream ones, that are jumping on the trend.

To figure out how to best manage the category, I turned to an expert: Doug Sanders, president of Sprouts Farmers Market. Sprouts now operates 50 stores throughout the Southwest, and at each one, bulk is the star.

“The dead center of our store is the bulk department,” said Sanders. “Produce and bulk combined probably take up 30% of our store.”

Inside the department, Sprouts customers can find time-honored favorites like nuts and granola, as well as more modern, gourmet fare like dark chocolate pieces and cranberry-infused trail mixes. The latter choices, Sanders noted, are doing particularly well right now, in light of consumer awareness of antioxidants. MORE…

In Baltimore, there’s a newly appointed “food czar”. In Detroit, inner-city grocers offering fresh foods receive financial support. And in Syracuse, N.Y., a “Mobile Market” truck delivers fruits and vegetables to low-income consumers.

The issue of food deserts — communities without access to fresh foods and produce — is no longer the elephant in the room for U.S. cities. Thanks to a considerable amount of advocacy and media attention, fueled in recent months by the Obama administration’s focus on the problem, municipalities all over are finding creative ways to increase the delivery of healthy foods to the people who arguably need them most.

Supermarkets are key partners in this process. Wegmans, for one, sells produce at cost to Syracuse’s Farm Fresh Mobile Market and offers access to its network of local farmers. Modeled after a similar effort in Oakland, Calif., the Mobile Market makes a dozen stops each week throughout the city and accepts food stamps, as well as EBT cards and WIC funds. Hen House Market in Kansas City, meanwhile, has taken a similar step, partnering with local growers’ co-op Good Natured Family Farms to hold inner-city farmers markets.

One of the most interesting new programs is Baltimore’s “virtual supermarket”. Customers can order fresh foods online, and then collect them after they’re delivered to a local library.

This and other programs are far from perfect, however. MORE…

Trying to gauge the impact of a soda tax is quite a workout. All sorts of figures get tossed about — starting with the amount of the tax. How much will be enough to change purchase behavior? One study claims that we would need a 1,200% tax — an extra $9 on a 75-cent can — in order to dissuade a noticeable segment of the population.

Extreme? Probably. But a 20% tax is nothing to laugh at, either — and that’s the number increasingly being used in various scenarios and studies. Indeed, that’s the number the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture used in studying the question.

The ERS has a wealth of data to pull from. They have inside access to the federal bureaucracy and know where to search for arcane statistics or find studies that will help us figure out whether such a tax works.

For instance, it found that a survey done on food intake between 1999 through 2004 that concluded Americans consumed more than 22 additional teaspoons of sugar every day, with one half coming from soft drinks and juices.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has gone on record stating that a tax on soda and snack foods could generate almost $15 billion in the first year alone. MORE…

Over the past 13 years of writing about supermarkets, I’ve been witness to a good number of well-meaning but poorly executed promotions.

My personal favorite was the day a popular (but now defunct) regional chain here in the Northeast introduced a new mascot to customers. The event was heavily promoted, so the turnout was large — lots of families, which was the idea, since we all know that young kids love furry, colorful characters.

When the big moment came, out stepped this Frankenstein-like creation of what appeared to be a humanoid made of various food groups (“What’s with the cheese wedges?”). As it lurched onto the stage (a stiff, new costume), several children cowered and the applause was… polite. This was not a friendly, approachable mascot. This was something you wanted to run from.

Needless to say, the creation didn’t last long. Which brings us to the most recent example of this phenomenon at work: A Safeway store in Kirkland, Wash., recently erected a large, bright sign promoting a farmers’ market event in the parking lot.

The problem is, there were no farmers at this market. The store was just promoting what was basically a huge, outdoor display of regular, conventional produce.

Having a farmers’ market with no farmers is not only misleading, it runs afoul of a Washington state law that defines a farmers’ market as one with five or more farmers present. The discrepancy was called out by non other than the manager for a nearby farmers’ market, who happened to be driving by and saw Safeway’s sign. MORE…

Spartan Stores announced that it was expanding the Michigan’s Best program it started last year to support home state farmers, processors and manufacturers. The expanded program kicked off Fourth of July weekend in nearly 100 Spartan-owned stores under the Family Fare, D&W Fresh Market, Felpausch, Glen’s, Glen’s Fresh Marketplace, and VG’s banners, as well as 250 independent grocery stores it services in Michigan.

The fact that it’s Michigan we’re talking about means the program has definite economic undertones. This isn’t local for local’s sake – Spartan promotes Michigan’s Best as a significant booster to the state’s ailing economy (from April 2006 to May 2010, Michigan consistently reported the highest unemployment rate in the country; Nevada recently beat it out by 0.4%. Michigan’s most recent number stands at 13.6%).

“Buying local helps keep Michigan residents employed,” Alan Hartline, Spartan’s executive vice president of merchandising and marketing, stated in a news release. “It also benefits communities by boosting the local and state economy by creating more jobs.”

He goes on to say that local products such as fresh fruits and vegetables are healthier options because they can be on the shelves within hours of being picked.

“Local products also have lower food miles, meaning they are shipped shorter distances, which requires less gas and is better for the environment,” he added.

But make no mistake – in this case, “local” means jobs. The news release cites statistics from the Michigan Department of Agriculture showing that, if each family in Michigan started spending $10 per week of their grocery bill on Michigan products, “we would keep more than $37 million in Michigan, each week.” MORE…

Some states have been singled out as having the most obese residents, or the worst nutrition. Other states are praised for the high percentage of the population leading active lifestyles and eating right. States are ranked, picked apart and reviewed. Government leaders use the reports to create programs that either try to undo the poor showing or maintain high scores.

Even supermarkets get in the act. Retailers often look to consumer media reports to promote fresh foods and nutrition services like dietitians and healthy cooking classes. It’s part of their umbrella health and wellness marketing effort.

So, what to do about this? In its July issue, Health magazine did a bit of research (whether it involved actual sampling, I can’t say) and determined the “50 Fattest Foods Across the Nation.” That’s basically each state’s favorite or signature food. All of them are probably delicious. Not a single one is good for you.

Take Georgia’s Luther Burger, for instance (pictured left): “The story behind the Luther Burger is murky. But the general consensus is that this monstrosity was invented at a suburban bar in Decatur, Ga., and named after R&B legend (and diabetic) Luther Vandross. In 2008 Paula Deen of the Food Network took it one step further by topping it off with a fried egg.

Ingredients: Ground-beef patty, topped with cheese and bacon between two donuts instead of a bun.

Fat content: The two Krispy Kreme glazed donuts are worth 24 grams of fat and the patty is another 16.” MORE…

New stats are showing that fast beat out casual when it came to the performance of the fast casual dining segment last year. Figures compiled by Technomic indicate that fast casual is tops among the big restaurant sectors.

The Chicago-based foodservice industry consultant determined that 2009 sales for the top 100 fast-casual chains in the United States reached $17.5 billion, a 4.5% increase over the prior year; units grew by 4.3% to 14,777 locations. The performance is impressive given the tail-end effects of the recession on dining out, but entirely understandable, since the growth is based on a trade-down from table service restaurants.

In other words, the desire to eat out didn’t diminish, only the destination changed.

What is “fast casual”? Think Panera Bread — which Technomic says remained the leader of the fast casual pack, with 2009 sales of nearly $2.8 billion, up 7.1% from the prior year. Unit also grew (4.3%) to 1,304 stores. Chipotle Mexican Grill came in second, with sales growth of 13.9% to $1.5 billion, and unit growth of 14.2%, to 955 locations.

Many of these restaurants have a health and wellness or sustainability component to them, but there’s new competition all the time, and one of the newbies will be pretty hard to beat. A chain called Otarian is making a name for itself (two stores are open in New York’s Manhattan and two are planned for London) by building its entire operation and menu around carbon reduction.

Otarian is “the first ever low-carbon restaurant chain, using a cradle-to-grave analysis in the carbon footprinting of every menu item,” states the website. Indeed, each menu item (including containers and packaging) has been analyzed for carbon content, with an eye on using ingredients and processes that creates minimal carbon emissions.

So, the Tex Mex burger (spicy vegetarian patty, barbeque sauce, guacamole, salsa, cheese and lettuce on a white or brown bun) creates 1.72 kilograms of carbon, compared to 2.55 kilograms for a comparable meat-based product — a savings of nearly one kg.

Technomic’s 2010 Top 100 Fast-Casual Chain Restaurant Report notes that, besides burgers (up 16.7%), the fastest-growing menu categories reflect our desire for international flavors: Asian/noodle (up 6.4%) and Mexican (up 6.3%). It seems that Otarian — with its global conservation goals, pan-Atlantic locations and sustainable menu items — might be onto something.

(Photo credit: Otarian/Oswal Projects)