ATLANTA, GA - With PMA less than a week away, AndNowUKnow wanted to take the time to highlight each of the 20 products nominated for PMA's coveted Impact awards this year. Winners will be announced from the 20 finalists this weekend at Fresh Summit in Atlanta, GA. Check out our first 10 featured finalists below.
Some of Mann Packing's signature vegetables, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash have a new look and unique way of cutting with the Mann's Culinary Cuts® line. Including distinctive shapes like Sweet Potato Ribbons and Butternut Squash Zig Zags, the vegetables are washed and ready to cook. Versatile enough for multiple uses like as salads, stir-frys, soups, and casseroles, all Mann's Culinary Cuts® are natural, preservative free, and gluten free.
This 1 lb. pouch of KiwiStar organic kiwifruit is made of recyclable plastic and seeks to use up to 65% less material than a clamshell. It highlights the antioxidants and Vitamin C content in kiwifruit and three easy steps to eat kiwifruit.
Alsum Farms' Fast & Fresh! Microwave-Ready Creamer and Fingerling Potatoes come in a pre-packaged steam tray with spice and olive oil packets. These fresh potatoes can go from the microwave to the dinner table in 6 minutes or less.
Gourmet Garden has added a new offering for busy cooks—Lightly Dried herbs & spices. Offered in a prep-bowl package, the click n' stack bowls fit together for easy storage or taking out of the fridge. The bowl can fit in the palm of your hand while the concave inside allows easy access with a spoon or fingertips, making it easy to sprinkle onto a meal.
SUNSET®'s peel and reseal Eco Flavor Bowl™ is a new sustainable packaging solution that uses a clear plastic bowl, heat-sealed with a high-graphic, peelable film that can be resealed. The Eco Flavor Bowls are packed in specially branded eco-friendly boxes that double as displays, offering a complete packaging system. Instead of a traditional label design, the company uses a multilayer film, which allows the consumer to reseal the package.
Earthbound Farm introduced new Organic Flavor Blends this year—the Spicy Spinach & Sweet Kale blends. The first marrying organic mild and meaty baby spinach with organic nutty and peppery baby Asian mustard greens, while the second blends organic earthy and slightly bitter baby kale with organic sweet and silky butter lettuce leaves.
New Side Delights® Roastables are petite potatoes seasoned with Montana Mex seasoned salts to deliver a burst of flavor in its own roasting tray. Available in Rad Little Reds, Awesome Little Yellows, and a Combo Pack with both Red & Yellow potatoes, the 1 lb. metal tray is specially designed for oven roasting or grilling.
"It's about convenience! The Metal tray is the cooking vehicle for either grill or oven and the tray size provides just enough room to add oil to coat potatoes before roasting. The tray is sturdy enough to serve from, and after potatoes are eaten, the tray could be washed and re-used or recycled without any clean-up required in the kitchen," Fresh Solutions told PMA in its submission.
The readyripe Watermelon solution-a sliced watermelon in a patented pouch that can extend shelf life up to 11 days, compared to 2 days for the overwrap method. The readyripe watermelon pouch solution maintains the sweetness, firmness, and taste throughout the company says, and no preservatives are used.
The new Cutecumbers clear tray is flexible, clear, re-sealable, and plastic with high-graphic pre-printing.This recyclable tray with re-sealable technology offers the consumer the flexibility for continued use and storage. Using flow wrap made from Modified Atmosphere Plastic (MAP), the Flow-Wrap Re-sealable Tray provides strong breathability.
Mucci Farms' Prova, Top Seal Tray is a clear, smooth container with an ultra-clear top-seal plastic. The top-seal allows for high impact graphics to feature easy-to-prepare recipe imagery. Mucci's top-seal film uses 25-30% less plastic than traditional clamshells, and is easy to peel and open.
Mucci has another 5 products in the running for awards as well, so keep watching for more from the company in part two.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow later this week to see the other 10 PMA Impact Award Finalists.