Organic treats just as sweet: Certified Organic cotton candy and horchata hit the sweet spot of health-conscious consumers with their "practically guilt free" treats.[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Business is sweet at Valencia-based Maria Elena's and Bernod Group, a pair of niche food companies that released certified See certification. organic products this past February. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] That sweetness comes from the content and success of their organic horchata Horchata or orxata is the name for several kinds of vegetable beverages, made of ground almonds, rice, barley or tigernuts (chufas). Etymology The name comes from Valencian orxata, probably from ordiata, made from ordi (a cinnamon cinnamon, name for trees and shrubs of the genus Cinnamomum of the family Lauraceae (laurel family). Cinnamon spice comes chiefly from the Sri Lankan cinnamon (C. zeylanicum), now cultivated in several tropical regions. and rice drink) mix and an organic cotton candy, dubbed dub 1 tr.v. dubbed, dub·bing, dubs 1. To tap lightly on the shoulder by way of conferring knighthood. 2. To honor with a new title or description. 3. Spun City. Both are, the creators said, the first-to-market for products of their kind. The two companies are run by principals and co-founders, Jerry Gonzalez Jerry Gonzalez (b. Bronx, NY, June 5, 1949) is an American-born Latino jazz trumpeter and percussionist, most notweorthy for his contributions to Afro-Cuban jazz and a resurgence in Latin jazz during the 1980s and 1990s. , John Mularky, and Gonzalez' brother Victor. The partners have been making theme park concession food--packaged caramel corn Caramel corn is a confection made of popcorn covered in caramel or molasses, creating a sweet, crunchy treat. Mixes of caramel corn often contain nuts, like peanuts or almonds. and cotton candy--under the Bernod line for a few years already and the development of the new products was a natural outgrowth, they said. "There are two different companies because it's two different target markets," John Gonzalez said. The newcomer, Maria Elena's Authentic Latino Inc., is a certified Minority Business Enterprise. "We decided to open up a Hispanic company, and it just evolved that way and works out fine for us." That evolution has been long in coming. Mularky worked in the restaurant business and was selling ice cream at Magic Mountain before be teamed up with Gonzalez, who had a similar narrative. "I was working at Whole Foods, and Mrs. Gooch's before the buyout Buyout The purchase of a company or a controlling interest of a corporation's shares. Notes: A leveraged buyout is accomplished with borrowed money or by issuing more stock. , and left to open my own company selling shaved ice Shaved ice is a slushy form of ice (as opposed to a hard, dense form, e.g. an ice cube or icicle). Many freezers are equipped to dispense either cubed ice or shaved ice, depending on a setting selected by the user, although typically freezer-generated "shaved ice" might more at Universal Studios," Gonzalez said. He soon expanded his Tropical Ice services to Magic Mountain. "John was selling ice cream at Magic Mountain and when our contracts came up, we said 'let's try this together'," Gonzalez said. Bernod Group was formed for their amusement park amusement park, a commercially operated park offering various forms of entertainment, such as arcade games, carousels, roller coasters, and performers, as well as food, drink, and souvenirs. concessions and is an outside food contractor with "a small distribution network," Gonzalez said. It took about three years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time business partners said, to create and develop the products, and navigate the paperwork for the Certified Organic endorsement. To get the certification, organic content must be documented. "There's a huge paper trail to make sure we're doing what we say we're doing," Gonzalez said. "It protects the consumer; it protects us by keeping some guy from saying he's organic when he's not." Mularky said it's a different level of standards and documenting where ingredients come from. "We hired a person to help us [with that]," Mularky said. There were some obstacles amid development: "A coloring agent fell off" of the approved list Approved list A list of equities and other investments that a financial institution or mutual fund is allowed to invest in. See: Legal list. approved list See legal list. of ingredients, Gonzalez said. It was a sudden double clutch A double clutch (also called a double declutch) is a driving procedure primarily used for vehicles with an unsynchronized manual transmission. Before the introduction of transmission synchronizers (in the 1920s) and helical cut gears, double clutching was a technique for them as Gonzalez said: "We thought we had this and now we don't." They also tried a sugar-free cotton candy, which in a world of sugar substitutes may not sound like an unreasonable idea. But cotton candy is made by melting sugar at high heat and then exposing it to air where it re-crystallizes in wispy wisp n. 1. A small bunch or bundle, as of straw, hair, or grass. 2. a. One that is thin, frail, or slight. b. A thin or faint streak or fragment, as of smoke or clouds. 3. threads. They tried various "alternative sweetener Sweetener A special feature added to a debt obligation or preferred stock to promote marketability. Notes: Warrants and convertibles are two popular sweeteners. See also: Convertible Bond, Kicker, Warrant Sweetener products," hunting for the ideal concoction. "We filled many rooms with smoke," Gonzalez said. "We're not chemists, and we had to start somewhere," he admitted. Gonzalez also admitted that selling sugar-based products is somewhat counter-intuitive to the upscale, organic, health-conscious niche they are aiming at. "We call the cotton candy 'a practically guilt-free indulgence'," he said. "We're not saying sugar's good; we're saying there's an option for morns who somehow limit what's going into their kids bodies." And that option is quite popular so far, they said. Both products are just a few months old and can be found in 40 Whole Foods stores around the region; the horchata is available through web retailer MexGrocer.com. At a recent natural food expo in Anaheim--Natural Products Expo West said more than 50,000 people attended this March--the organic products were met with a "tremendous response," Victor Gonzalez said. They spun cotton candy onsite. "There were a lot of skeptics, but they'd take some," he said. It's a gathering filled with "nutritionists and doctors who were skeptical; all of that melted away. They loved it," he said. Jerry Gonzalez said the reaction is usually one of nostalgia. "That it is a kind of comfort food is kind of surprising to us," he said. The horchata has a different appeal, Gonzalez said "The target demo[graphic] is not first-generation Hispanics. It's more an acculturated second- and third-generation Latino, one who has more education and income and is going to a Whole Foods market," he said. In addition to feeding the over-the-counter/consumer market, they have the horchata mix in a 1.5-pound institutional size while the cotton candy ingredients are available "ready to spin." The horchata retails in "the neighborhood of $4.50" and the cotton candy is priced at $3.99. The team has ideas for more products to come out of their 2,300-square-foot business park facility. "A lot of the fun is coming up with other things to do," Gonzalez said. "We are three guys who get along very well. We've got really cool jobs to be able to do stuff we really like and make cool stuff, instead of sitting at a popcorn wagon at Magic Mountain," he said. "We're interested in doing something unique and different," Gonzalez said. "We're not interested in doing another salad dressing." Spotlight Maria Elena's Authentic Latino, Inc./Bernod Group Location: Valencia Established: MEAL, 2005/BG, 2002 Revenue in 2007: MEAL, $15,000/BG, $1.4 million Revenue in 2008: (est.) MEAL, $500,000/BG, $2 million BY JAMES HAMES hames linked metal, curved bars that fit around the horse collar and serve as the attachment for the trace chains and traces. Senior Reporter |
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