instore - July/August 2013 - 47

gear up for valentine’s day

CHOCOLATE CREATIONS
Chocolate is big business in this country, with premium, cacao-rich
bars leading the growth in chocolate bar sales. According to Packaged
Facts, a leading publisher of market research for the food and
beverage industries, U.S. consumers spend about $20 billion a year on
chocolate candy.
At Wegmans Food Markets, premium chocolate is capturing customers’
hearts too. “In the last 10 years, sales have really popped with highquality chocolates, says Jeff Tydings, Wegmans category merchant
overseeing premium chocolate bars. “Taste combinations keep
growing too – chocolate with sea salt, orange, ginger, espresso coffee,
and even chili peppers.” Wegmans introduced a new Wegmans 61%
Cacao Dark Chocolate Bar with Raspberry flakes for Valentine’s Day
this year. The 3-ounce bar sells for $1.99 and has a raspberry-colored
smooch on the wrapper.
“If you’d like to do your health a favor while treating yourself, then lean
toward dark chocolate,” says Wegmans Nutrition and Product Labeling

Manager Jane Andrews, MS, RD. “Dark chocolate has more cocoa solids
than milk chocolate, and cocoa solids are rich in cocoa flavanols, a
type of antioxidant that affects the lining of blood vessels in several
beneficial ways.”
Dark chocolate has the edge in other ways too, Andrews says. “Dark
chocolate is closer to a whole natural food, like a fruit or vegetable. It’s
got fiber, potassium, magnesium, iron, and other minerals. In a dark
chocolate bar, chocolate solids are the main ingredient – you’re getting
the nutrients and antioxidants without much added sugar, fats or
refined carbohydrates.
When chocolate solids aren’t the main ingredient – as in milk or white
chocolate, or chocolates with fillings, or chocolate cake or cookies –
what you’re getting is more of a high-calorie, sugary treat. It’s like the
difference between eating some fruit versus a piece of fruit cobbler.”
One more thing to remember if you want chocolate to be a healthy
choice is portion size. “Chocolate does have fat, sugar and calories,”
Andrews says, “but eating an ounce and a half of dark chocolate can
give you chocolate’s benefits for around 225 calories, a reasonable
number of calories to spend on a treat.”

European-style artisan breads
for gourmet sandwiches
Make it special. Keep it simple.
With Euro-Bake artisan breads.
At Lantmännen Unibake, we make our Euro-Bake artisan
breads in a variety of shapes, sizes and flavors to help
you develop that signature offering for your customers.
Choose from European-style brioche buns, Italian Ciabatta
squares, French demi baguettes, and German pretzel buns
to elevate your sandwich offering and drive sales.
Contact us at 630-963-4781 to learn more about
Euro-Bake artisan breads, pre-proofed Schulstad
pastries and Pastridor croissants.

LantmannenUnibakeUSA.com

instore • JUL + AUG 2013 • 47

http://www.LantmannenUnibakeUSA.com

instore - July/August 2013

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