Image via Wikipedia
As you read this article reprinted from Fancy Food Magazine, “think outside the basket” with these back to school lunch box ideas.
Liven up Lunch Boxes with Distinctive Snacks, National Association for the Specialty Food Trade Offers Picks for School
With the school year about to begin, the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade is presenting suggestions to liven up lunch time, whether with new twists on nut butters or convenience packs of emerging favorites like hummus.
“Kids Lunch Box Snacks,” a new article on foodspring.com, the NASFT’s website for consumers, presents top picks from four specialty food retailers. Their choices favor items that are organic, healthful and locally made. Yogurt is hot, and so are nutrition and cereal bars. Retailers report that parents want easy-to-pack choices, but also want larger sizes to re-pack themselves.
Among the picks on foodspring.com are Stringles from Organic Valley, fruit and nut bars from KIND, Chocolate Alphabet cookies from Newman’s Own, and individual packs of Cheddar Cheese Crackers from Late July.
“Specialty food makers are increasingly catering to children as Mom and Dad become more adventurous in their own food choices,” says Ann Daw, president of the NASFT. “Parents want to share the excitement of great food and new flavors with their kids.”
According to NASFT research, sales of specialty foods that are lunch box staples showed big growth last year in the $63 billion specialty food industry. From 2007 to 2009, sales of yogurt and kefir shot up 38.6 percent, and sales of chips, pretzels and snacks grew 15.4 percent.
Parents can add some star power to lunches by selecting honorees from the NASFT’s 2010 sofi™ Awards for the outstanding specialty foods and beverages of the year. These 140 products were selected from 2,257 entries by specialty food experts. They represent the best of the best across 33 categories, including, Outstanding Snack Food, Outstanding Cookie, Outstanding Jam, Preserve, Honey or Nut Butter. “sofi” stands for Specialty Outstanding Food Innovation.
sofi honorees kids might like include:
* Food Should Taste Good, Inc.: Multigrain Tortilla Chips in snack packs
* Tate’s Bake Shop: Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Cookie
* Nutorious: Cranberry Orango Tango nut mix
* The Mediterranean Snack Food Company: Baked Lentil Chips – Sea Salt
* Mrs. May’s Naturals, Inc.: Premium Crispy Fruit Chips – Pineapple
* Vermont Smoke and Cure: Natural Pork and Beef Cracked Pepper Snack Stick
* Rigoni Di Asiago USA: Nocciolata Organic Hazelnut Spread.
No matter what school year your children are in, offering them healthy food choice alternatives makes perfectly good sense. Whether they are newly enrolled college Freshmen or returning students, think about periodically sending them a “Dorm Gift Basket” filled with healthy treats and school supplies. Especially during exams. We’ll ship your gift basket right on time for them to go to the head of the class. Baskets by Consuela specializes in custom gift baskets for every occasion. Visit us online at http://www.basketsbyconsuela.com and http://giftbaskets.cartfly.com for more gift ideas.
Baskets by Consuela
“we think outside the basket”
Phone: 678.499.2765
Fax: 1-610-885-7584
Email: baskets.byconsuela@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.basketsbyconsuela.com
Blogs: http://Basketsbyconsuela.wordpress.com & http://basketwrapup.blogspot.com/
Basketsbyconsuela's Blog 