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HIghlights from the Grocery Innovations Show 2013

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From water and protein tea to baobab fruit smoothies and enriched flours, here’s what caught my eye this year.

Water. With an increasing trend on healthy hydration, a couple of Canadian products caught our eye. Seva Maple Water, a slightly sweet tasting water is sourced from Quebec’s sugar maple trees. One cup (250 mL) contains 25 calories, 30 mg sodium and 5 g sugar.


Happy Water, awarded among this year’s top ten innovative products, is a blend of natural spring water and mineral waters from British Columbia. In a two-cup (500 mL) serving, the water offers o calories, 15 mg sodium and 0.1 ppm of lithium, an element that is often used in medicines to treat mood disorders.


Bluedot Protein Tea. I’ve been forecasting and watching the protein trend for years now. Combined with a rising interest in beverage innovations, these green and white teas feature whey protein isolate and inulin (a prebiotic fibre). Each flavour offers 12 g protein and 6 g fibre per 473 mL serving. The calories range from 60 to 140, depending on whether the drink is sweetened with stevia or cane sugar.

Baobab Smoothies. Touted as the new superfruit, baobab (pronounced “BEY-oh-bab”) is filled with antioxidants and vitamin C. It’s an African fruit that tastes like a blend of pineapple and melon, and was approved for European markets last year. These smoothies are made with the Baobab fruit pulp and range from 140-160 calories with 6 grams fibre and 22 grams of sugar per 300 mL bottle.

Robin Hood Nutri Flour Blend – Omega-3 and Fibre. “Baking is back,” says Stephen Kouri, VP Sales & Trade Marketing at Smuckers Foods of Canada Ltd. The company’s Nutri Flour blend includes a gluten-free offering as well as a new omega-3 and fibre blend (it’s made with whole wheat flour and flax seeds). We just think there’s definitely something comforting and relaxing about home baking, not to mention the satisfaction in posting your delectable creations on Instagram or Pinterest.

Menu labelling – would you like 90 minutes of walking with that?

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The conversations about menu labelling continue. Dr. David McKeown, Toronto’s Chief Medical Officer of Health supports mandatory menu labelling of calories and sodium, while some researchers wonder whether “physical activity equivalent” labelling is a more effective strategy.

McKeown urges the province to enact its own law, but if the province doesn’t do so by September, he plans to develop a Toronto-specific bylaw for chains with more than 15 restaurants. Critics say that calorie and sodium counts alone don’t allow consumers to make informed choices. A Diet Coke for example, has fewer calories than a glass of milk, while a bagel might have more sodium than a cookie.

Stephanie Jones, the Ontario VP of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association endorses British Columbia’s voluntary Informed Dining program, in which participating restaurants post nutrition information in a brochure or poster, rather than on the main menu.

And here’s another POV. Preliminary research shows that consumers may be more motivated to choose foods with fewer calories when restaurant menus show how much exercise is needed to burn off those calories. For example it would take 90 minutes of walking to burn off the calories in this hypothetical ham sandwich. It’s an interesting concept, indeed!

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