VANCOUVER - If the lineup of new products on display at Grocer Showcase West is any indication, you can expect to see flax hitting store shelves by the pallet-load in the weeks and months to come.
The colon-friendly grain is on display at the exhibition of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers in chunks, hunks, flakes, flours and every cereal and cracker shape you can imagine and a few you probably can't.
There's so many, in fact, that the T-bone filet-mignon flavoured dog biscuits tasted pretty good after sampling a few too many super-fibrous snacks.
The grocery showcase is a chance for the nation's storekeepers to see and sample new products and place orders for the ones that capture their imagination or fill a void in their local market. What will be the next big thing? Cheese-filled bagels shaped like Twinkies? What about Bodacious Ketchup in a foil bag?
McCain wants to help consumers join the slow food revolution . . . instantly.
Their Slow Cooker Solutions are all-day simmered stews that you just open and tip into the Crock Pot.
None had the immediate curb appeal of the flax products.
Flax is the latest craze of the health conscious eater as it promotes "digestive regularity" and is said to have potent cancer-fighting qualities.
The Flax Plus Red Berry Crunch is a rustic-looking breakfast cereal being promoted by food giant Acosta Foods. Across the aisle, the Weetabix Minibix Chocolate Crisp is a disconcerting combination of chocolate chips and fibre in a puck form that took a full minute to chew.
Leaping Lemurs is a new breakfast cereal that is refreshingly devoid of colon-cleansing seeds, instead opting for tried-and-true Cap'n-Crunch-like balls of crunchy peanut butter and chocolate.
Such confections are noticeably rare among the new market entries with their obsession for digestive health.
The independent grocers, whose ranks include Stongs, Save-On Foods and Choices Markets, were also presented with a number of unique B.C. products including sweet fruit and pepper jellies from Campbell River and dips and spice mixes from Kelowna. Both were among the mom-and-pop B.C.-based operations that were cheek-by-jowl with the major food conglomerates vying for new customers and bigger markets
Karen Pattison has been running Bite Size Specialty Foods for seven years. Her preserves run from jams made from local fruit and berries to blistering fruit and pepper jellies. A large yellow card warned of the incendiary nature of the habanero jelly samples.
Pattison grew the business slowly after a back injury forced her to leave her job as a bartender. She still runs the business on her own, but that could change if she lands enough orders at the exhibition.
"I still do most of it myself, but I am getting really busy," she said. "Yesterday was just great. I have seven people interested in placing orders."
Maple Leaf Spices is run by Dee Mole, who started her business four years ago in her Kelowna kitchen. She sells dip mixes and spice mixes at the Kelowna farmer's market and 150 stores across the country.
"At the farmer's market you get people tasting and that helps build the brand," said Mole, who was a human resources manager for 25 years before following her dream in the food industry.
"I'm a one-man show still," she said. "And I love this."
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