Supermarket Perimeter - June 2021 - 32

Deli
Flatbreads
and
crackers
BY ANDY NELSON
AMERICANS' DESIRE FOR NEW and more international flavor profiles
-combined with our perennial wish to eat more healthfully -are
driving big innovations in the premium flatbreads and crackers found in
grocery deli departments.
New for Paterson, NJ-based Kontos Foods is a line of flatbreads
cooked - and shaped - in the traditional Indian tandoori style. The
Rustics collection, as the line is named, features tandoori naan and firegrilled
artisan pizza crust, said Warren Stoll, Kontos's marketing director.
Introduced this spring, the breads feature the teardrop shape
characteristic of bread cooked in a tandoori oven.
For years, Kontos has had a full line of naan breads. But while that line
was particularly popular among customers of Indian descent, the new
products are meant to appeal to a wider demographic - in addition to
getting consumers' attention with the teardrop shape.
" Naan has been in our repertoire many years now, but the products
haven't necessarily carried the traditional shape of a bread cooked in a
tandoor oven, " Stoll said.
Another difference: the new products are larger, making them perfect
for multiple uses that previous Indian flatbreads may not have been
tailored for.
" They can be used to make pizza or sandwiches, they can be cut in
strips for bread sticks, etc. "
The breads come two to a package, and each is 4.4. ounces. In large
part because of the shape of the product inside, the pack really stands
out on the retail shelf, Stoll said. The design of the packaging itself is
also distinctive.
" It's more of the type of pack you see in Europe, " he said. " The top
and bottom are sealed. You can peel a corner and reseal. It's airtight.
Most other breads, including our own, is plastic with a twist tie. "
While COVID has limited the ability to introduce new products in
person to retailers, the reception has been good with retailers it's been
presented to.
" Many things are still being done with Zoom. It's being presented
wherever we can gain an audience, and response has been positive.
Customers see it as something different, plus there's the credibility
32 - JUNE 2021
we have from making flatbreads for over 35 years. Speaking of the
pandemic, Stoll believes that the increase in the number and creativity
of home cooking opportunities could generate lasting success for
purveyors of high-quality flatbreads sold in grocery store delis and
prepared food departments.
" People have gone to grocery stores more, they've gotten very
creative in cooking and their cooking skills have increased, " he said.
" People want to know more about how to cook Indian food and Greek
food. People are getting more adventurous - making pizzas at home,
for example -and I think those trends will continue. No at the same
level of frequency or intensity, but I don't think people will forget about
being creative at home. A lot of people have enjoyed it. "
That interest in getting more creative in the kitchen was already
under way before the pandemic, Stoll said. What has happened to
Mexican food in the United States over the past three or four decades,
for instance, is now starting to happen with other ethnic foods.
" Everyone has exposure to global food trends now, " he said. " Thirtyfive
or 40 years ago, if you had Mexican food, it was authentic, probably
a white-tablecloth restaurant. Now Mexican is everywhere. Greek food
is exploding like that now. They're popping up everywhere, and that's
not going away. "
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KONTOS, TOUFAYAN, MISSION FOODS
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Supermarket Perimeter - June 2021

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