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ROAR Organic Expanding Distribution Into Publix Super Markets

ROAR Organic, a line of organic hydration beverages offering a blend of vitamins, antioxidants and electrolytes, is starting 2023 with a number of momentous updates to kick off the year. Alongside a $6 million capital raise that represents a positive re-investment from existing shareholders, ROAR Organic is expanding its distribution footprint, entering more than 1,300 Publix Super Markets with its best selling SKUs, including Mango ClementineCucumber Watermelon and Georgia Peach.

On the heels of these impactful growth updates, which follow the Q3 2023 announcement of ROAR Organic’s national expansion with Kroger, the brand will also debut new innovation launches at the end of the quarter.

According to a recent 2023 trend report, analysts are predicting that energy and functional ingredients are key components consumers are looking for this year, with 45 percent of people saying immunity-boosting ingredients, like vitamins, are a key purchase driver (GlobalData, 2022). In order to support the consumer journey toward greater wellness, ROAR Organic continues to put multifunctional and clean ingredients at its core, delivering on taste, quality, and health-supporting benefits. This year, ROAR looks to continue this mission all while reaching consumers in new geographical regions who can benefit from the beverage’s powerful vitamin + antioxidant + electrolyte Complete Hydration.

Concluding 2022 with 116 percent growth in gross revenue, ROAR Organic’s latest capital round gives the hydration brand the leverage to build its internal team in order to continue driving sales and marketing. With open opportunities for new talent across these areas, ROAR looks to strengthen the brand’s position as a powerful newcomer to multifunctional beverages, generating interest from retailers like Publix who are looking for approachable, better-for-you beverages that consumers want to purchase.

“We’re ready to take the brand to new heights this year with the recent capital raise and our partnership with Publix, expanding our retail footprint throughout the country,” said Bill Lange, president at ROAR Organic. “Today, consumers are looking for the full package and seek truly healthy, functional hydration products that are fairly priced, convenient to purchase and deliver on taste. Our mission at ROAR Organic is to make hydration and functional wellness a deliciously vibrant experience, without artificial ingredients or high sugar and calories. We’re confident with these new gains and our soon-to-be launched innovations that we will be able to deliver above and beyond on this mission in 2023.”

In addition to in-store and online distribution with Publix, ROAR Organic beverages can be found in natural and traditional grocers nationwide, including Whole Foods Markets, Kroger, Sprouts, Wegmans, Safeway/Albertsons and more, plus online at www.roarorganic.com and on Amazon. To learn more about ROAR Organic, please visit www.roarorganic.com, or follow the brand on Instagram @roarorganic or Facebook @RoarOrganic.

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Hey, Football Fans: Recycle Pizza Boxes, Please!

Most pizza lovers stocking up for football’s championship game know they can recycle pizza boxes, but an alarming 40 percent say they don’t always do so.

That’s the main finding of a national survey by sustainable packaging leader DS Smith, which said pizza boxes are indeed 100 percent recyclable. Pizza boxes can be easily recycled providing any crumbs and cheese are removed before they go into recyclable trash.

With 12.5 million pizzas expected to be sold on Sunday, Feb. 12, that’s almost enough material from 12-inch by 12-inch boxes to stretch from the Eagles’ Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia to the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City … and back.

In the run-up to the NFL’s Big Game between those two teams, DS Smith is calling on all fans to properly recycle pizza boxes.

“We are driven to make changes both big and small in how the packaging industry operates to contribute to a more sustainable future,” said DS Smith’s Melanie Galloway, vice president, sales, marketing and innovation. “Part of that mission includes educating consumers on what they can do to be part of the solution, too, even something as simple as being sure to recycle your pizza boxes.”

The company survey, taken Jan. 27-30, found that two-thirds (67 percent) of adults believe pizza boxes are recyclable – ranking fifth among a list of popular items. Leading the way is plastic water bottles, with 88 percent of respondents saying they can be recycled. Next came newspapers or magazines (82 percent) and glass jars and milk cartons (both at 75 percent).

Even with high recognition among consumers that pizza containers should go into recyclable trash, three of five adults say they don’t always do so – with 19 percent saying they never do, 11 percent only sometimes and 10 percent rarely.

Still, a majority of those surveyed – 60 percent – respond that they recycle, with 43 percent saying they always do so and 17 percent saying most of the time.

DS Smith wants all consumers to know that pizza boxes can be recycled – important because any increase in recycling contributes to a circular economy designed to replace problem plastics, take carbon out of supply chains and prove innovative recycling solutions.

Recovered fibers can be reused as many as 10 times by paper and packaging companies to make new boxes, diverting waste from landfills and incinerators and toward local recycling facilities.

For its part, DS Smith produces a recyclable pizza pad, an insert under the pies used in boxes by major, nationally acclaimed pizza brands. The packaging company sells millions of the pads each year, recording a burst in production amid the frenzy of the football season’s final weeks.

The customizable, 100 percent recyclable pad is flat on one side, facing the bottom of the box, and wavy on the top, keeping the pizza crust crisp and dry. That so-called fluting also helps hold the temperature in the box during deliveries, DS Smith said.

The DS Smith product marks an example of the company’s renewable, fiber-based packaging solutions for hundreds of thousands of products for both traditional and e-commerce retailers, covering wine boxes and ready-meal trays to cardboard coolers and fresh fruit trays.

It marks just one of many ways that DS Smith uses innovation and imagination to create sustainable packaging solutions that support the transition to a circular economy that aims to reduce and eliminate waste and advocates for the reuse of materials.

The poll was taken Jan. 27-30 with 1,221 respondents, a total that generally has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. It was conducted using an online data collection methodology with the research firm Dynata.

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Fresh Del Monte, Talc Investment Sign Somalia Bananas Deal

Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., one of the world’s leading vertically integrated producers, marketers and distributors of high-quality fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, and Moze Holding Limited, a Talc Investment company, have signed a multi-year partnership for Somalia bananas located in the heart of the previously famed banana belt area. This partnership will not only significantly reduce banana transport times, giving consumers in the Middle East and North Africa access to fresher, lower-cost fruit, but will also aid in Somalia’s economic resurgence.

As part of the agreement, Fresh Del Monte will have operational oversight and train the team on the ground. In return, the global produce distributor will purchase its Somalia bananas supply directly from Moze, the newly established banana farm. The fruit will be sold and marketed under the Fresh Del Monte brand for its markets in the Middle East, with the first Somalia bananas harvest expected in 2024.

“We are pleased to officially announce this partnership, which we believe is a game-changer for the banana industry in the region,” said Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh, Fresh Del Monte’s chairman and CEO. “The move to reestablish banana operations in Somalia makes sense on many accounts – from its strategic location on the Horn of Africa to fulfilling our mission of supplying our consumers with the freshest produce available – all while aiding in the country’s recovery.”

Before the onset of its civil war in the 90s, Somalia was once a main hub for banana exports in Africa to European and Middle East markets, with production reaching its peak in the late 1980s to early 1990s.

“The Moze and Talc teams are delighted to work with a renowned name in agriculture, such as Fresh Del Monte, to revive the banana cultivation farms in Somaliland. This multi-purpose approach will serve the communities in the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and the United Arab Emirates. Our intent is to build on this partnership in the near future as we look forward to a fruitful relationship,” said Mohammed Aldhaheri, Moze Holding and Talc Investment chairman.

Currently, bananas to the Middle East come from Central America or the Philippines, with average transit times ranging from 20 to 35 days.

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