LOS ANGELES — Earth Balance, a line of all-natural healthy buttery spreads, shortenings and nut butters has joined forces with natural and organic grocer Whole Foods Market and EQAL, the leading social entertainment company to launch the first-ever Earth Balance Holiday Bakeoff on the company's new online community: MadeJustRight.com.
From November 29 to December 26, Earth Balance invites home bakers to submit their original holiday recipes on its new website for a chance to win a $400 Whole Foods Market gift card, a year's supply of Earth Balance products and an opportunity to have their recipe featured on WholeFoodsMarket.com.
"We're excited to provide a platform where health enthusiasts, foodies and home cooks alike can showcase recipes, swap photos and baking tips and share their love for delicious, wholesome food, including all-natural vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free dishes," said TJ McIntyre, general manager of Earth Balance. "We can't wait to see and taste the delicious treats our at-home bakers have to share."
Each week, Earth Balance will debut a new dessert category for entry submissions including: pies, dessert bars, cookies and cakes. To qualify, all recipe submissions must fit the weekly category, be made with all-natural ingredients, contain at least one Earth Balance product including spreads, sticks, nut butters and soy milk, and be entered with a photo of the final culinary creation. A team of culinary experts which includes representatives from Whole Foods and Earth Balance will select two winning recipes each week based on culinary appeal, ease of preparation and creativity for a total of eight bakeoff winners.
"We are excited to be part of this competition and to support innovation in the kitchen using all-natural and organic ingredients," said Errol Schweizer, senior global grocery coordinator for Whole Foods Market. "Earth Balance products taste awesome and are a great vegan option, so it will be cool to see what our customers come up with."
For more information on the Earth Balance Holiday bakeoff, please visit: MadeJustRight.com, WholeFoodsMarket.com, Alicia Silverstone's TheKindLife.com or AlisonSweeney.com.
About Earth Balance®
Based in Boulder, Colo., Earth Balance produces a line of delicious buttery spreads, shortenings, nut butters and now soymilk. Earth Balance buttery spreads are made with a proprietary blend of expeller-pressed oils and are a good source of important Omega 3's. Available in both tub and stick forms, Earth Balance Natural Spreads are vegan, non-GMO and free of gluten, trans fats, hydrogenated oils, and artificial ingredients of any kind. Earth Balance Nut Butters are Non-GMO Project verified. Earth Balance Soymilk is certified organic, Non-GMO Project verified and made with USA grown soybeans. Earth Balance Soymilk is vegan, free of lactose, cholesterol, dairy, gluten and is an excellent source of calcium, vitamin D and ALA omega 3s. Earth Balance is a division of Smart Balance Inc. (Nasdaq: SMBL). For more information, visit www.EarthBalanceNatural.com.
About Whole Foods Market®
Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market (wholefoodsmarket.com, NASDAQ: WFMI), is the leading natural and organic food retailer. As America's first national certified organic grocer, Whole Foods Market was named "America's Healthiest Grocery Store" by Health magazine. The company's motto, "Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet"™ captures its mission to ensure customer satisfaction and health, Team Member excellence and happiness, enhanced shareholder value, community support and environmental improvement. Thanks to the company's more than 55,000 Team Members, Whole Foods Market has been ranked as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in America by FORTUNE magazine for 13 consecutive years. In fiscal year 2009, the company had sales of $8 billion and currently has more than 280 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
About EQAL
Headquartered in Los Angeles, EQAL (pronounced "Equal") is a leading social entertainment company that builds strong online communities around entertainment and consumer brands. EQAL combines proprietary technology with community management and editorial services to convert a distributed fan base into a highly-engaged community around a brand. The company's Umbrella social publishing and audience aggregation platform provides an end-to-end solution for brands to build and manage community-based websites and applications and to reach a fan base across multiple social services like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and more. EQAL runs communities for Paula Deen, Alicia Silverstone, Alison Sweeney and Anthony Zuiker, to name a few. Formerly known as LG15 Studios/Telegraph Ave. Productions, the company paved the way for the web series industry with lonelygirl15 and KateModern. Collectively, these two series have attracted more than 400 million views and garnered millions of fans from around the world. Through partnerships with celebrities, production companies, traditional media companies and multi-national brands, EQAL is dedicated to building online communities that engage users like never before. For more information, visit: www.eqal.com.
Source: EQAL
