Gourmet Garden Lightly Dried Herbs Wins PMA Impact Award

FOLSOM, Calif.  – Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices received one of five 2015 PMA Impact Awards: Excellence in Packaging at the PMA Fresh Summit in Atlanta. The award, which recognizes innovative consumer?focused packaging, received 71 entries from 57 companies.  

Lightly Dried Herbs & Spices features organically grown herbs that are washed, roughly chopped and lightly dried, allowing the herbs to remain fresh for up to four weeks while fully refreshing in cooking. Five herbs and spices include Ginger, Basil, Chili Pepper, Cilantro and Parsley.

New Lightly Dried Organic Chives also debuted at Fresh Summit in time for the all?important holiday season.

More than 4 years of consumer and trade research was conducted across the globe with surveys, focus groups and home?user tests. It uncovered a consumer desire to be more experimental with herbs & spices. The packaging was designed to lift consumer confidence in using herbs & spices.

The prep bowl style allows home cooks to have a more culinary experience; making cooking more inspiring and joyful. The bowl rests snuggly in the palm of the hand while the concave inside allows easy access with a spoon or fingertips, making sprinkling a dream.  

The click 'n stack bowls makes fridge storage and transfer of multiple herbs a breeze… it takes just a single hand movement. The recyclable or reusable bowl fits with the consumer’s desire for more sustainable packaging.

It was developed to bridge the shelf?life gap between fresh and dried herbs by staying fresh for 4 weeks ? solving the dilemma of “wilt guilt” and to lessen food waste!  

Fresh herb consumers told us they cook because they want to show love to their family and friends. We wanted to show that we listened by enriching their herb & spice experience creating a package that equaled the uniqueness of the product inside.

Ideal as an ingredient or a garnish, Lightly Dried Herbs work well for stirring into dishes such as soups, curries, sauces, casseroles, salads and sprinkling on pizza.  

For more information about Gourmet Garden or to view suggested recipes, please visit www.gourmetgarden.com.

About Gourmet Garden  

Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices specializes in the growing, harvesting and packaging of prepared herbs, spices and seasonings for busy cooks who value freshness. Gourmet Garden’s farmers grow their herbs on certified organic, broad acre farms in Central Queensland. Within 18 hours of harvesting, the herbs are washed, chopped & packed capturing the essential oils for fresh flavor, color & aroma without adding artificial flavors or preservatives. The well?known squeezable herb and spice stir?in pastes first launched in supermarkets in 2003 in the US and are exported to over 15 countries and sold in over

25,000 stores. The new Lightly Dried range complements the stir?in paste products by adding herbs best suited for tossing, garnishing and sprinkling.  

About the PMA Impact Award:

The PMA Impact Award: Excellence in Packaging recognizes and encourages excellence in fresh produce packaging. PMA received more than 71 entries from 57 companies that were narrowed down to 20 finalists and submitted to a panel of judges who selected the five winners based on the following attributes: marketing, sustainability, food safety, convenience and supply chain efficiency/functionality.

Source: Gourmet Garden