EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (February 2010)

Country Choice Organic FIT KIDS Instant Oatmeal makes it easy for kids to eat a heart warming breakfast every morning by making whole grain, high fiber cereal taste delicious to the pickiest of children.   “At Country Choice Organic, we constantly review our products to find ways to improve our nutrition profile”, says Sharon Herzog, Research and Development Director at Country Choice Organic. “Reducing the sugar in FIT KIDS Instant Oatmeal is a perfect example of tweaking a formula to improve nutrition while still delivering the great taste kids want at breakfast.” 

Country Choice Organic FIT KIDS Instant Oatmeal is made with whole grain organic oats and fortified with calcium and iron, and available in kid-friendly flavors including, Chocolate Chip/Cinnamon Toast and Caramel Apple/Berry Blast Variety Packs. Found in organic food aisles nationwide, each package contains eight servings for a suggested retail price of $4.29. Every serving is a good source of fiber, protein and iron and contains no trans fat.   Find more information at www.countrychoiceorganic.com

Our parent company, Grain Millers, the largest miller of organic grain in North America, shares this concern and has developed a novel way to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and help the local community.  In partnership with the local school district and private enterprise, Grain Millers donates oat hulls to heat a middle school in St. Ansgar, IA., home of one of Grain Millers largest oat mills. 

This is the first school in Iowa to be heated with biomass energy, which replaces the natural gas previously used to fuel the school’s boilers.  “We use biomass in our facilities to replace fossil fuel consumption with renewable energy sources,” says Steve Eilertson, Grain Miller president.  “Extending the opportunity to our local community partners lets us broaden our impact.”

So next time you sit down to a hot bowl of Country Choice Organic oatmeal, your breakfast might be fueling more than you. It might be sustainably heating a classroom in Iowa, which is a warm thought to start the day. 

Read more about heating St. Ansgar Middle School here.

Notables^® by Mission Nutrition, creates a grab ‘n go breakfast that kids eat at their desk.  There are NO TABLES involved (get it?).  Each Notables breakfast, when paired with milk, exceeds the minimum federal School Breakfast Program nutrition requirements by pairing shelf-stable whole grain foods and fruit products in a fun bag. 

They are committed to offering only the highest quality foods in a convenient, kid-friendly manner…which is where we come in.  Notables is currently using specially formulated Oatmeal on the Run bars in two of their bags, meaning kids get all the nutrition of a bowl of instant oatmeal right at their desks.

Our teams are busy looking for other healthy ways for kids to eat and will update you with our progress.  In the meantime, make sure your kids start their day with a notable breakfast…no matter where they eat.

You’ll find more information at http://www.notables.com.

All that changed on November 2 when we introduced Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats.  Same whole grain goodness; same nutty, chewy texture, but with a 5-minute cook time puts Steel Cut Oats on your daily breakfast menu.

Look for Country Choice Organic Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats in your favorite store.  The name’s a mouthful, but worth remembering.  After all, you’ll get to enjoy a steaming bowl of steel cut oats everyday…just like Oprah!

That being said, we are proud to announce that recently a team of trainers, coaches, competitors, nutritionists, health care practitioners, industry writers, gym owners and sports, health & fitness retailers recognized three Country Choice Organic products as recipients of Shape You’s GearAwards. Shape You is a wholesale directory and community as well as a sport, health and fitness resource.

All within the natural and organic food products category, Country Choice Organic’s Oatmeal on the Run received the Seal of Excellence, Soft Baked Oatmeal Raisin Cookies received the Great GearAward and Steel Cut Oats received the Top GearAward.

Visit the Shape You Web site to view the complete winner list.

However, the growth of the organic industry has created a new commitment to product quality.  Driven by consumers’ unwillingness to sacrifice taste in their quest for better health, organic foods today taste as good as—and often better than—their mainstream counterparts.

This leap in quality and taste is linked to the involvement of mainstream manufacturers and retailers.  The dynamic growth of the organic industry has attracted most major food companies, who bring advances in development, manufacturing and quality control for improved products.  In many instances, organic products are manufactured on the same line as conventional brands, so it’s not surprising that product quality is comparable.

Organic industry growth has also attracted major food retailers, including club stores and mass merchandisers.  With retailers stocking only the most-appealing products, organic manufacturers, including small private producers like Country Choice Organic, need to create products that can compete for discriminating palates and tight budgets.

So, next time you think you know what to expect with organic food, think again. Bad taste has gone the way of the carob chip spelt cookie. And that, as they say, is a good thing.

This summer, Country Choice Organic re-launched the cookies in leaner, greener packaging to keep each cookie fresh and keep excess packaging out of landfills. Check out the links below to see what all the rage is about, or better yet, swing through the nearest organic food aisle, and taste them yourself.

Rest assured there are some things that will never change, like our oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe or our commitment to organic standards.  However, when we find a better way to do something, you will be the first to know, and chances are you’ll read about on our blog.

See you on the internet!