Prepared Foods

At a ceremony held Monday at the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade’s (NASFT) 55th Summer Fancy Food Show in New York and hosted by celebrity chef Ming Tsai, the 37th sofi (“specialty outstanding food innovation”) awards were revealed.

Baby food innovator Plum Organics has now introduced what the brand, which was recently acquired by The Nest Collective of Emeryville, Calif., calls the first and only complete line of organic snacks created to encourage toddlers to feed themselves.

A line of high-fiber soups from Progresso, a division of Minneapolis-based General Mills, is slated to hit supermarkets this fall, in response to shoppers like the almost 80 million baby boomers who say they want to incorporate more fiber into their diets.

Traffic to the Campbell’s Kitchen Web site (www.campbellskitchen.com) is up by 60 percent from September 2008 through May 2009, according to the Campbell Soup Co., which noted that recipes printed from the site helped drive strong soup sales for the first nine months of its fiscal year.

As the economy slows, so, too, have sales of some types of value-added produce as many consumers are beginning to trade down to save money, according to the latest edition of the United Fresh Research & Education Foundation’s quarterly research report, “Fresh Facts on Retail.” The report, produced in partnership with the Perishables Group, measures retail price and sales volume trends for the top 10 fruit and vegetable commodities, as well as value-added, organic and other produce categories.

In a bid to make it even easier for consumers to choose their favorite Hormel Foods-branded products, the Austin, Minn.-based company has launched a new feature on its homepage -- http://www.hormel.com -- that allows consumers to download and print coupons and create a personalized account.

Grilled steak and barbecue ribs are the top meal choices for Dad on Father’s Day, according to a new poll conducted by the American Meat Institute. Over four in 10 respondents, or 42 percent, went with steak and 14 percent opted for barbecue ribs as the items fathers would most enjoy on their special day.

Le Grand’s cold-pressed pesto, tapenades and aromatic sauces combine healthier eating with convenience. The brainchild of musician-turned-chef Bernard Le Grand, the Quebec-based brand offers unique, artisan-quality creations made from all-natural, raw ingredients, with the aim of capturing the purest, freshest flavors possible while retaining all of the inherent vitamins.