FoodNavigator-Asia: Pandemic pantry: BCFoods taps soaring seasoning demand

on January 11, 2021

Guan Yu Lim of FoodNavigator-Asia interviewed Mike Liu, chairman of BCFoods.

  • Consumer insights in China
  • Seasoning and spice origins and supply
  • The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the herb and spice industry
  • Issues expected to affect the herb and spice industry post-pandemic
  • The opening of new BCFoods plants in India and China
  • Exciting new products expected from BCFoods and subsidiary Culinary Farms in 2021

Read the full article from FoodNavigator-Asia.

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Michelle WestFoodNavigator-Asia: Pandemic pantry: BCFoods taps soaring seasoning demand

Support from BCFoods Enabled Local Charity to Achieve 100% of 2020 Goal Despite Pandemic Pitfalls

on January 8, 2021

Sonoma County's Secret Santa brings joy to tens of thousands of children and families in need during the holidays. Click to Donate.

BCFoods is proud to participate every year in the local Secret Santa Program organized by the Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership (CVNL). This wonderful program works with charitable organizations throughout the county to put presents under the tree for those in need.

Each year, the Program hangs hearts on Christmas trees set up at businesses and public spaces throughout Sonoma County. Individuals adopt those hearts and bring a gift back to put under that tree. The Secret Santa Program then delivers those gifts directly to the person who made the wish.

BCFoods has funded 100% of the development and operation of the Program’s website (www.secretsantanow.org) from its beginning several years ago. Last year, this site was improved to enable people in the community to adopt a heart online. Little did we know how important that would be this year when, due to COVID-19, the Secret Santa Program could not use its normal method of publishing hearts throughout the community and the website became the only means possible to adopt a heart. In addition, BCFoods funded a new tool this year that enables a donor to “fund now” and immediately provide a donation to the specific heart they selected.

“The result was spectacular,” said a spokesman for the Secret Santa Program. “100% of the hearts (more than 12,000) were adopted and funded in 2020. This would not have been possible without BCFoods’ generous and on-going support.”

BCFoods is grateful for the opportunity to positively impact lives in our community, especially during such a trying time. As stated in our Commitments for 2021, we will continue donating time and resources to charitable organizations and encourage other businesses to do so as well.

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Michelle WestSupport from BCFoods Enabled Local Charity to Achieve 100% of 2020 Goal Despite Pandemic Pitfalls

5 BCFoods Commitments for 2021

on January 5, 2021

To begin, we at BCFoods welcome you into the new year and wish you a very happy and prosperous 2021. 

2020 has been a challenge for all of us. As some of the difficulties of the past year continue into 2021, we remain committed to our customers and the people they serve.

Here are our top five commitments for 2021 (click the links to learn more or just read on):

Reliable Supply During COVID-19

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect our nation and the world into 2021, we know the need is now more than ever to protect our employees’ health while reliably supplying our customers with high-quality industrial food ingredients.   

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, we added new company-wide sanitation and safety measures early in 2020, and are limiting person-to-person contact as much as possible while continuing to produce and ship the ingredients our customers need. In addition, we diversified our inbound shipments in case of any location-specific freight interruption.

Our customers can feel confident that BCFoods will continue to provide them with the quality ingredients they need to keep up with demand. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your sales rep.

Learn more about the actions we’re taking to Keep America Fed.

New and Expanded Product Offerings

In 2021, BCFoods is committed to offering our customers innovative products and services that will improve their own product lines and bottom lines.

New Products

CitraFiber™

Citrus fiber is a natural, vegan, gluten-free product to improve product texture and nutrition. Made from natural citrus peel, CitraFiber can be used as a replacement for eggs, gums, and other thickeners, stabilizers, or emulsifiers. CitraFiber is odorless and colorless, and contains 82% total dietary fiber and over 30% total pectin. It’s high in vitamins, minerals, and protein, along with Citrus Bioflavonoids. Bakery trials using citrus fiber in gluten-free bread found that it increased moisture in the final product, increased product size (volume), and improved the loaf shape. CitraFiber also works well for moisture absorption in meat applications.

Szechuan (Sichuan) Pepper

We recently expanded our herbs and spices line to include Szechuan pepper. A natural flavor enhancer for low sodium food that causes a pleasurable tingling sensation in the mouth, a little Szechuan pepper goes a long way.

Learn more about Szechuan pepper from BCFoods.

Szechuan (Sichuan) Peppercorns

New Services

IRD Processing

The Infrared Device (IRD) is a cutting-edge technology that is natural, gentle on products, and meets FSMA “Ready to Eat” (RTE) guidelines. For those customers looking to eliminate irradiation and EtO in favor of a natural validated pathogen control option, we welcome the opportunity to provide IRD treated material.

It can be used for:

  • Sterilization (alternative to irradiation, PPO, and EtO)
  • Drying
  • Roasting and toasting
  • Oil coating and adding “top note” flavors

Learn more about the Infrared Device (IRD).

Private Label Services

Consumers often look to store brands for value. In 2021, BCFoods will offer private labeling of our products and blends in a variety of packaging options.

Follow us on LinkedIn to know when Private Label Services become available.

Quality

Quality has always been a defining characteristic of BCFoods products, and we commit to continuing this in 2021.

As a vertically-integrated dehydrated ingredient supplier, BCFoods has boots on the ground and is hands-on involved with our products from field to fork to ensure food quality and safety for you and your customers. In 2021, we will continue to maintain the highest standards for all the dried vegetable, fruit, spice, and seasoning ingredients we offer.

BCFoods is committed to quality. Visit our Accreditations page to see our current accreditations and certifications.

Sustainability

As a commercial agricultural producer, BCFoods requires thousands of acres of farm land to grow tens of thousands of tons of produce. According to the World Resources Institute, only about a quarter of commercial agricultural producers measure and manage their greenhouse gas emissions. We have instituted key projects to not only measure our emissions but also our effects on soil and ground water in many areas throughout our supply chain. We’re proud of the actions we take to reduce our environmental impact.

With partial funding from the Knorr Sustainability Partnership Fund, BCFoods increased our efforts in 2020 to tackle the challenges of water waste, land erosion, pesticide overuse, soil and groundwater contamination, and loss of biodiversity. BCFoods is committed to a continued focus on environmental and social sustainability in 2021, and we are excited about our upcoming projects and those of our suppliers.

Learn more about BCFoods’ sustainability efforts.

Giving Back

BCFoods has always been involved in philanthropic activities and organizations. Each BCFoods location has local charities with whom we volunteer or otherwise give back to the community. We are committed to continuing these efforts and more in 2021 to give back to our local communities and the world.

Follow us on LinkedIn to see a few of the ways we help out.

BCFoods volunteering at local food bank

Happy 2021!

With these five promises, BCFoods is committed to meeting customer needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as maintaining the high quality of our products, helping local communities, and further minimizing our environmental impact in 2021.

From all of us at BCFoods and Culinary Farms, Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from all of us at BCFoods!
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Michelle West5 BCFoods Commitments for 2021