General Mills Cooking Demo and Tour of US Foods

Enhancing Retail Sales and Creating Snacking Solutions….
AHF-NY Joins General Mills in Cooking Demo and Tours US Foods

On April 30th, a group of 30 AHF-NY members participated in the General Mills Cooking Demo and tour of the US Foods Facilities in Perth Amboy NJ.  After brief introductions, the group was treated to a continental breakfast of items that were later included in the demo.

This was followed by a brief overview of the evolution of General Mills; from the original Minneapolis Milling Company in 1856, to the company as we know it today. The group was then taken on a tour of US Foods’ enormous and impressive warehouse. In the test kitchen, Chef Gilles Stassart, of General Mills took us on a culinary adventure exploring the following topics:

• Breakfast breads under 300 calories - The Marbled Citrus Loaf, made from Pillsbury™ Cranberry Orange Muffin Batter and Pillsbury™ Blueberry Muffin Batter, with course sugar as the topping, was only 150 calories per serving.
• Desserts under 200 calories - The Gluten-free Chocolate Mousse made from Yoplait® Parfait Pro Low Fat Vanilla Yogurt, non-dairy whipped topping and semi-sweet chocolate chips, was only only150 calories per serving.  The Scone Biscotti made from Pillsbury™ Place and Bake™ White Chunk Raspberry Scones mix, was only 160 calories per serving, and was a huge hit with attendees.
• Better for You Impulse Station - This featured a blend Rice Chex™ cereal, shredded coconut, sunflower nuts, semi-sweet chocolate chips, walnuts, cranberries, sesame seeds, and sweetened condensed milk.
• Patient Friendly Cereals – These cereals meet a wide range of nutritional needs. In fact, all of the General Mills cereals contain whole grain as the first ingredient. Reduced sugar and Gluten- free Chex were also other options mentioned.
• NYC Healthy Hospital Food Initiative - 12 out of 20 General Mills cereals meet the standards for the Healthy Hospital Food Initiative (<215 gms. sodium, < 10 gms. sugar, >2 gms. fiber.
• Sneak Peak at The Future - Coming this, Fall 5 flavors of Cheerios will be gluten- free.

The attendees who wished to participate in the hands-on demo experience, were given the opportunity to create and bake off their own versions of breakfast breads, using ingredients provided. The best part was….they got to take their breads home.