Udis Granola

Udi's Gluten-Free Baked Goods

Last month, Udi's launched our new frozen gluten-free baked good line at ExpoWest, the natural foods industry tradeshow.  There was a ton of buzz at our booth around what could finally be the first great tasting gluten-free breads, pastries, and pizza crusts.  In the past those folks who suffered from celiac disease have had to eliminate all things that contained wheat from their diet.  Could you imagine not being able to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a slice of pizza?

Our company has had great initial success launching granola across the country (now available in all 50 states).  That same store, distributor, and broker network now selling our granola will begin rolling out our Gluten-Free line across the country.  Presentations are being made at many key retailers across the country as this blog posting hits the Internet.  We are in the process of integrating the gluten-free products into the ordering and delivery systems already set-up for granola.  There are some challenges though as this line is frozen versus the dry, shelf stable granola we've been selling now for 4 years.  Bear with us as we work through all this.

In the meantime, you can begin to find our new frozen gluten-free line in stores now across the country.  Since last summer, our gluten-free line has been available at Colorado King Soopers and City Market stores.  Now you can look for Udi's Gluten-Free items at Whole Foods-Rocky Mountain region, some Colorado Vitamin Cottage locations, Lueken's (Bemidji, MN), Jackson Hole Grocery (Wyoming), and more locations every day.  A key distributor in the Minneapolis area just picked up the product line, so we'll be rolling out to more stores in that area very soon.

It's an exciting and challenging time when you are launching an entire new product line.  Be sure to continue to tell us about stores in your area that should carry Udi's Frozen Gluten-Free line and we'll do our best to make it happen.  Your testimonials are great too as we love to hear your feedback and new product suggestions!

Be Udiful,
Eric (aka Granola and now soon to be Gluten-Free Tycoon)

Royal Crest Dairy On Board

There is now no excuse to skip breakfast if you are Royal Crest Dairy home delivery customer.  Udi's Original Granola will now be delivered straight to your home along side fresh milk and other dairy products.  Milk home delivery might seem like a thing of the past, but believe it or not there are companies like Royal Crest Dairy (RCD) are thriving across the country.

My family signed up with RCD last summer because their milk tastes great (yes, you can really taste the difference).  Plus, it's so convenient to have milk delivered right to your door.  No more lugging home heavy gallons of milk from the grocery store.  We are a gallon a week milk family, so one less thing that we have to bring home from the store.  They also deliver delicious eggs and other offerings (including now Udi's Granola).  Here is their URL if you want to learn more: www.royalcrestdairy.com.

Tyler Nemkov of the Westword writes about the new partnership between Udi's and RCD in his blog "Food for Thought."  Click here for a link to his story and to comment on the blog posting.  Below is the text from the Tyler's story:

Royal Crest is now delivering Udi's granola

By Tyler Nemkov in Food for Thought

Friday, Apr. 17 2009 @ 12:08PM

On a day such as this, with some sort of sleet falling from the sky like God is throwing mini water balloons, walking outside is not in my best interest. As much as I love Udi's line of granolas, trenching through slush to get some cereal just doesn't seem worth it.

But if you're lucky enough to be a customer of Royal Crest Dairy, which has been delivering a variety of mostly dairy products throughout the Denver area since 1927, you can now get Udi's granola delivered to your door. "A few years ago I realized how good of a combination it would be," explained Eric Clayman, Udi's self-described Granola Tycoon. "Royal Crest was really interested, but we had packaging issues and just kind of put it on the back burner." It moved to the front burner about five months ago, when Clayman was watching his family eating granola and drinking Royal Crest milk one morning, and realized that the fit was too good to ignore. So he contacted Royal Crest again, and they pulled together an agreement for how Royal Crest would deliver the granola, which Udi's sells for $5.49 a bag. "It launched this month," Clayman told me. "In the first day, we sold about 300 bags of granola. This means it's a pretty major account, and a whole other channel for us. We are reaching out to other delivery services in Utah and Kansas City, and we don't think any of our competition is going this route." Clayman said he's also renewed contracts with Wal-Mart and T.J. Maxx. Udi's granola is now in all fifty states, and sales have increased 50 percent from last year, he added. The Granola Tycoon is proof positive that a business can flourish in a bad economy if you're willing to get creative -- something Clayman has never hesitated to do. The last time I spoke with him, it was regarding his strange exchange with Stephen Colbert. He told me he still hasn't gotten a response from the comedian, but hasn't given up trying. Maybe Royal Crest can deliver his message.