Thursday, October 22, 2009

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to Introduce New Food Business with The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. and Hain Pure Protein Corporation

New Line to Include Vegetarian-Fed, Antibiotic-Free Turkey for Thanksgiving 2009 Followed by Natural Baking Mixes and Dried Pastas in Spring 2010



Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.  today announced that it has partnered with The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: HAIN) and its affiliate Hain Pure Protein Corporation to introduce a new Martha Stewart-branded food line at retail, including poultry from Plainville Farms®, baking mixes from Arrowhead Mills® and dried pastas from DeBoles® using all natural, healthy ingredients. The product lines are expected to be distributed in supermarkets, mass-market retailers and warehouse clubs across the country. Hain Pure Protein is a joint venture between Hain Celestial and Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P.

The new Martha Stewart-branded products will launch with limited distribution of fresh and frozen vegetarian-fed and antibiotic-free turkeys from Hain Pure Protein's Plainville Farms in time for Thanksgiving 2009, including online availability via marthastewart.com/turkey.
The launch of the turkey products will be followed by natural baking mixes from Arrowhead Mills and dried pastas from DeBoles in Spring 2010, expanding the gourmet quality of the natural baking mixes and dried pastas using recipes from Martha Stewart.

The new offerings extend MSLO's relationship with Hain Celestial, which is producing Martha Stewart Clean, a branded line of all-natural cleaning solutions that is expected to launch next month.

Martha Stewart, Founder of MSLO, stated: "As an avid cook with an appreciation for good food made with wholesome ingredients, I'm delighted to be offering consumers antibiotic-free, vegetarian-fed turkeys that are moist, tender, and absolutely delicious. I'm also pleased to be developing natural, healthy baking mixes and pastas from Arrowhead Mills and DeBoles, two well-respected food brands."

"We're thrilled to be expanding our offerings with MSLO. The name Martha Stewart is synonymous with good food, and Hain Celestial is known for helping consumers to lead A Healthy Way of Life(TM). Working with MSLO is an ideal partnership for Hain Celestial and Hain Pure Protein and for consumers who will benefit from the offerings," said Irwin D. Simon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hain Celestial.

Food is a cornerstone of MSLO, which encompasses the Martha Stewart and Chef Emeril Lagasse brands. Martha Stewart is widely recognized for her culinary prowess. She first gained national attention with her 1982 book, Entertaining, which showcased over 300 recipes, and has since published numerous bestselling cookbooks, including the recent Martha Stewart's Cooking School and Martha Stewart's Cupcakes and the just released Martha Stewart's Dinner at Home. Food and recipes are a key element of all of MSLO's magazines, including Martha Stewart Living, Everyday Food, Martha Stewart Weddings and Body + Soul. It is also an important part of The Martha Stewart Show, Martha Stewart Living Radio, and marthastewart.com, which features more than 10,000 recipes.

MSLO Executive Chairman and Principal Executive Officer Charles Koppelman said: "Building out our food business is a natural next step for MSLO. We have tremendous brand equity in the space and our partnership with Hain Celestial allows us to take it to the next level."

Turkey from Hain Pure Protein, Baking Mixes from Arrowhead Mills and Dried Pastas from DeBoles

Martha Stewart Turkey from Hain Pure Protein's Plainville Farms is humanely raised on family farms, vegetarian-fed and antibiotic-free with no added growth hormones. It will be packaged with a booklet providing consumers with instructions from Martha Stewart Living's "Turkey 101" and ideas from http://www.marthastewart.com/turkey about how to prepare and cook the turkey as well as recipes for stuffing and gravy. The baking mixes from Arrowhead Mills and dried pastas from DeBoles contain no artificial flavors or preservatives; the relationship may expand into additional categories.

"Our previous experience in the retail food arena has taught us a great deal about how to develop high-quality, healthy and delicious food for the retail shopper. Our expanded relationship with Hain Celestial is part of our merchandising strategy to partner with the best manufacturers who have vast and robust retail distribution networks," said Robin Marino, MSLO's President and Chief Executive Officer of Merchandising.

6 comments:

John R. said...

!!Dancing around the room with joy!!
I'm sure the turkey's will be just as delicious as the hams!

JIm Eber said...

Plainville turkeys are a staple in my house. The farm is near my house. They have always been juicy, moist, and never dry. Plainville also has a restaurant in Cicero NY and it's Thanksgiving all year long complete with all the trimmings. The family which owned the farm sold off the business recently and the local farm has now become a kosher farm and is certified as kosher. There are now strict rules on how the Plainville turkeys are processed and prepared for sale to the public.

Kenn said...

Hi Jim,
Thanks for the information and personal experience on Plainville. It's always good to hear 'real life' experiences from customers. I look forward to placing my order.
Thanks for stopping by!
-Kenn

Kenn said...

John,
I plan to order a turkey since they are not available locally in stores.
I'll be interested to see the new Martha Stewart Clean products as well next month.

JIm Eber said...

Kenn,
If you're heading to/from Beekman, Plainville Farms Restaurant is a a short distance off I 90 exit 36 - I81. Hop on I-81 north to Cicero, Left onto Route 31, right onto Route 11 and it is located on the right past the church. Great turkey dinners with all the fixings and not too expensive either.

Kenn said...

Thanks, Jim! We'll make a stop on our next trip!