FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 3, 2015
Contact:
Jenny Hogan
NüCulture Foods, LLC
jenny@NüCulturefoods.com
(541) 806-8888
NüCulturefoods.com
NüCulture brings delicious, cashew-based, cheese-like, non-dairy spreads to
Natural Products Expo West
Innovative plant-based “cashew “GoregonTM” spread offers food lovers
superior taste, texture, and health benefits
THE DALLES, OREGON – It’s a delicious, dairy-free cheese-like spread that must be tasted to believe it’s not
actually cheese. And attendees of the 2015 Natural Products Expo West will have that chance beginning this
Friday, March 6, 2015, when NüCulture’s cultured cashew “Goregon™” spreads will be available for sampling in
the Team Oregon display. NüCulture spreads are delicious tasting, rich in texture, probiotic, soy-free, GMO-free,
cholesterol-free, and gluten-free.
The company’s team, led by product developer and co-owner Jenny Hogan, will be sampling their entire product
line of spreads, currently consisting of Garden Herb, Bacony Chipotle, and Pimento Paprika.
“We are really excited to bring a delicious, cashew-based spread to a food-loving and appreciating audience,”
Hogan says. “NüCulture is our dream and our adventure. This is something that tastes really good and that you
would use as any other spread, or like a cream cheese. The taste, texture, and health benefits are what sets it
apart and makes it truly extraordinaire.”
Made in the Columbia River Gorge’s The Dalles, Oregon, NüCulture’s spreads are a culmination of Hogan’s
lifelong passion for food, experience within the food development industry, and recognition of a need within the
plant-based line of foods. Hogan, an Oregon State University graduate in Food Science, has worked in product
development in the food industry for the past 25 years. She’s an award-winning developer, winning Best of
Show and Best New Product at Vegan News/Expo West. She developed seitan jerky, seitan sausage and bacon
for Sweet Earth Natural Products, and several products for Tofurky, including the popular and award-winning
Tofurky Frank. Hogan worked at Fred Meyer Dairy, Columbia Gorge Organic Juice Plant, and Turtle Island Foods.
She’s also owned her own consulting business, Taste Engineering, dedicated to helping companies develop and
stabilize their products by improving shelf-life as well as taste and texture.
Immersed in the culture of food, Hogan strived to make her own diet largely plant-based, but she had a deep
love of cheese. Influenced by the documentary Forks over Knives, as well as a vegan fusion course she took by
Chef Mark Reinfeld, Jenny began a quest for something that could look, taste, and feel like cheese, but be plantbased. The end result has been the successful creation of NüCulture products.
The big idea hit once Hogan began incorporating cashews, because of their smooth texture, to make a cheeselike spread that could be taken to gatherings or simply eaten at home. Over her history of developing other
meat-free products, she had learned methods of adding “umami,” which is considered to be the fifth primary
taste beyond salty, sweet, bitter, and sour. It is the sense that offers a pleasant, savory taste that helps round
out dishes and creates balance. Hogan also uses coconut oil that melts in the mouth and mimics how cheese
feels on the tongue. When she shared her cashew dishes with her friends, she knew she was on to something
good because they were amazed at both the flavor and texture.
Understanding the fundamental importance of probiotics in the diet, Jenny decided to culture with live active
probiotics before blending and adding the various other ingredients. With that, she figured out how to create an
innovative product that not only tastes great, but is healthy and affordable.
“NüCulture spreads taste legitimately great, and we’ve been getting this same feedback everywhere that we’re
sampling,” Hogan says. “Everyone who has tried it has loved it – more than they like dairy products. And
because it’s probiotic, dairy-free, doesn’t have soy, or GMOs, or cholesterol, or gluten, it’s a really healthy thing
to eat and enjoy. That was one of our biggest goals from the very beginning was to make something that is as
healthy as possible without sacrificing flavor.”
Where to find NüCulture spreads
So far, NüCulture spreads are available in 32 states, including Hawaii and Alaska, through Azure Standard
distribution – it’s in the Azure Standard Spring 2015 catalog and online at www.azurestandard.com. In Oregon,
customers can find the plant-based product in the dairy section at The Farm Stand and Rosauer’s in Hood River,
and in White Salmon at Harvest Market Thriftway and Feast Deli and Market.
The NüCulture team
Hogan is joined on the NüCulture team by her husband Chip Hogan in product development and production.
Chip’s background has been as an outdoor enthusiast and designer of outdoor goods. With a degree in Earth
Science from Appalachian State and a minor in Outdoor Recreation Management, he has a passion for both
understanding a sustainable environment and interacting with it in a positive way. Jaime LeClerc has a PreMedical degree in Nutrition and Food Science from the University of Vermont. She has worked for Columbia
Gorge Organic Juice and Produce in Hood River as Plant Manager, and in 2012 she became the manager of
quality and development at Sweet Earth Natural Foods. David Ortman is a Certified Management Accountant
(CMA), specifically geared for the food industry. Daniel Ortman, a 20-year sales and business development
professional, has more than 10 years of experience in the food industry. The NüCulture brand has been
developed with the help of Studio Fuwafuwa.
What is “Gorgeon?”
NüCulture’s mission is to promote and inspire healthy living by creating and providing nutritious plant-based
foods of uncompromising flavor in a manner that’s sustainable, ethical and supportive of individual, community
and global health. To tie into its mission and its place of origin – the Columbia River Gorge – NüCulture
developed the term Gorgeon™ [ˈgȯr-zhawn] to describe a new food category. Gorgeon pertains to the food and
culture of those living an integral, harmonious and healthy lifestyle in the Columbia River Gorge region.
For more information, please contact: Jenny Hogan, NüCulture Foods, LLC, at jenny@NüCulturefoods.com or
(541) 806-8888.
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