TerraVia & Bon Appétit Management Company Partner to Expand Algae Oil's National Footprint

01 Feb 2017 --- TerraVia and Bon Appétit Management Company, a pioneer in environmentally and socially responsible practices, announced today that Bon Appétit has adopted Thrive Culinary Algae Oil as its preferred oil, chosen for its unique combination of nutrition, culinary and sustainability benefits that align with the company’s kitchen principles. Bon Appétit Management Company operates more than 650 cafés in 33 states for corporations, universities, and specialty venues, including Google, University of Pennsylvania, and the Getty Center.

Thrive Algae Oil is available as a premium cooking oil in grocery stores and online through Amazon. The retail oil contains 75% less saturated fat and 25% more monounsaturated fat than olive oil.1 The foodservice offering has been expanded to meet the demanding needs of today’s chefs, including a canola blend for high volume uses such as deep frying, created to deliver benefits in sustainability and nutrition while hitting the right economics for high volume outlets.
 
Fedele Bauccio, Founder and CEO of Bon Appétit, who is recognized as a pioneer of sustainable foodservice commented, “We love Thrive Algae Oil and have been testing it for a year now. Using Thrive® Algae Oil, our chefs can create flavorful, nutritious meals, that are also healthy for the planet. We are excited to more broadly adopt this truly innovative, game changing oil across Bon Appétit.”
 
“The leadership Bon Appétit has shown with its commitment to nutrition and sustainability is unparalleled,” said Apu Mody, CEO of TerraVia. “They lead by example in the care they put into the food they serve to their guests every day. Their deep commitment directly aligns with TerraVia’s mission to use algae, the mother of all plants to deliver the world’s healthiest oils and ingredients with the lowest impact on our planet’s scarce resources.”   

Mark Brooks, SVP of Food Ingredients at TerraVia told FoodIngredientsFirst: “Today, foodies and health conscious consumers are choosing oils that are sources of monounsaturated fats – the good type of fat. Health experts point to the need to increase consumers consumption of monounsaturated fats, and decrease consumption of saturated fats, as a way to maintain heart health. As a result, we have seen a clear increase in companies looking to provide healthier options to their consumers and Thrive has received rapid acceptance among chefs and consumers alike who are drawn to our oil’s superior fat profile, high smoke point and sustainability profile over most other oils.”

Bon Appétit is a sector of Compass Group, the world’s largest food service provider serving 4 billion meals a year in around 50 countries across sectors as diverse as corporate and college campuses, senior living, military operations and hospitals. TerraVia and Compass Group, through its specialty purchasing division, Foodbuy, recently entered a supply agreement appointing TerraVia as a preferred food oil provider to Compass guests nationwide. This commercial deal with Compass Group is designed to give TerraVia national distribution of its Thrive Algae Oil, making it available to restaurants and foodservice operators across the country. Thrive Algae Oil is expected to be distributed across Compass Group’s various segments. 
 
Since Compass and Foodbuy work with major distributors like Sysco, the partnership is expected to give Thrive Algae Oil a presence in warehouses across the country and significantly expand distribution by making it available to restaurants, hotels and other food service operations across the US.

by Elizabeth Kenward