Thursday, September 27, 2007
Organic Sugar OR Fruit Juice Sweeetened Desserts...Or Both?
When we first started Mäni’s in 1989, organics were just beginning to become desirable. Although we started using organic flour from our earliest beginnings, it was many years before we introduced organic sugar. We did so in 1995, although controversial with some of our customers, since they preferred alternative sweeteners completely, such as our fruit juice reduction.
However, in keeping up with the natural foods industry, and looking for a large appeal, we added a limited amount of organic sugar products, some of which became very popular.
Now, as you know, the organic food industry has expanded significantly and many new products have entered the market in the last decade. Gourmet quality organic chocolates now make possible new organic cookies, cakes and more.
The question is this: "Would you prefer to have the choice of fruit juice sweetened and organic sugar products”?
Or keep our product line mostly fruit juice sweetened, maple sweetened as it is now?
Please let us know! Include your email address, if you don’t want to post your email address, send it directly after you post your preference or comment and we’ll send you a coupon good for any new cookie. What you tell us will help decide on how to proceed.
Thank you for your support and input!
Posted by Larry Maiman in
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Comments
Delicious!
Thanks for the informations the organic sugar.
Larry
we like choice
and we believe using the sweetener that best suites the recipe
is the key
rigidity is not a concept that harmonizes with yummy and healthy food
so to reinforce fruit juice sweetened, organic sugar, agave, raw organic sugar
and all the rest that the natural foods industry produces…
we support in your toolkit of tools in the kitchen
power to the pastry chef in her palette to choose the ingredient of highest
quality which yields the best flavor
hats off to mani’s
cheers!
d&c
Hi Larry,
My first hit is to keep your wonderful desserts as sugar-free and fruit juice sweetened as possible. Not only do I thoroughly enjoy your desserts that do NOT have sugar in them, I much prefer to stay away from sugar whenever possible. I also prefer this choice for our 2 young boys (ages 2 and 4), who have thus far eaten very little sugar in their lives.
Best,
Jennifer
Hi Larry,
Great question. I am always going to Mani’s and have always gone to Mani’s for your alternative sweeteners. I would prefer that you continue to push the boundaries of what can be done without sugar. At the same time I love your approach to offering balance & choice.
I look forward to the never ending evolution of Mani’s!
I personally like the fact that you keep the refined (even if it’s organic) sugar out of your items and just use fruit juice reduction to bring out the rich tastes. I am amazed at how tasty everything can be.
If I were to choose for the bakery, though, I like to believe in choice. If a customer would like to have organic sugar in their products, they can choose to do so if they want.
In the end, I’m sure you will do what is best for Mani’s, so don’t worry. This is a good position to be in. =)
Thanks for giving us a chance to give input!
I prefer fruit juice sweetened rather than sugar. Your desserts make it hard to tell the difference, so I say don’t mess with a good thing. By the way, I had your pecan pie recently and it was awesome.
Hi Larry,
I started visiting Mani’s back in 1989 because after reading the book “Sugar Blues” I stopped eating anything with refined sugar. Just because something is “organic” does not mean it isn’t processed. I think you should remain true to your original idea, using natural ingredients that are not refined or processed. Organic seems to have become the new word allowing people to overindulge because it’s “good for you.” Similar to the fat free products that people think they can enjoy, even though they are full of sugar and chemicals! All of my sugar eating friends love your products as much as I do, so please don’t change a thing!
Thank you for years of delicious treats!
really would love to see you keep the baked goods sugar-free. It’s rare to find that now! and your goods are amazing! I’m traveling alot now and I really miss you guys, the BEST!
I agree with the commenters who would prefer to stay away from refined sugars. I tend to buy products that are sweetened with fruit juice or unrefined cane sugar, because eating refined sugars makes me feel tired and headachey a few hours later. Also, even in a health-conscious town like LA, refined-sugar treats far outnumber the healthy options. I would prefer to see fruit sugars and other unrefined alternatives used at Mani’s.
Hi there! Thanks for asking. Please keep a selection of fruit-juice sweetened desserts and pastries. They are hard to find and they are the only ones I know I can safely eat. I have also noticed that even sugar-eaters love them, once they try them.
Also can you please open a cafe/bakery in the valley again, you will have a lot of business!
Thanks for asking. I started coming to Mäni’s to avoid refined sugar, and would prefer that Mäni’s stick to its original mission in that regard (so that I can stick to mine!) There are certainly advantages to organic products in general, but merely being organic doesn’t negate the health detriments of refined sugars. (Now, you want to use organic alternative sweeteners, I’m all for that!)
Just want to make sure we all understand our questioning here.
WE WILL ALWAYS KEEP OUR FRUIT JUICE SWEETENED ITEMS.
Currently we have about 10 organic sugar products, but we haven’t introduced new ones in quite some time. We have only one organic sugar cookie which sells well.
We’re looking to add to our organic sugar line. That would give everyone choices.
Even though most of our existing customers prefer fruit juice sweetened items, many restaurant customers pass on our desserts. Many prefer traditional sugar items. We just want to offer our guests choices.
I, personally, would like brown rice syrup or agave, then organic fruit juice and maple syrup or organic sugar.
I personally like your baked goods just as they are now. The thing I like about Mani’s is that I don’t have to worry about refined sugar ingestion and I can order your baked sweets without thinking. On the flipside of the argument, I could see some sense in wanting to appeal to a broader audience by including sugared desserts. As long as you keep your current desserts the way they are and clearly lable the ones which are sugared, I have no problem with you adding some sugared ones. But I prefer the concept of no-sugar (to little sugar) eating when I go to Mani’s. Thanks for all the great work you do. You are my absolute favorite bakery!
A selection of each would make a nice change.
Larry, I agree with you.. choice is important. 10 organic sugar products is a huge array of choices—wow! It’s really comforting above all commented thus far that Mani’s is applying a consciousness with regard to the ingredients that go into the edible treats we so enjoy. Sugar whether raw or unrefined is still sugar in the body, its just that Mani’s provides a cleaner more wholesome version of the sweetening stuff. I like all of it...Bring it on Larry!
I like both ideas. If you create new items that taste better with organic sugar than fruit sweeteners than go for it. I don’t think it has to be an either/or decision.
If I was looking at two items in your display my decision would be based on which is more appealing to me, it wouldn’t matter which way it was sweetened.
I love that you guys use fruit to sweeten!! But maybe some of the recipes could use other things? Depending on the recipe and how it tastes. Sometimes my mom makes cookies with honey, and it is delicious!!
Dear Larry,
Thank you for always including your clientele in the decision making process.
I understand your intention to keep both alternative sweetened and organic sugar baked goods, but I for one have seen over and over again how the sugar items eventually take over whe this happens. Mrs. Gooches went from a market that I didn’t have to read every label of every product to just that.
People like what they know and do not normally venture out their comfort zone unless there is a necessity. I have been coming to Manis since you opened, even taking classes from Mani at the Epicurian Cooking School to recreated these desserts at home, because I am alergic to any type of processed sugar. I thought I had found nirvana! If you do decide to add new organic sugar items, which I will be unable to eat, I ask that you keep the balance of sugar versus alternative sweetener items the same so we won’t lose the one place we can go to spoil ourselves. Please don’t be tempted to go down to the lowest common denominator for more profits, instead strive to raise those who are timid of the new up to your level.
Thank you,
Wendy
I like to have a choice so either or is fine with me.
I think it’s absolutely great that you have given your clientele a varied selection of sweeteners to choose from. However, I prefer the alternative sweeteners to the organic sugar by far. I definetely prefer the more natural way of sweetening things, it is more appealing to me when I make a purchase. I specifically seek these products out because their is no refined sugar. Nevertheless, your products are absolutely heavenly. Thanks for asking for your consumers’ input.
Monica
I found Mani’s and began ordering and eating your baked goods particularly because you did not use sugar. I am concerned that sugar, even “organic” sugar, if introduced in a large number of baked goods might change the root idea of Mani’s. Mani’s is a healthy oasis from the vast desert of dessert sugar. One alternative that may work well in baked goods is Lo-Han, from a plant in China. It is natural, low in calories (if any)and tastes good-- I take a wonderful powdered multi-vitamin which has Lo-Han as a subtle sweetener.
Thanks for reaching out to your customers, especially on this defining issue.
fruit juice for sure - you guys may also want to explore agave nectar!
Several products we already make are sweetened with Agave:
German Chocolate Cake
Caramelized Apple Cake
Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake
Chewy Ginger Snaps
Pecan Pie - (with the new crust)!
Raisin Scone
just to mention some!
And keep those comments coming. You guys/gals are awesome!
I have a sweet tooth so I’d prefer sugar! Love the Strawberry Forever cake!
I personally love the fruit juice sweetened desserts and look for it when I purchase my baked goods at Mani’s.
I come to Mani’s to get sugarless, dairyless desserts. At home I use acai and, occasionally, stevia. The fruit juice and barley malt sweetened desserts go over well even with my sugar-eating friends.
I think some of the dessert could use some more sweetening. I sometimes find myself eating dinner at your place and going to a different place for dessert just because I’m tired of all the sweeter desserts (e.g. - Maple Apple Pecan, Snickerdoodles). How about some choices so everyone is happy?
I’d prefer it if you kept your dessert line the way it is. Choices are good but, really, your fruit juice reduction and other healthier alternative-sweetened desserts are what makes Mani’s so special. It’s also the reason why me and my family make the rather long drive to L.A. from Long Beach. Your Chocolate Raspberry Fortress Cake, Banana Black Bottom Tart, Truffles, and Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter and Almond Shortbread Cookies are incredible! I can get desserts with sugar (organic or not) pretty easily without having to drive so far but I definitely can’t get the luscious but healthier non-sugar sweets you make.
I prefer alternative sweetners, such as agave or fruit juice reduction. Perhaps you could even experiment with stevia or lo-han. I’m not crazy about barley, as it contains gluten and it’s use would further limit the already very small selection (even at Mani’s) of desserts available to those of us with celiac disease.
Hi Folks,
Love Mani’s, always will. I was introduced via Whole Foods carrying your products and have been hooked every since. Sugar cane, refined or at varying levels of such, tends to spike blood sugar to an unacceptable level and this is bad for diabetics such as those in my family, so I decided a long time ago (along with the many health reasons) to eliminate sugar (sucrose) altogether. I do understand that pure and refined sucrose is far and wide different than unrefined or simply juiced sugar cane though the difference between fruit juice sweetened and even honey sweetened (which I would love to see more of at Mani’s) is dramatic from sucrose. The difference between sucrose and barley sweetened however is not too far, but still better overall considering what foods sucrose tends to be in overall, so why start the trend of eating sucrose in anyway even if it’s in a healthier snack? The simple truth is if Mani’s goes sugar, I just can’t eat anything anymore which would be too bad as it’s the only place in LA that offers such a wonderfully tasty array of sweets for those health-conscious sweet-toothed fiends such as myself.
To reiterate as I’d like to have this, honey-sweetened items would be fantastic. I understand it’s far more difficult to work with honey than barley malt or fruit juice reduction as I’ve cooked with these or similar previously, but the taste of a good honey cookie rocks. Perhaps as a special advertised for those hard-line Mani’s addicts.
Hi folks
I often visit Mani’s for wholesome foods, rarely or ever for the sweets. If I were to eat sweets, what I’d like to see, is something we hardly ever find anywhere, that is, a chocolate concoction that uses the minimum 70% natural cocoa, we hear, has become a standard for healthful results, and combine it with a good, natural sweetener, used as sparingly as possible. Other things could be added to this sweet, such as nuts, dried fruit, etc.
jp
Hi Larry,
A large thank you for always being at the
forefront of healthy and delicious eating in LA.
I have frequented Mani’s Bakery since 1989
specifically because you offer organic,
whole grain sweets made WITHOUT refined
sugar.
I have ordered many birthday cakes and lush
desserts to bring to parties and your cakes are
ALWAYS the showstoppers. No mystery as to
why.
Fruit juice reductions, agave, barley malt, and
maple syrup are all great alternatives to refined
sugar. I love all the vegan, wheat-free options you
offer, too.
Bakeries that use refined sugar are the norm; those
who produce refined sugar-free sweets are not.
Baked honey is indigestible and to “diehard”
health nuts, this is common knowledge.
Choices are great, but there is no scarcity of
refined sugar at other bakeries.
Please continue to make refined sugar-free, organic your
top priority. That’s what makes Mani’s so
spectacular!
Thank you,
Strictly sugar-free : )
Sugar free treats is one of the many things that makes Mani’s so great! I look forward to visiting the bakery regularly because I know that the desserts are a much healthier option than anything offered anywhere else. I would prefer that you do not use sugar on any items, and continue to make them as they are now. All of the desserts taste delicious and I think it’s wonderful that you provide them to your health minded customers.
I would definately say the fruit juice sweetener. For most people,including me, even organic white sugar is hard on their system. I love your desserts that are sweetened with fruit juice. The great thing is-you can’t tell the difference!
Dear Larry,
I would say DEFINITELY stick w/ fruit juice sweetened items. The taste much better and you feel better about eating them!
I appreciate the fact that you make items without refined sugar--that’s what brought me to Mani’s in the first place. And your deserts taste so much better than those made with the white stuff!
Mani’s has always offered a wide variety of organic and healthy menu alternatives...that’s what the place was built on....
as larry mentions above..including organic sugars in the mix is just following in the Mani’s tradition.
When it comes to dessert..I want what tastes good… as long as its unrefined and natural....who’s counting calories??
The primary reason I travel great distances for Mani’s desserts is because I know I can find a number of scrumptious choices sweetened with alternative ingredients, such as fruit juice, maple sugar, agave syrup, etc. I buy NO products that contain refined sweeteners - sugar or otherwise. While I also stick with organic products whenever possible, I would not purchase sugar-sweetened products at all - organic or otherwise. Please keep your product line mostly fruit juice, maple sugar sweetened.
I like the ‘non-sugar’ alternatives.
Ann
Hi Larry,
I have a question about organic sugar and raw organic sugar.
I know that processed white sugar makes me sick.
I am fine with honey, maple syrup, natural brown sugar, concentrated fruit juice sweetners.
I do not know if organic sugar is processed and white and will make me sick. Can you clarify the meaning of the term “organic sugar”? Is it processed and whitened like the sugar my mother served in the 50’s? How is raw organic sugar different from organic sugar?
Thanks,
Ron
Very good question Ron
There are now many different kinds of sugars. And whether or not its organic, has little to do with how processed the sugar has become from it’s natural state taken from the cane stalk.
Here’s some info on sucanat:
http://www.healthrecipes.com/health_sucanat.htm
I always rave about Mani’s and the fact that the baked goods are mostly sugar free. I am allergic to sugar and always make a point of stopping at Mani’s when I’m in the area. I love treating myself to something wheat free and sugar free that I didn’t have to make myself! My vote is for the alternatives, fruit juice sweetened and agave.
I dont believe in that organic suggar is really organic producted
Why do you say that?
Do you mean you don’t believe the certification of organic is true?
There are governments that are behind these certified organic items. California is one of those government entities.
Larry-
Thankyou for giving us choices. You mentioned Sucanat. Is that the organic sugar you use at Mani’s?
Here’s the definition of Sucanat from Wikipedia:
Sucanat (a contraction of “Sugar Cane Natural") is non-refined cane sugar. Unlike refined and processed white sugar, Sucanat retains its molasses content; it is essentially pure dried sugar cane juice.
The juice is extracted by mechanical processes, heated and cooled at which point the small brown grainy crystals are formed.
Sucanat is generally accepted as a substitute for brown sugar. Unlike regular brown sugar, sucanat is grainy instead of crystalline. Of all major sugars derived from sugar cane, Sucanat ranks the highest in nutritional value, containing a smaller proportion of sucrose than white cane sugar.
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