Almonds latest addition to Lush Nuts lineup

Peanuts with curry. Peanuts with cinnamon. Peanuts with coffee. Peanuts have worked for Lush Gourmet Foods creator Bisera Urdarevik. 

 

Now its time to expand the company's horizons and Urdarevik will be introducing the latest addition to her lineup--almonds.

 

She's giving people a taste of her new flavors at the Lush Nuts Almond Launch Party April 30. The event is invitation only.  (Contact Urdarevik for details.) 
 

To be launched are dark chocolate chili almonds, coconut orange peel almonds, and coconut lavender flavored almonds.
 

 

Urdarevik says she has recently been fascinated with the taste possibilities of coconut and that led her to create the new flavors for the almonds. For her, the nice light taste of coconut with the almond that ends with the light floral taste of the lavender has made that her new favorite from among her line.

 

The launch party for a new coated nuts is the second of its kind for Urdarevik. It worked well to introduce her dark chocolate chili peanuts, which have gone on to be a top seller for the business that got its start in January of 2011, while she was still in college. 

 

The business grew two and half times from 2011 to 2012. Having already grown one and a half times this year compared to 2012, Urdarevik expects her company's growth this year to exceed that of last year.

 

It all started with a recipe for coated peanuts that her family brought from Macedonia. ("I make all the nuts myself. It's a family recipe and I keep it guarded," Urdarevik says.) With degrees in baking and pastry, and food and beverage management, from Kendall College in Chicago, Urdarevik turned the family recipe into an entire lineup of nuts. Her three new almond varieties will join five kinds of peanuts. 

 

Urdarevik makes her peanuts and now almonds in a certified kitchen in Portage using high quality spices. They have no preservatives, no added oils, no cholesterol and not transfats. The peanuts are grown in the United States, too.

 

As her business started from a family recipe, Urdarevik's parents are proud of how it has grown. "Originally, it was only Spanish peanuts and now I've developed a whole line of products," Urdarevik says. "They are so excited."