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Libanais Foods Achieves SQF Certification

Skokie-based Libanais Foods brand undertook rigorous Safe Quality Food certification to bolster its standing as the brand expands its distribution

Skokie, IL (February 2, 2024) – Libanais Foods has attained SQF (Safe Quality Food) certification, one of the most rigorous certifications in food manufacturing. Libanais Foods produces Lebanese, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean baklava, cookies, and bread from its dedicated facility in Skokie, IL. As the company seeks to expand its distribution, SQF certification is increasingly a pre-requisite to even start the conversation with larger retailers.

The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) administers the SQF Program, “a rigorous and credible food safety and quality program that is recognized by retailers, brand owners, and food service providers world-wide. Recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), the SQF family of food safety and quality codes are designed to meet industry, customer, and regulatory requirements for all sectors of the food supply chain,” per FMI and the SQF Initiative.

Attainment of this certification was the natural next step in the company’s growth and gives buyers confidence Libanais Foods products meet the highest possible food safety standards. “SQF certification sends a strong message to the industry and to our customers: We value safety and quality above all else at Libanais Foods,” says Nadia Lazar, Director of Food Safety and Quality Control. “The third-party validation and certification itself is a wonderful accomplishment, but the real achievement is that Libanais Foods has a sound, tested food safety program that protects our company and our customers.”

With distribution online and in 1,000+ retailers nationwide, including Jewel, Mariano’s Woodman’s, as well as other chains and independent retailers across the country, Libanais Foods is on target for a record-breaking year after shattering its own sales records in 2023.

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About Libanais Foods

Since 2012, Libanais Foods has been dedicated to making “little desserts” like baklava, maamoul, Anise cookies and more from scratch, and prepared fresh daily with simple natural, and GMO-free ingredients. Libanais also makes a variety of Pita breads baked daily. With a team of 50 employees, the company produces more than 15,000 pounds of baklava and cookies weekly, and more than 50,000 loaves of pita bread daily, which is distributed to 1,000+ food retailers, grocers, and food service facilities, and available online and on Amazon.com. More information at www.libanais.com and via Facebook and Instagram.

It’s debatable where Baklava got its origins and with a rich and proud history dating back to some time between the 8^th and 15^th century B.C., Baklava has become a timeless tradition in Middle Eastern cultures and is now growing in popularity among Americans.

Baklava was reserved for the wealthy and affluent of the Middle East and was a staple during the holidays and on special occasions. Each culture infused its own influences in how it was prepared to give it its own unique taste. For instance, in Armenia, Baklava is made with cinnamon and cloves while in Greece, it is generally made with 33 dough layers, referring to the years of Christ’s life. In many parts of Turkey, Baklava is often topped with ice cream (milk cream flavor), while in Lebanon, Palestine and Israel orange and lemon rind is added to the syrup. This just goes to show how Baklava has become such a timeless tradition.

Thanks to the popularity of Greek and Middle Eastern restaurants in America, the popularity of Baklava has crossed waters and boundaries to now be a delicatessen and a favorite among Americans. Though there are many variations to how Baklava is prepared Americans love it for its simple, yet rich and flavorful taste.

Authentic Baklava is not always the easiest to find especially since Mediterranean bakeries may not always be in close proximity, but luckily Baklava can be ordered online on our website and be a tasty treat for any occasion. Visit www.iluvbaklava.com to order your favorite variety whether it’s the Original, Vegan, or Sugar Free flavors or the popular Chocolate Walnuts Baklava, the Baklava Walnuts, or the Baklava Pistachio.

The season of holiday dinners, office parties, family gatherings, and the joy of gifts is just around the corner. Regardless of the culture or the part of the country you’re from, there’s nothing like tasty holiday treats and baked goods, but why have the same holiday cookie or pound cake year after year when you can really impress family and friends with the sweet and delectable treat of Baklava. These Mediterranean pastries are a real holiday favorite, make great desserts for any occasion, and are also great as gifts. Now Libanais Sweets Baklava makes it easy to enjoy the freshest, meticulously hand-crafted, and delectably prepared Baklava by ordering online in time for your next event or special occasion or simply as a treat to enjoy at home.

A timeless cross-cultural treat that is centuries old and originated in the Middle East, Americans have fallen in love with Baklava for its simple, yet rich and flavorful taste. Customarily enjoyed as a holiday treat or special occasion dessert in Middle Eastern cultures, Baklava has now made its way as an American delicatessen enjoyed year round and especially during the holidays. It’s a great dinner party gift and can be a perfect addition to an arrangement of various pastries and baked goods. Baklava is also good for other occasions as a big promotion, a birthday, or simply just to enjoy at home as a dessert to compliment a nice meal.

Libanais Sweets offers Baklava in an assortment of flavors and as three types: Original, Sugar Free, and Vegan. We also have a keen ocus on making healthy baklava with 0% cholesterol and low Sodium levels. We know that Baklava can be made in different ways and variations, but our claim to fame is we make authentic baklava made to appease even the most discriminant Baklava connoisseur. Not too sweet but not too bland, not too syrupy but with the right amount, we make our Baklava with fresh, high quality ingredients that is sure to be mouthwatering, delectable, savory.

Taste it for yourself, and see what sets us apart as the ultimate Baklava bakery. Place your order online at www.iluvbaklava.com.

In a sense, Baklava is where cultures collide. From Greece to Turkey to Armenia and other Middle Eastern cultures, this centuries old Mediterranean delight is a hint of Eastern culture and a new American and Western favorite to create the perfectly fused dessert. Another fusion you’ll surely savor is our Chocolate Walnuts Baklava perfectly layered with just the right amount of thinly kneaded phyllo dough, fresh walnuts, and pure chocolate with no artificial flavors or preservations. It’s a heavenly experience that you have to know for yourself.

At Libanais Sweets, we take pride in our authentically made Baklava. We’re regarded as Chicago’s best Baklava and our Chocolate Walnuts are one of the favorites among the varities of flavors that we make. It’s probably because it’s not too much Walnut that it overpowers the taste and texture of the dough and just the right amount of Chocolate so that it’s not too sweet but just right. Our Baklavas are meticulously hand-crafted, delectably prepared with the finest and freshest ingredients, and divinely made to balance each of the flavors.

A box of savory, delectable, and mouthwatering Chocolate Walnuts Baklava is perfect as a dessert, can be packaged up and given as a gift, and is a great way to add tasteful variety among an assortment of pastries and treats at an event. Best of all you can order online at www.iluvbaklava.com and have it delivered to your doorsteps.

I read with great interest the article posted on Groupon and titled “The Best Chicago Baklava Ranked by a Greek pastry Chef Mom”, and while the article was fun to read and light hearted, I honestly was expecting a lot more from it and, with all due respect, I believe the article was a bit misleading to the readers.

I am not here to start a culinary cultural war, I am just trying to set things straight: Lebanese Baklava is the best, the most diversified and the one that contributed to the advancement of Baklava more than that of any other culture in the world. Did I say I was not going to start a culturpistachio_squaresal culinary war? Oups! :). Before justifying the reasons that led me to consider the post as misleading and showering you with facts about Lebanese Baklava, allow me to make one fact crystal clear: judging food is not a piece of cake! As such a process involves a comprehensive set of criteria involving quality, look, smell and most importantly taste.

First thing first, the Greek Pastry chef mom compared Greek Baklava to Middle Eastern Baklava without explaining to the readers that by default they are not the same as every culture puts their own stamps on it. While they may share the same name, some of the same ingredients they are different. Baklava has always had a controversial, not very well documented history which I invite you to read on my website where I have detailed the history of baklava. Secondly, hosting friends and asking them to choose between your family recipe and that of others is not exactly an objective approach at ranking baklava in Chicago.

Middle Eastern Baklava is not the same as the Greek one nor the Turkish one. Greek Baklava is very sweet usually filled with walnuts or pistachios and dipped in honey. It comes in one shape, squares; One piece of balloriehGreek Baklava is fulfilling and for some overwhelming.

While Turkish Baklava comes in numerous shapes, sizes and flavors: cevizli baklava (walnut baklava), fistikli baklava (pistachio baklava) and saray sarmasi (walnut+pistachio baklava) are the ones you see often. You may also find özel kare baklava containing double the pistachio filling and visenli baklava packed with sour cherries. Turkish baklava is served in multiple shapes: rounds, rectangles or diamonds. Turkish Baklava is never made with honey, it’s made with a simple sugar syrup as they believe a good baklava is made of real sugar and not its replacement.

Middle Eastern Baklava, Lebanese in particular is very different. It’s lighter and flakier. It’s made of phyllo dough sheets filled with Walnuts, Pistachios, Almonds, Cashews or Pine Nuts and dipped in syrup made borma_pistachioof orange blossom water and rose water, sugar and water. It comes in a variety of triangular rectangular, diamond or square shapes.

Now that we made the difference crystal clear, let’s move to the set of criteria (and I am not referring to our own opinions) based on which I will prove that the Lebanese Baklava, we make at Libanais Sweets, is the best.

Quality– our secret recipe phyllo dough (my grandfather’s recipe) is the best but I can’t tell you why! We’re committed to using high quality fresh and natural ingredients acquired directly from local farmers (when possible) and free of artificial flavors and preservatives. Nuts are never mixed in the same baklava piece to lower the cost of production. All the nuts we use are handpicked and each piece is handcrafted.

Look– they say “don’t judge a book by its cover”, well that’s not the case here! The look is the very first indicator of any product quality, and that’s what we believe in. We pay attention to every little detail: the size, the color, the shape, the lightness, the texture etc…a simple glance at one of our Baklava pieces will be sufficient: yish_boulboulou will clearly distinguish every well cut layer of phyllo dough sandwiching the roasted to perfection fresh nuts.

Taste– Well, it’s like a perfect harmony between the phyllo dough taste, the nuts taste and the taste of the back-stage ingredients. With each bite, you will distinguish the different textures and flavors of the ingredients with a pleasant aftertaste that will leave you wondering. Not too sweet, not too dry…not over roasted, not too brown…not too puréed, not too chunky, just perfect.

Smell– another delight: when you lift it to your mouth, a blend of creamy fresh ghee, nature scent of nuts with the hints of orange blossom and rose water will give you the first, everlasting, desired impression!

• Quality √
• Look √
• Taste √
• Smell √

Our customers feedback and our retail, wholesale, and online sales are our best judges. Based on that our baklava has met and exceeded all the criteria with flying colors. That’s why, it’s with great pleasure and objectivity, I announce Libanais Sweets Baklava, my grandfather’s secret recipe passed down from generation to generation, as the best baklava not only in Chicago but anywhere in the world!

People of Chicago, indulge yourselves by visiting our retail store! People of the United States our online shop is here to serve you.