FRANKLIN, Conn.—Jovial introduced First Ever™ Whole Grain Einkorn Pasta, made from ancient einkorn wheat, first cultivated 12,000 years ago. Einkorn was lost in time when new varieties of wheat with much higher yields were created by natural and commercial hybridization. In developing the Jovial brand, the company’s founders wanted to go beyond organic and take a closer look to find the purest of plant varieties.
“Jovial had its official start in 2010, but was idealized for many years," said Carla Bartolucci, co-founder of Jovial. “It is our dream to change the future of agriculture by creating consumer demand for the purest, most ancient varieties of food. Our sustainable economic model focuses on farming first and then considers the entire process all the way through to the shelf. We believe the purest food we are all seeking can only come from the purest seed."
Jovial Whole Grain Einkorn Pasta is available in five varieties: rigatoni, penne rigate, fusilli, spaghetti and linguine. Einkorn is the most ancient wheat. It is more nutritious on many levels than modern organic wheat, and even outperforms other “superfoods" including the blueberry in its nutritional value, according to the company. Although Einkorn is a healthy source of dietary fiber, it does not have a grainy or gritty texture. Packed with protein, B vitamins and minerals, a meal with Einkorn pasta is very sustaining.
Einkorn Nutritional Highlights
- High in thiamin, essential dietary and trace minerals
- Good source of protein, dietary fiber and a number of B Vitamins
- Higher ORAC than durum and bread wheat
- Higher content of tocotrienols than other species of wheat, a form of vitamin E
- Lower percentage of nutrient loss during processing
- One 2-oz. serving contains as much of the antioxidant lutein as a whole egg
Jovial Einkorn Pasta is crafted in Italy by expert pasta artisans, who work to enhance the inherent goodness of this most ancient wheat. Einkorn’s starch is different from modern durum wheat, it does not crush during milling and does not absorb as much water during mixing, resulting in a superior finished pasta. Jovial uses traditional bronze dies to press pasta shapes, resulting in a coarse surface that better absorbs sauce. The pasta is slowly dried at low temperatures to maintain Einkorn’s flavor. Einkorn is innately rustic, with a hardy root system that overpowers weeds, eliminating the need for herbicides. It grows well without fertilization, making it ideally suitable to small-scale, organic agriculture. Jovial works with a growing network of organic farmers in rural areas of Italy and other parts of Europe to grow 100-percent certified organic einkorn.
Jovial Einkorn Pasta is packaged in a carton made from 80-percent recycled cardboard and is 100 percent recyclable. The window is certified 100 percent compostable, made from FSC certified wood pulp.