Supermarket Perimeter - July 2019 - 33

the fresh fruit and vegetable industry.
"As James said, this is a renaissance for
our industry," Stenzel said. "The focus on
healthfulness, the new technologies, the
branding efforts - it's an exciting time for
fresh produce."

Fresh-cut pear breakthrough
Since its founding in 2000, Cashmere, Washington-based Crunch
Pak, the industry leader in sliced fresh apples, has wanted to add sliced
and other value-added pears to its product roster, Megan Wade, the
company's product development and marketing manager, said on the
United Fresh show ﬂoor.

A bigger role for branding
The ever more important role of branding in the produce industry was a theme
running throughout the ﬁrst day of
United '19.
In "Next Level Brand Strategies to Drive
Consumer Loyalty," three marketing
executives discussed recent rebranding
efforts at their fresh produce companies and how branding isn't just for CPG
companies.
Nadine Williams, marketing director
for Shenandoah Growers, Harrisonburg,
Pennsylvania, described her team's efforts
to breathe new life into their company's line of basil and other herbs. "We
wanted our brand to be more than just a
commodity," she said. "Consumers today,
especially younger ones, are looking for

The problem was, the technology wasn't around - and wouldn't be
around until this year, when Crunch Pak unveiled its fresh-cut pears at
United Fresh.
The sliced, peeled and diced pears are available in 7 oz and 32 oz
packages for foodservice customers initially, are made from Anjou
and Bartlett varieties. The product will begin shipping in the fall,
Wade said.
"We made a commitment to develop value-added pears many years ago
to our growers and customers," said Tony Freytag, Crunch Pak's executive vice president and co-founder. "Our location, relative to where the
majority of the country's pears are grown, makes us literally neighbors
with orchardists and their crops.  The countless hours of research and
development that was put into the project and the overall commitment of
the company to creating this proprietary technology is to be heralded."
The breakthrough will allow Crunch Pak to appeal to a huge, underutilized part of its consumer audience, Wade said.

"I'm excited because young
people are not interested in
center-store food brands."
Paul Lightfoot, BrightFarms

"Five percent of pear
eaters eat 75% of all
pears. They're buying
in volume. This caters
to the 95% who don't
buy in volume" and
instead want to eat
the product soon after
purchase, she said.

2019 UNITED FRESH PRODUCE INNOVATION AWARDS WINNERS:
Best New
Food Safety
Solution:
natures
frequencies,
Food Freshness
Card for
Packaging

Best New
Packaging:
Del Monte
Fresh Produce,
Film-sealed
Fruit Cups

Best New
Packing/
Processing
Equipment:
Fox Solutions,
Pouch Bagger

Best New
Vegetable
Product: Taylor
Farms, Inc.,
Taylor Farms
Avocado Ranch
Chopped
Salad Kit

www.supermarketperimeter.com

Best New
Indoor Growing
Technology:
Root AI, Virgo

Best New Field
Technology:
RipeTime,
RipeTime

Best New
Fruit Product:
Crunch Pak,
Peeled, Diced
and Sliced
Pears

JULY 2019 - 33
http://www.supermarketperimeter.com
Supermarket Perimeter - July 2019

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