Fresh Cut Magazine

Company Finds Pot of Gold With Colorful Produce

Doug Ranno knows you can judge a carrot by its color. Ranno is the chief operating officer and managing partner of Colorful Harvest, a California company that offers produce that is pleasing to the palate and pleasing to the eye. “We grow unique, very proprietary colorful and highly nutritious product and market them under the Colorful Harvest label,” Ranno said. Among these products are Rainbow Crunch Carrots: heirloom carrots that come in red, yellow and orange. The company’s fresh-cut version of these carrots are the Rainbow Crunch Carrot Chips. And those chips are helping the business succeed. When the company started the fresh-cut carrot operation, it was only a small percentage of the total business. But Ranno said it’s now up to about 40 percent– and growing. “We anticipate our volume of fresh-cut products, primarily carrots, will double over the next year,” he said. “Most of that…  » Read more

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Readers Respond

As we continue to try to improve Fresh Cut, I’m always looking for reader comments – and many of you have responded to my requests with e-mails for story ideas and topic suggestions. But to add to this and include more opinions, we recently conducted a survey of our readers. From this survey, we received many good comments and suggestions, and I look forward to continuing on this path for the magazine. Among those who took the survey, 20 percent were processors and about 16 percent were equipment and input suppliers and growers. The rest were split among produce distributors, restaurants, grocers, packer/shippers, foodservice distributors and others. This just shows me that our readership is very broad and Fresh Cut needs to expand its editorial coverage to include topics of interest to everyone. By a wide margin, the most requested article topic was for new…  » Read more

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Radio-Frequency Identification Continues to Spread

With traceability becoming a more important aspect of the supply chain, steps to make it easier – and more cost-effective – are being welcomed. Growers, processors and retailers are embracing radio-frequency identification (RFID) at all steps in the chain. “I think we’re in the beginning stage,” said Michael McCartney, principal of QLM Consulting in Sausalito, Calif. “I think Albertson’s and Wal-Mart and the Department of Defense are the key drivers. Those three enterprises are all pushing the RFID envelope.” QLM Consulting was founded in 1993 and offers supply chain consultation. The company has the only RFID testing center, in Salinas, Calif., for perishable products and was the first company to do a traceability study for USDA. RFID is a form of messaging between a radio broadcasting transmitter and a receiver, McCartney said. The RFID tags that are placed on cartons and boxes transmit a radio signal between 850…  » Read more

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Showcase: Coring, Trimming and Peeling Equipment

Heat and Control Heat and Control's patented new VersaPeel multi-stage batch peeler significantly reduces peel loss and improves finished product quality, according to the company. VersaPeel uses three separate peeling chambers with progressively finer abrasives and/or brushes for maximum peel removal, even within eyes and recesses. Potatoes finished in VersaPeel retain their natural shape and have a smooth, polished surface with virtually no flat spots. This smooth surface minimizes the usage and carry-over of antioxidants onto finished product and promotes a more stable product color. Dwell time, abrasive liners and brushes can be changed to suit different product grades offering outstanding flexibility in meeting quality standards. Peel loss savings with VersaPeel can save processors thousands of dollars annually. VersaPeel delivers better peeling control than continuous peelers because product is confined within the peeling chambers. "Short-circuiting," or product that escapes peeling by bouncing down the length of a continuous…  » Read more

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