Fresh Cut Magazine

Convenience Stores Offer Promising Market for Fresh-Cut Produce

Seventy-eight percent of consumers are buying fresh-cut produce from their supermarkets, according to a survey by the Produce Marketing Association (PMA). PMA recently conducted a telephone survey of 1,000 consumers to see how, why and when they use fresh-cut produce. The survey focused on produce in convenience stores - and revealed a promising marketplace to sell more fresh-cut fruit and vegetable products. The people who use fresh-cut produce the most are less than 30 years old - 84 percent of that age group answered “yes,” compared to 72 percent for those 64 or older, 78 percent of those 55 to 64, 79 percent of those 46 to 54 and 82 percent of 30- to 45-year-olds. Of that 78 percent who use fresh-cut, 37 percent said they do so for health and nutritional reasons. Close behind was convenience and ease of use. Fourteen percent said quality and 12…  » Read more

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Classic Salads Puts Not-So-Classic Twist On Dinnerware

Classic Salads knows its stuff when it comes to spring mixes and spinach. Now, the company’s moving on to some not-so-classic items to spice up the produce offerings for the country’s foodservice institutions and retailers. The latest of these new products are lettuce bowls – bowls made out of iceberg lettuce heads. The bowls would make a good fit for high-end restaurants, said Lex Camany, sales manager for Classic Salads. The lettuce bowls add a different kind of twist to lettuce wraps and are gaining interest from different segments of the industry. The bowls, which are half-heads of lettuce, are four inches to seven inches and ship in 16- to 18-count cartons with 104 cartons per pallet to foodservice outlets. The bowls are ready to use. Classic Salads also offers Looseleaf Iceberg, which can be used in products from burgers to salads. In addition to lettuce bowls…  » Read more

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Stop, Look and Listen

The fresh-cut industry cannot live on bagged salad alone. The fresh-cut industry continues to be a driver in the produce sections of retail stores – it’s up to about $15 billion annually. And there’s no better time than when you’re on top of your game to stop, look and listen. Take a minute to stop what you’re doing – just a minute – and look around you. What are other members of the industry doing? What are retailers doing with your product? How are restaurants using fresh-cut? How can you take what’s being done and improve upon it? More and more consumers are looking for whole-meal solutions, and items that mix fresh-cut produce with meats and cheeses – such as salad kits and heat-and-eat items – fit that bill. Observation continues to be one of the best tools there is to know what’s going on – it’s…  » Read more

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Growth Leads to Expansion for Fresh-Cut Processor

True Leaf Farms has experienced a 75 percent growth rate in three of the past four years. The company, based in the Salinas Valley in California, ships primarily to customers in the Midwest and on the East Coast. The company supplies fresh-cut arugula, spinach and spring mix products to foodservice and retail customers. Growing demand lead True Leaf Farms to look for a new processing line last year and that search lead them to Key Technology. And in April 2005, the company installed a new Freshline Direct Stream line, which is an integrated multi-stage wash and automatic drying system. The line is a bin-to-bag turnkey system. “The dryer controls the infeed of product to the wash system,” said Jared Gill, plant manager. “A weigh-belt near the front of the line meters the product into the processing line depending on what the bagger at the end of the…  » Read more

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