Fresh Cut Magazine

Is It Time to Change the Paradigm?

Packaging What sets your fresh-cut products apart from your competition on the shelf? Is it time to be thinking about breaking out of the packaging paradigm? Shelf differentiation can be a risky business, admits William H. LeMaire, managing director of PakIntell LLC, West Chester, Pa. If the packaging presentation is done correctly, great rewards can be in store; but, if done poorly, there can be a loss in market share. LeMaire spoke Sept. 27 during the International Fresh-cut Produce Association's (IFPA) ExecTrends 2004 fall conference in Alexandria, Va. He joined Mona Doyle of The Consumer Network, Bill Zinke of Ready Pac Produce and Craig Carson of Crunch Pak in a panel discussion: "How Smarter Packaging Will Drive the 'Second Wave' of Fresh-cut Produce Growth." It "takes guts" to change the paradigm, LeMaire warned the group. Companies constantly invest in differentiating their products in the marketplace.…  » Read more

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A History of Double Digit Growth

BoniPak Produce Company When BoniPak Produce Company began doing business in the fresh-cut produce industry in February 1998, management recognized it would be a major challenge competing against large, well-established processors already firmly entrenched and commanding dominant market shares. BoniPak Produce is a well-established name in produce circles but traces its roots to Betteravia Farms, Santa Maria, Calif., owned by a group of six: Milo and Patrick Ferini and Henri Ardantz, senior partners, and Mitch Ardantz, Rob Ferini and Craig Reade, junior partners. The three junior partners represent the third generation of a family business that traces its roots to the 1930s when Milo Ferini, Sr., and Nick Ardantz began farming together. The fresh-cut arm of BoniPak Produce is BoniFresh Ready Cut Vegetables. Challenging Start Is being a "Johnny come lately" in the fresh-cut produce industry a challenge? "Absolutely," admits Mitch Ardantz, vice president of…  » Read more

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Value-added Products Cropping Up Everywhere

Fresh-cut at PMA ANAHEIM, Calif. - Whether it is two or three apples packaged together in a tray and covered with cellophane or a growing array of every type of pre-cut fruit, vegetable or salad mix imaginable, more and more mainstream produce businesses are moving into value-added. That was clearly evident at this year's Produce Marketing Association International Convention (PMA), held Oct. 15-19 at the Anaheim Convention Center. Hundreds of businesses with booths at the PMA Exposition were hocking value-added products of one kind or another. Their target: today's on-the-go consumer with little time to cook or prepare. Studies suggest that Americans now eat up to 20 percent of their meals in their automobiles. The following is a sample of the fresh-cut processors exhibiting at this year's PMA Exposition and their latest offerings: Ready Pac Offering New Cobb Salad, Broccoli Rabe, Bruschetta A new Cobb…  » Read more

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One More Entry for the Growing Sliced Apple Market

Yo Bites LLC Another new player has joined the list of fruit companies marketing pre-sliced apples. Yo Bites, LLC, a cooperative effort between Mark and Lester Zirkle, Bob Price and Steve Fox, is in its early stages of market exploration but is seen as a serious entry in the growing sliced apple market. The Zirkle brothers operate Zirkle Fruit Co., a major player in the Washington fruit production and packing scene. Their huge multi-million-dollar packing facility in Selah, Wash., is conveniently located just off of I-82 and draws fruit supplies from approximately 15,000 acres. Eleven thousand of those acres are family owned. Zirkle orchards are scattered from Oregon on the south to the Canadian border on the north. Most of the acreage is in Washington. Up to 80 trucks a day move in and out of the Selah storage and packing facility. Price owns and…  » Read more

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