FiveStar Gourmet Foods and its Simply Fresh brand is pushing innovation in the premium salad space, says Tal Shoshan, chief executive officer of the Ontario, Calif.-based company.
At Fresh Summit, Shoshan says one of the new products is a new shaker salad line — a gourmet salad line with the shaker functionality.
The toppings are held in the lid and can be poured over the salad. With the lid in place again, the salad can be mixed by shaking.
Also new at the show is a new gourmet-level salad kit, he says.
“We have a rigid bowl and we’re also providing the chicken, more dressings, more toppings and basically more premium ingredients for a very affordable price point of $6.99 at retail,” he says. The 20-ounce salad has a beautiful presentation and serves the consumer with a functional solution, he says.
Another brand new line is a gourmet restaurant salad line, which will be available at $6.99, instead of $10.99 or $11.99.
In addition, a new deli line of gourmet salads removes the company’s Simply Fresh branding and allows retailers to feature brandless salads in their deli. “(Retailers) can go to the extent of removing the film if they want to,” he says. “They can stick their label on and it looks like they made it in-house, yet we have provided a very gourmet experience.”
The company also is launching a value line of salads, featuring a film seal over the salad ingredient compartments of the lid.
“When you display at upright don’t going to have migration from one cell to another,” he says. “And what do you get with that is when the salad looks really nice for a few days, people are going to pick it up,” he says. “If they’re going to pick it up, and have less spoils, that is good for the retailers.”
Another new line for the company is called Simply Fresh Trios, a new snack line with three ingredients for each snack option.
He says the company’s attention to detail is bringing excitement into the retail space and winning the company new business.
FiveStar Gourmet Foods was founded 20 years ago, and retail customers include Costco, Publix, Wegman’s, Target, and Aldi, according to the company.
