Anaheim, Calif.-based Frieda’s Branded Produce says it will highlight its Stokes Purple sweetpotato during the Southeast Produce Council’s Southern Exposure conference and trade show March 7-9 in Tampa, Fla.
Stokes Purple sweetpotato experienced recent notoriety the Netflix series, “Live to 100- Secrets of the Blue Zones,” according to a news release.
“We are eager to reconnect with the Southeast produce community this week in Tampa,” Alex Jackson, vice president of sales and procurement at Frieda’s, said in the release. “We’ve had an exciting start to the year coming off the momentum of Frieda’s national expansion in 2023. Our distribution capabilities continue to grow, as well as our brand popularity among consumers and brand performance through the register compared to our closest competitor.”
The company said it will share how it capitalized on the popularity of the Blue Zone diet with Stokes Purple sweetpotatoes — as the diet touts the varieties’ antioxidant and anti-aging properties — at its Southern Exposure booth, No. 639.
Frieda’s said food experts with Veganuary selected the purple sweetpotato, which is grown domestically, as the 2024 “Vegetable of the Year.” Veganuary promotes and educates about veganism by encouraging people to follow a vegan lifestyle in January.
Frieda’s said it also will promote its yearlong celebration of the Year of the Dragon with its dragon fruit varieties, including the yellow and sweet Honey Dragons, the white-flesh Snow Dragons and the vibrant red Fire Dragons, as well as organic dragon fruit.
“Our branded Dragon Fruit varieties are outpacing category growth by over 50%,” Jackson said. “As the dragon fruit category has nearly doubled in volume annually, we are leading the charge with our colorful and healthy assortment of dragon fruit varieties while further growing the category with new varieties such as our Pink Dragons.”
