Value-added options abound from Salinas grower-shippers
As consumers continue to seek out time-saving options at mealtimes, grower-shippers in California’s Salinas Valley continue to offer them a wide range of convenient alternatives.
Gonzalez, Calif.-based Misionero Vegetables LLC markets a variety of value-added vegetables, including Brussels sprouts, green beans, sugar snap peas and squash as well as fresh-cut salads, said Nicole Zapata, marketing manager.
Organic and conventional value-added items are available for retail and foodservice customers.
Zapata said the value-added category continues to grow at retail and foodservice.
“Both consumers and operators are looking for healthy, easy-to-prepare options,” she said.
Ocean Mist Farms, Castroville, Calif., offers a retail-ready line called Season & Steam, said Diana McClean, senior director of marketing.
The line features unique packaging technology that allows consumers to open the bag, add their own personal seasoning, reseal the bag and microwave it.
“This packaging technology allows that personalization, and I want to emphasize, also gently steams the vegetables,” she said.
Some consumers may be averse to microwaving vegetables because of a previous experience, she said, but this packaging technology gives the product “nice mouth appeal.”
“It’s not mushy.”
The line includes:
- Brussels sprouts, whole, halves and shreds;
- Two-count medium artichokes; and
- Sweet baby broccoli.
Ocean Mist Farms also offers value-added bagged spinach that’s washed and ready to eat, and the company is introducing foodservice packs of value-added cauliflower florets and cauliflower rice for foodservice or deli application.
And there’s a 2-pound bag of sweet baby broccoli for foodservice that’s washed and ready to prepare.
Hitchcock Farms, Salinas, Calif., recently completed rebranding of its Garden Hearts romaine hearts, said Dan Holt, vice president of sales and marketing.
The company was the first to introduce romaine hearts to the marketplace in the early 1990s, he said.
“We’ve gone to a more modern look,” Hitchcock said.
The rebranding applied to various packs and cartons, including value-added 12x3 and 7x6 cartons of bagged romaine hearts for retail, he said.
Romaine hearts also are available for foodservice.
Foodservice rebranding was completed last year, Holt said.
Foodservice operators find that the cartons add convenience, since they can be stored on racks in walk-in coolers, and food preparers can remove the bags they need.
All of the company’s value-added items are designed to help buyers save money and labor, he said.
The product line at Salinas-based Church Bros. Farms includes Brussels sprouts, veggie crumbles, little gems, veggie cubes, sweet baby broccoli, value-added salads, field-pack veggies and specialty items, said Mary Poma, marketing manager. Sweet baby cauliflower is coming soon.
Foodservice offerings scheduled for introduction in March/April include various cuts of Brussels sprouts, cauliflower rice, cubed butternut squash and washed sweet baby broccoli.
“We are in the process of developing different items for our foodservice partners that we hope to have ready soon,” she added.
Church Bros. Farms has seen a great deal of interest from foodservice partners in its value-added options obtained from its recent acquisition of the Green Giant Fresh value-added vegetable business from Salinas-based Growers Express LLC, she said.
“They are looking for items that will help them save time and labor in the kitchen.”
The value-added cooking vegetable category at retail has been growing and outpacing bulk cooking vegetable for five years or more, said McClean of Ocean Mist Farms.
“Convenience has, for the past several years, been a primary purchase driver in the retail space,” she said.
Brussels sprouts, cauliflower florets and rice and broccoli florets are some of the most popular value-added items.
Private-label value-added cooking vegetables continue to lead category growth.
“We can supply retailers in their private-label programs with broccoli and cauliflower florets, spinach, Brussels sprouts and sweet baby broccoli,” McClean said.
“Private label is what the retailers have been investing in and building equity behind.”
A differentiator for Ocean Mist Farms’ value-added line is that raw product is grown, cooled and processed by the company itself.
“We are the grower, we are the processor, we are the shipper,” she said. “That allows us to guarantee order fulfillment, consistency and quality.”
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