Organic tropical fruit enjoy growth
Like the rest of the produce department, organic tropical fruit options continue to grow. This season growers and suppliers look to support retailers looking for ways to expand their organic collection.
Bil Goldfield, communications manager, Dole Fresh Fruit/Dole Fresh Vegetables, Westlake Village, Calif., said the company is seeing “explosive growth” in its organic pineapples.
“Dole has also long been the largest grower and distributor of fresh organic pineapples, and Dole has heavily invested in this area to meet the increased demand for Dole organic pineapples,” he said.
Bananas
But Goldfield said the strongest growth in demand both from retailers and consumers continues to be for Dole organic bananas. Dole started its organic program more than 20 years ago, and it is the largest grower and distributor of fresh organic bananas.
“What the organic consumer is looking for the most is authenticity and transparency in their food choices,” Goldfield said.
“They care about where and how their food is produced. For our bananas, we share information about Dole’s organic farming via a dedicated website at doleorganic.com and on our social media channel at facebook.com/doleorganic.”
“Through this we try to provide a greater understanding about how and why we believe in organic farming. The experience also gives visitors the opportunity to enter farm codes and get specific data on where and how their particular fruit was grown.”
Oppy’s program
Vancouver, British Columbia-based The Oppenheimer Group offers an organic mango program out of Ecuador and Peru, which starts this season in November. The company also partners with Zespri International Ltd. for an organic green and gold kiwifruit program.