LOS ANGELES, CA - The team that has given you recognizable brands such as POM Wonderful and Wonderful Pistachios is now doubling down on the seedless trend, not only with its existing Halos, sweet, seedless, and easy-to-peel mandarins, but an entirely new brand to debut this fall. The Wonderful Company announced its latest offering, Wonderful Seedless Lemons, at United Fresh, for both lemon lovers and those who don’t know they are yet.

“This is Wonderful’s newest game-changing brand in produce,” Wonderful Citrus’ Director of Marketing, Diana Salsa, tells me. “We’re the largest grower, packer, shipper, and distributor of citrus, so we’re in a unique position to be able to do this on a large, successful scale.”

Naturally seedless and Non-GMO Project verified, Wonderful Seedless Lemons will officially be on the market in October, supported by the company’s usual branding prowess: in-store displays, eye-catching graphics, and similar packaging to its sibling citrus, Wonderful Halos, in 1 and 2 lb bags.

“Our new logo for Wonderful Seedless Lemons graphics features a really cute character spitting out seeds, which screams ‘these are seedless’ in a fun way! We’ll be finalizing additional marketing plans toward the end of the summer into the fall, but we just couldn’t wait to get the word out at this year’s United Fresh expo,” Diana shares with me, and her energy is contagious.

Diana and I talk about how, in addition to adorable packaging, the branding will clearly identify that these lemons are 100 percent naturally seedless.

“We are basically shouting from the rooftops that these are naturally seedless, right off the tree. We went through the process of getting the Non-GMO Project verified certification because we know it’s important to consumers and it gives us that added competitive edge,” she says.

When I ask about that level of 'new,' she doesn’t hesitate to share that this is something of a pioneer move on The Wonderful Company’s behalf.

“Lemons are already a robust category. 62 percent of households right now buy lemons, which has doubled over the last five years. We know from our third-party research that lemon buyers are likely to purchase seedless lemons, with 81 percent citing the inconvenience of seeds as a key reason,” she shares.

This may be a new frontier for The Wonderful Company, but it isn’t completely foreign. Wonderful is already one of the largest growers, shippers, and suppliers of lemons in North America, and currently offers “America’s No. 1 naturally seedless mandarins,” which Diana says definitely attracts new users who are drawn to the seedless variety.

“This has been a couple of years in the making as far as the trees bearing fruit, but, as you know, we have expert farmers on staff and resources to scour the Earth for non-GMO seedless varieties. This lemon variety was originally discovered in Australia and we own the exclusive rights to this unique new variety in North America. Only we can sell it and, just like all of our products, it will be the high quality our customers expect that will make it stand out from the rest,” she concludes.

The first generation of Wonderful Seedless Lemons will be a limited production, but it will expand to a year-round supply over the next couple of years. Until then, Wonderful will continue to invest heavily in its marketing efforts to foster consumer awareness for the newest seedless lemon to enter the market.

Will this be a game-changer for lemon buyers? AndNowUKnow will stay on the lookout!

The Wonderful Company