Year in Review: Popular New Products of 2014
With 2015 just two days away, we decided to take a look back at all of the exciting events that have happened over 2014. For the third and final part of our Year in Review series, we chose to highlight some of the popular new products that we’ve covered throughout the year. While this list is certainly not definitive, it shows some of the great innovations that our industry is known for.
Grimmway Farms' TRUE Organic Juices
Grimmway Farms introduced TRUE organic juices in October to meet the growing demands of consumers looking for new options in the super premium organic juice category. All six vibrant, full-bodied varieties can be purchased in either single serve 12oz or multi-serve 28oz bottles.
“Given the increased popularity of organics, we believed that it was time to develop a juice that combines our home farm grown vegetables with premium fruits to offer a unique and great-tasting organic fruit and vegetable blend,” shared Steve Roodzant, General Manager of Beverage at Grimmway Farms.
Shanley Farms' Gator Eggs
Shanley Farms launched its Gator Eggs single serving avocados in March. The avocados come in a 6-pack carton (8 units to a case) with high graphic décor designed to be bright and attractive for customers to use in their retail efforts.
“Our goal was to provide consumers with an item better suited for single serving avocado consumption. Many consumers go for smaller sizes when adding avocado to individual salads and sandwiches or just as a snack in itself, so this was our way of addressing that avocado trend,” Megan Shanley of Shanley Farms told AndNowUKnow.
Stemilt's Fresh Blenders
Stemilt also launched its new Fresh Blenders™ product line in both sweet and tart apple varieties in order to tap into the growing juice and smoothie consumer movement. To help customers form a connection between the fruit and the farms it was grown on, Stemilt will be including the Mathison family and their message “from our orchards to you” on every Fresh Blenders package.
“Juicing and blending smoothies at home has taken off in recent years,and continues to grow in popularity among consumers across all age demographics,” said Roger Pepperl, Stemilt Marketing Director. “Apples are the perfect base ingredient to any juice or smoothie creation. Fresh Blenders is the perfect platform to directly market to this crowd and deliver them a great grab-and-go value pack.”
Foxy Produce's BroccoLeaf™
This September, Foxy Produce began shipping out a new, organic, non-GMO vegetable called BroccoLeaf™ to nationwide stores. This leafy green delivers a full dose of Vitamin C and is an excellent source of Folate, a key nutrient for heart health and pregnancy.
“It’s incredibly rare, in this day and age, to be able to introduce a new non-GMO organic vegetable into the market,” said Foxy Vice President of Marketing Matt Seeley. “We believe the potential for BroccoLeaf™ is massive and are very excited about consumers’ and retailers’ responses."
Sunkist Fruit 2.0
In September, Sunkist and Snack it Forward LLC launched a line of freeze dried fruit offerings under the new Sunkist Fruit 2.0 brand. This “new way to fruit” is a line of crunchy and crispy 100% real fruit items in a category that is growing double digits annually.
“Up until this point there hasn’t been a strong presence of freeze dried fruit at mainstream retail and there is no strong branded offering,” said Nick Desai, CEO of Snack it Forward LLC. “More recently though, freeze dried fruit has made a resurgence as the technology has improved, allowing us to offer great quality, flavor and an over 12 month shelf life in an amazing shelf stable 100% real fruit snack. It’s a pretty exciting arena to tap into.”
Tanimura & Antle's George T’s Special Colossal Romaine Hearts
Tanimura & Antle released a new lettuce variety in honor of its esteemed co-founder: George T’s Special Colossal Romaine Hearts. The new seed is a combination of two of George Tanimura’s favorite lettuce varieties, Iceberg and Romaine Hearts, joining Iceberg’s crunch and texture with the deep color and sweet flavor of Romaine Hearts.
The new Colossal Romaine Hearts will be packed in a 40lb. 24-count retro-designed carton, featuring the classic red and blue T&A label.
Kalettes™
In June, Tozer Seeds, released Kalettes™, a new kale and Brussels sprout hybrid. This new veggie has a flavor that is a fusion of sweet and nutty and combines the best traits fo its parent vegetables.
Tozer then entered into exclusive marketing agreements with six companies to grow and market Kalettes. The companies included are: 4Earth Farms, Classic Salads, Mann Packing, Ocean Mist Farms, Southern Specialties and WP Rawl. Also in the agreement, Kalettes seeds are sold by Johnny’s Select Seeds to small farmers and home growers.
If you missed them, here are part 1 and part 2 of this series. It has been an excellent year, and we are looking forward to a great 2015.
