CANADA - I’m hitting the road to Montréal to attend the Canadian Produce Marketing Association’s (CPMA) Convention and Trade Show, and innovative growers like Pure Flavor® are gearing up for the show, too. I touched base with several members of the team to learn about the demand driving innovation for the greenhouse grower’s core snacking items, how it positions itself as an ideal partner to the buy-side, and more.

“We continue to highlight our line of snack-sized veggies that are greenhouse-grown year-round. The product range and formats available provide retail and foodservice partners an extensive variety of fresh snacking solutions for their customers,” Chris Veillon, Chief Marketing Officer, shared. “As part of our omnichannel strategy, we are creating channel-specific content and then geo-fencing it in the regions where we have the highest sales concentration to help drive consumers to retail.”

The value proposition for the Pure Flavor snacking program is supported by providing the following:

• A wide variety of items across three different primary commodities
• Year-round availability with a consistent supply
• Grown in a protected and sustainable environment that is food safe
• Packaging solutions that are convenient and eco-friendly

“Consumers are snacking more often and are shifting purchasing habits from staple items toward specialty items like our Craft House® Collection lineup, snacking items like our Cloud 9® Bite-Sized Fruity Tomatoes, Uno Bites™ Nano Cucumbers, and organic snacks like Organic Aurora Bites Mini Sweet Peppers,” said Matt Mastronardi, Executive Vice President. “When we identify new areas of potential growth and have the data to back it up, we want to make sure our retail partners are always at the leading edge of the latest trends. From there, we are able to support retailers with strategic promotions and advertising campaigns.”

Brand consistency is a part of what keeps consumers loyal to Pure Flavor’s snacking items, and this loyalty is driving up demand—demand that must be met.

In order to do so, Pure Flavor recently tripled the acreage of its home farm in Leamington, Canada, to better service its customers with a greater assortment of product regardless of the season.

“The investments we are making in lit culture further removes seasonality and regionality of items,” Chris noted. “The growth of our organics program has gained significant steam in the last couple of years, and we launched two new items in the last six months, our Organic Roma Tomatoes and our Organic Luna® Sweets Cocktail Tomatoes. Our growth plans call for even more acreage across multiple commodities in the coming 12–24 months in all regions.”

Tiffany Sabelli, Director of Sales, discussed how producing greenhouse-grown vegetables benefits the partners for which it supplies.

“We are the next generation of vegetable growers—in more ways than one. From our state-of-the-art growing technology to our data-driven approach to consumer marketing, we’re leveraging the latest tech to grow produce consumption across North America and support our retail partners,” she explained. “We’re able to share with each of our partners the impact we’re having as a vertically-integrated grower marketer that does more than just grow vegetables, but also has a strong brand presence and consumer-centric strategy.”

“Our content is 100 percent informed by the latest industry research and first party data that we collect about consumer preferences,” added Chris. “We are invested in understanding our consumers’ tastes and interests, pain points, and needs so that we can deliver the right content at the right time to the right people. That’s why our content strategy is so effective.”

Working closely with its retail and foodservice partners, Pure Flavor is always going above and beyond to help them grow their businesses. Vertical integration takes Pure Flavor’s capabilities to the next level by being a full-service partner that is supported by a strong family of growers throughout North America.

As a brand fueling healthy lifestyles, Pure Flavor is ready to take Montréal by storm. The company even created a 30-page City Guide for those looking to see the crème de la crème of Montréal, including dining, entertainment, and nightlife.

Be sure to stop by booth #2115 to see the team for yourself and learn more about their innovative portfolio.

Pure Flavor®