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P r o d u c e S h o w D a i l y 2 3 S u n d a y, O c t o b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 5 TRENDS TO STOP WATCHING AND START PUTTING INTO ACTION An interview with Jim Fox, Director of Sales, North Shore Living Herbs PSD: Tell our readers about some of the key trends you have seen in your 30 years in the produce industry? JF: The majority of my career, up until joining North Shore in 2013, has been on the retail side. There are two trends our industry has been talking about that are certainly here to stay, the first being the responsible food movement and the sec- ond a growing interest in consumers' demand for an option to shop online. PSD: What is driving the responsible food movement? JF: Consumers have come a long way in a short time. Largely led by Millennials, they now want to know where their pro- duce comes from, who grew it, if it is a sustainable crop, verified non-GMO, and so on. It used to be as simple as organic or not organic, but with unprecedented access to information, consumers want the whole truth. This is good for many of us, as we have been growing responsibly for decades. PSD: How can retailers put this trend into action to grow sales? JF: Share your story with sustainability in mind. Explain to consumers ways your stores are taking steps toward Earth- friendly practices and share how the pro- duce brands on shelf grow responsible, safe, fresh produce. Our premium pro- duce product lines are positioned well for this trend, as North Shore Living Herbs are certified sus- tainably grown, verified non- GMO, and use 70 percent less water than field crops. With the roots still attached, retailers are finding our living herbs outper- form cut herbs in appearance, freshness and shelf life. These highlights of our story are something that the team is proud of and excited to share. PSD: What does the trend towards online shopping mean for retailers with brick and mortar stores? JF: Research makes it clear that con- sumers in general, even produce shoppers, look to the Web more each quarter. We are excited to see our retail partners begin to take advantage of a successful online shop- ping strategy that enables the consumer the convenience of purchasing groceries online, saving their shopping history, then picking up their ready-to-go gro- ceries at their local store. This com- bination of online ordering and in- store pick up keeps the perishable portion of their purchase fresh to maximize customer satisfaction and allows for impulse buy opportunities. PSD: Anything new to share this year at the show? JF: Come see us at booth 3065 during the show. We will be introducing five new liv- ing potted herbs, expanding on the success of our current line. Our goal is to be a strategic partner with our retail customers by creating win-win strategies document- ed to drive sales and volumes. Clients credit the North Shore team with turning around their fresh herb programs; that's a great measure of the success we offer! For more information, visit booth #3065, go to www.livingherbs.com or call 760.397.0400. SMALL PORTION PACKAGING HAS A BIG IMPACT Snack packs, grab and go, small portion products; no matter what you call them, more and more companies are opting for single-serve options for their food prod- ucts. These days it is all about conven- ience, and single-serve packages simpli- fying snacking for consumers. With people always on the go, offer- ing snack-pack versions of your food products makes sense and reaches the growing population that favors small por- tion options. Snacking is becoming increasingly popular, with people choos- ing the flexibility of eating when they want and the idea of eating more often and in smaller portions. Snacking is so universal, it accounts for 50 percent of all eating occasions. The idea of "snacks" has transitioned from your typical cookies or chips to healthier fresh options like car- rots with hummus or parfaits with fresh fruit. There are many different motivators when it comes to snacking: convenience, healthy small meals, spontaneity, trying new foods and more. Food companies also see significantly greater revenue per pound with consumers willing to pay more per pound for snack size portions. Lacerta understands the trend and benefits of offering snack packs and carry stock products, along with the ability to make custom containers too. From the company's stock line of packages, parfaits with inserts for granola or fruit have been a great option for companies to offer a fresh healthy snack. Lacerta carries differ- ent sizes and shapes, along with tamper-evi- dent versions, allowing customers to customize a parfait to their applica- tion. Snack packs with multiple compartments are also a popular option for grab-and-go containers. These are per- fect for a dip and vegetable or a fruit and cheese; any two foods that are good together are a home run. If a company is looking for a custom solution, Lacerta can also design a container for them. There are so many ways to customize a snack pack; from making a snack pack tamper-evident or a design with multiple compartments to embossing a logo for brand awareness or printing graphics onto a container. Custom packaging has always been a strong point for Lacerta, with quick speed to market, innovative solutions and low capital investment for customers. Custom con- tainers can be on the shelves in less than two months. Lacerta expects the trend of single serve products to con- tinue to grow and will continue to deliver the right package for your application. About Lacerta Group, Inc. Lacerta Group is a family-owned busi- ness that was founded in 1993 and spe- cializes in thermoformed packaging. Lacerta produces thermoformed stock and custom food packaging with a pri- mary focus on fresh prepared foods. With a full design team and in-house mold- making capabilities, Lacerta provides custom packages from design and mate- rial selection to molds and production. For more information, visit booth #5333, go to www.Lacerta.com or call 508.339.3312. STELLAR DISTRIBUTING TO BOOST FIGS Paul Catania, President and Chief Executive Officer of Catania Worldwide, Toronto, Ontario, announced this week that the company expects to triple ship- ments of fresh figs from Mexico to the United States and Canada this year. Additionally he announced that a new pro- gram will bring shipments of figs into the United States to allow year-round ship- ping from Catania Worldwide's Stellar Distributing offices in California. He stat- ed, "Mexican figs are beyond our expecta- tions. It looks like we should have three times the volume we had last year. With the Tiger and Sierra varieties coming into production this year, we can offer them all throughout North America." The Mexican fig program has been alive and well for the last two years in Canada, as the import regulations are not the same as the United States. ML Catania has done extremely well with the product in those two years and looks to continue to build on that success with the collaboration of Stellar Distributing. Stellar Distributing was able to success- fully import figs into the United States for the first time this past April and created some real excitement for its customers. Now, there will be a two-pronged attack on North America and the fig market, and both ML Catania and Stellar Distributing will try their best to make sure everyone who wants figs will have them. The companies plan to segue this new Mexican season back into the domestic season seamlessly. Catania went on to say, "Even though we will have three times the vol- ume we have had in the past, it will be nothing compared to the large volumes we handle with domestic figs. We are working on increasing our availability every year, but we still have times when we cannot meet all of our customers' expectations; having additional product from Mexico will make it eas- ier to do that." "We will be offering the same pack styles that we use for our domestic fig program. We will start shipping in November, and hopefully be able to con- tinue all the way through April when we start our product out of the California desert. Right now we can offer 12- and eight-ounce clamshells and the retail- ready family pack, but we are contem- plating venturing into other pack styles now that the program has become more established," says Catania. For more information, visit booth #3217, go to www.stellardistributing.com or call 559.664.8400. NATUREFRESH FARMS IS GROWING TO OHIO As NatureFresh™ Farms expands into Delta, Ohio, it is repositioning to be more in line with what its customers and the indus- try already consider it: the Grow-to People. NatureFresh built its first green- house in 1999. By itself. It was a proof- of concept built to challenge the conven- tional wisdom of the day with new ideas and new methods. One hundred and thir- ty acres later, NatureFresh has never stopped improving processes, technology and varietal advancements. "There are always opportunities to do things better. Simple things. Big things. Things that matter," said Peter Quiring, NatureFresh Founder. "No good story ever starts with 'Remember that time we did- n't try something different and nothing happened?' Every day, we learn some- thing new, test a new theory or idea and continue to build a reputation for being the Grow-to People when it comes to greenhouse produce." Now, the company is busy with the construction of a 180-acre greenhouse facility in Delta, Ohio. They are also working on a partnership agreement with a large industrial facility that has an enormous amount of excess heat that could help heat the greenhouses. This type of opportunity would be the first of its kind in Ohio. "This development will allow us to Continued on Page 73