Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/586344
P r o d u c e S h o w D a i l y 6 7 S u n d a y, O c t o b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 5 sweet potato has become a year-round staple for many. The category is contin- ually growing each year with consumers who are focused on the nutrition of the sweet potato, finding new ways to use the product and increase usage in the foodservice industry. With the increase in consumption and health benefits, sweet potatoes deserve increased shelf space in a year-round program. Sweet potatoes are a good source of beta carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C and vita- min E. Sweet potatoes are a great source of dietary fiber and are also fat-free. Sweet potatoes are sticking around throughout the year, both at home and in restaurants. Traditional white mashed potatoes, French fries and potato chips have met their match. Sweet potatoes are chasing them all along the trend curve, making them a year-round com- modity. Sweet potatoes are being sourced from around the United States and are available everywhere. Market Fresh Produce LLC sources sweet potatoes from North Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida. Many growers are reporting a good qual- ity sweet potato and decent yields this Sweet Potato (Cont'd. from p. 1) year with the new crop. Some regions are even reporting that acreage is up. Yields will remain steady with a slight increase in the Jumbos, while the No. 1 Sweet will remain steady. The dry weather has been an issue for growers in North Carolina, but yields are still expected to be close to last year, making very little impact on the market. Arkansas has used a new soil for growing this year, and in turn the crops are expected to be 80 percent No. 1 Sweet compared to the Jumbo. Market Fresh Produce LLC, found- ed in 1998, offers the best in class prod- ucts, service and packaging. MFP also carries year-round, full category sweet potatoes, potatoes, sweet and storage onions, tomatoes, peppers, avocados and kiwis packed to order to reduce shrink and labor costs. The company's national sales and marketing office is located south of Springfield, Missouri in Nixa. MFP offers No. 1 Sweet, Jumbos and medium sweet potatoes in all different packaging. It has three- pound, 6.5-pound, 10-pound and 40- pound bulk boxes and individual microwaveable singles. For more information, go to www .marketfreshproduce.net or call 866.885.7751. HALF YOUR PLATE: WORKING WITH INDUSTRY TO INSPIRE CHANGE Most Canadians are not eating the rec- ommended daily number of fruits and vegetables as suggested in Canada's Food Guide. To add to the confusion, there is a lack of understanding on what a serving actually consists of. Based on this need for education, the Canadian Produce Marketing Association (CPMA), in partnership with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Canadian Cancer Society and Canadian Public Health Association have developed the Half Your Plate program, which launched to Canadian consumers in January 2015 with tremendous success. Half Your Plate is a simple, clear message that empowers Canadians of all ages to eat more fruits and veggies to improve their health while providing simple and practical ways to add a vari- ety of produce to every meal and snack. Half Your Plate is fun, practical and informative, and provides tips on how to prepare fruits and veggies using different colors, flavors and textures for meals and snacks at home, at school, at work, eating out or on the go. The CPMA has developed Half Your Plate to increase awareness at the com- munity level while providing the industry with tools to integrate the branding onto packaging and other marketing cam- paigns. This approach will reinforce the message with consumers and help them associate Half Your Plate branded items with a healthy lifestyle. The possibilities are endless! Its branding program supplies label ideas and logos to suppliers to ensure effective and consistent programs for Half Your Plate products combined with retail- ers who brand their products and stores to increase produce sales with this market. There are more than 40 industry partners to date who have integrated the Half Your Plate campaign onto packaging, advertis- ing, in-store displays and more. To learn more about its industry memorandum of understanding, please visit www.halfyour- plate.ca. Half Your Plate also contains an ambassador program aimed at educating and creating champions for healthy eating in local schools and communities. These ambassa- dors will guide others on adding fruits and veggies to every meal while promoting Half Your Plate branding and Half Your Plate branded retail products. Looking to get involved? Check out www.halfyourplate.ca for tips on how to integrate fruits and veggies, shop smarter and for great healthy recipes. Half Your Plate is also on Twitter (@halfyourplate), Facebook and Pinterest. It also encour- ages followers to show their plate, share recipes and more by using #halfyourplate in their posts. For more information, visit www .halfyourplate.ca. THE SPICE LAB ADDS OLIVE OIL RUSTIC DIPPING HERBS TO COMPANY'S EXTENSIVE LINE OF SALTS, SPICES AND SEASONINGS Olive Oil Rustic Dipping Herbs are the latest addition to The Spice Lab's ever growing line of gourmet sea salts, spices, rubs and seasonings. Mix olive oil with these unique, premium herb blends to create flavorful dipping oils to serve with crusty, artisan breads. Available in seven different flavors, each 2-ounce to 2.5- ounce stand-up packet offers endless cooking possibilities. Olive Oil Rustic Dipping Herb choices include Rosemary Garlic Blend, Italian Parmesan Romano, Italian Spicy Roasted Garlic, Italian Spicy Sun Dried Tomato, Sun Dried Tomato Parmesan, Mediterranean Citrus Herb Blend and French Onion Garlic Blend. Other recent introductions include floor displays for Himalayan Pink Salt and Bacon Rub/Ham Glaze and the launch of a new regional brand, Old Florida Spice Company to appeal to the nearly 100 million annual tourists to the Sunshine State. The sturdy, colorful cardboard free- standing shipper display holds 36 16- ounce stand-up pouches of either Fine or Coarse Himalayan Pink Salt, coveted for its healthful benefits and delicious, fresh flavor. A combination of both Coarse and Fine salt also is available. The floor dis- play for the Gourmet Candied Bacon Rub and Ham Glaze holds 48 8-ounce bags is an assortment of four flavors – Asian Sesame Sweet & Spicy, Caribbean Island Jerk, New Orleans Cajun and Country- Style Pepper. The Old Florida Spice Company brand offers a distinctive line of gourmet sea salts, spices and seasoning rubs, with an alligator graphic and all products processed and packaged in Florida. Selections include eight hot and spicy sea salts in 100 ml glass jars or 3- ounce stand-up pouches, 10 barbeque seasoning rubs and a large choice of other jarred salts and premium spices under the Old Florida label. For added Florida flavor, some of the barbeque rubs are named for locales around the state – from Key West Seafood Seasoning and South Beach Mango Chipotle Seasoning to Everglades Chicken and Gator Rub and Homestead Honey Mustard Seasoning. Other, more traditional barbeque rubs include Bad to the Bone, Fire Cracker Steak, Jalapeno Burger & BBQ Rub and Ancho Chili & Coffee Steak Seasoning. Based in Pompano Beach, Florida, The Spice Lab offers over 240 different salts, peppers and spices from around the globe. The product line includes 180 jarred sea salts, award-winning sea salt collections and a selection of spices, pep- percorns and spice mixes. It also sells fla- vored sugars under its The Sugar Lab label. Other offerings include Himalayan salt shot glasses, salt plates, stones and lamps, salt cellars, spoons, jars and bath salts. For more information, visit www.shop.thespicelab.com. Summit this year. LP: We're here to show prospective and current customers how this category can make money with the right assortment and the right quality. Quality doesn't cost; it pays. For instance, a box of our high-quality El Sol product might be priced one or two dollars higher than an inferior product offered by one of our competitors, but that's really just a few pennies a pound. But that few pennies a pound extra that you're paying for quali- ty is going to translate to four or five dol- lars more in profit from that box. PSD: How is this different from what grocers get from other produce compa- nies? LP: We've been in business for 20 years. Back when we started, grocers were buying their Latin produce, their roots in particular, from pass-through wholesalers. Your broker would take your order, buy the produce, get the boxes into the warehouse and then ship them off to you, sometimes with- out even opening the boxes to look inside. When you got the boxes in your store, you'd have to deal with the consequences of the mixture of No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 product that was prob- ably in that box. If you only sold 70 percent of that box, you lost 30 per- cent as shrink. El Sol Brands (Cont'd. from p. 1) We are packing for the retailer, which is a different approach. This means that we deal directly with grow- ers that have worked with us for up to 20 years. They know that we expect the highest quality. Our certified packing houses work exclusively for us. They also know what we expect, which is that when the product reaches our cus- tomers, it's going to meet the very high standards we have set. What that means for the retailer is that he can sell 98 or 99 percent of that box, which means that he generates returns on 98 percent of it. This is a key element in our customers' deci- sions to buy from us. We take a lot of pride in what we do, and our customers bank on it. PSD: I've heard that you also have a merchandising service. Tell us about that. LP: That's a service, unique to us, in which we will actually go to the stores and set up the initial display of Latin produce. Our merchandisers will visit those stores every four to six weeks to refresh the assortment on an ongoing basis. This helps out grocers who may not have much experience with Latin produce, and it also ensures that the produce will consistently meet cus- tomer expectations. See El Sol Brands in booth #159 at Fresh Summit. After the show, visit www.elsol tropicals.com for more information.