48 Finalists Demonstrate Innovation In Fresh Produce
United Fresh has named 48 new products as finalists for the United Fresh Produce Association’s 2019 Innovation Awards. This year’s finalists will compete in seven categories for the title of Best New Product at United Fresh 2019, June 10-12 in Chicago, where attendees will be able to vote for those winners during the trade show.
“The fresh produce community is constantly adopting new strategies for growth at an innovative pace,” said United Fresh President & Chief Executive Officer Tom Stenzel. “From new varieties, packaging and merchandising solutions, to advancements in automation, growing technologies and more, these awards shine a spotlight on the products and solutions that are driving the industry forward.”
The 2019 United Fresh Innovation Awards finalists:
CLEARthru from RSM US LLP: CLEARthru leverages blockchain technology to let food producers and brands add a new layer of transparency with the end user, giving consumers a complete window into where their food comes from for the first time.
ColumbusFood ERP from Columbus: ColumbusFood solution adds industry-specific core ERP capabilities, and also integrates key features traditionally found only in third-party ecosystem solutions. Our goal is to deliver, and continuously enhance, robust functionality that meets common requirements and scales and upgrades easily—with minimal customization and affordable pricing.
Food Freshness Card for Packaging from Food Freshness Card: The Food Freshness Card has been laboratory tested to increase shelf life 40 percent of many fruits, vegetables and breads. The Food Freshness Card for Packaging is 1 ½ inch square sticker version that covers a 1-foot radius and ideal for extending shelf life of meals, salads and boxed produce.
GO Real-Time Flex Tracker from Emerson Cargo Solutions: The GO Real-Time Flex Tracker provides versatility to help customers simultaneously monitor ambient temperature, measure relative humidity and take pulp temperature readings of produce. This single solution helps achieve optimal freshness and improve shelf life of sensitive commodities such as berries, melons and other fresh cut produce.
Logmore dynamic QR from Logmore Ltd: Save over 90 percent of monitoring costs that logistics require. Logmore takes this monitoring to the parcel level. Just scan QR-code to upload the measurements logged during the transportation with any scanner such as smartphone. Combination of hardware with secure cloud makes this the most scalable solution for transport monitoring.
Best New Fruit Product
Arctic® Grannys – ApBitz™ Snacks from Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc.: Not all apples are suitable in size for Arctic Granny fresh slices. One of this company’s core initiatives is to reduce unnecessary food waste, and Arctic ApBitz® dried apples were the solution to potential waste of those apples and are just as delicious as slices.
Golden Crush Melon from Frontera Produce: With Golden Crush™, the exterior of the melon will begin to transform into a deep golden color only a few days before the melon is ripe; this is the harvest indicator. The melon is non-GMO, disease resistant, non ethylene producer. It will not continue to ripen once picked.
Honeydude Melon from Sol Group Marketing: Honeydude SOL’s exclusive variety More flavor, less netting, and no brown spotting. So sweet, so smooth and sooo cool… it’s a honeydew that will have your shoppers saying “it’s gotta be a honeydude”!
Natierra® Organic Freeze-Dried Pomegranate Arils from BrandStorm Inc.: Freze-dried organic pomegranate arils that deliver crunchy pomegranate arils that have kept all their essential nutrients.
NatureSweet Comets from NatureSweet LTD: NatureSweet Comets is a Yellow Grape Snacking Tomato. Comets has the highest BRIX in NatureSweet’s line of tomatoes and provides an indulgent snacking experience. It has a vivid golden color that adds brightness to a snack or salad.
Peeled, Diced or Sliced Pears from Crunch Pak: From America’s favorite sliced apple producer comes the latest in fresh-cut innovation: peeled, sliced or dice pears. With just-pick flavor these tender pears elevate any dish, try on salads, desserts, or even on their own – the combinations are endless!
WOW™ BERRIES from Mastronardi Produce Ltd.: Sweet, incredibly juicy, and bursting with flavor, SUNSET® premium berries will change expectations for how berries should taste. A healthy snack and a great addition to any dessert, breakfast item, or salad..
Best New Packaging
100% Backyard Compostable Packaging from Mastronardi Produce Ltd.: SUNSET® is proud to offer a line of 100 percent backyard compostable packaging, which breaks down naturally in backyard compost. This increases the likelihood the top seal and tray are properly composted and empowers consumers to make a difference—literally in their own backyards!
Brighthouse Organics Tomato Medley 8-ounce from NatureSweet LTD: Introducing New Brighthouse Organics Tomato Medley! This little greenhouse holds a trio of the best tasting organic snacking tomatoes and is made from transparent recycled (and recyclable) packaging. Merging the best of traditional farming with the latest greenhouse technology yields simply better produce. Brighthouse Organics – sustainably sown, greenhouse grown!
Film-sealed Fruit Cups from Del Monte Fresh Produce, N.A., Inc.: Del Monte Fresh Produce continuously works to develop innovative packaging with consumer trends in mind. Today’s consumers seek more sustainable, recyclable packaging that is convenient and easy to use. This new film seal packaging enhances product quality and delivers an improved consumer experience.
Fox Stand-Up Combo® Bag from Fox Packaging: The retailer and end-user substantially benefit from the Stand-Up Combo bag ― with impulse purchasing on the rise, the aesthetic of this bag captures consumers’ eyes, extends shelf life and, in responsibility, is reusable and recyclable ― communicating convenience, a clean lifestyle, and healthy choices.
Giro Easy Open Bag from Giro Pack Inc.: The Perfect close! The new patented Easy Open system allows the user to open and re-close the bag with ease. The bag is also sturdy enough to stand tall, even after opening. Research shows breathability and ease of use.
LivingCube™ – Living Lettuce from Del Fresco Produce Ltd.: With multiple varieties available, the LivingCube can grow many different living lettuce and leafy green varieties in each growing chamber. Del Fresco is able to customize packaged living lettuce combinations to satisfy retail partners’ requests.
Mix & Match from Limoneira Company: The Limoneira Mix & Match Bag features three lemon varieties: Classic, Meyer and Pink in one enticing grab-and-go-bag. The packaging clearly highlights key flavor differences – Meyer are sweeter, while Classic are tart, and Pink are tangy. Consumers can scan the code on the bag for pairing information and recipes.
Peel and Reseal Compostable Packaging from Naturipe Farms, LLC: Naturipe® now offers convenient Peel and Reseal technology on its compostable Earthcycle® packaging. The new easy-access feature provides consumers with a packaging alternative that protects fresh berries, while reducing spills and potential waste. When paired with delicious berries and eco-friendly pack, this new addition enhances the overall consumer experience.
PlatBioWrap from The Platinum Packaging Group: High Barrier Paper / Film
Schur’s ZIP POP from Schur Star Systems Inc.: Utilizing a patented flavor release chamber to cure / spice the contents, the Schur®Star Zip-Pop packaging offers automatically packed dual chamber pouch, a unique combination of engineering, design, and materials. Microwaveable product is packed into the bottom compartment, and the flavor release chamber in the top holds the butter-puck / spice mix separate from the product below.
Simple Snack from Mucci Farms: This package is made of cardboard and 100 percent recyclable film.
Best New Packing/Processing Equipment
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Pouch Bagger from Fox Solutions: With pack-line efficiencies and food safety as priorities, the Pouch Bagger is custom built for fresh produce packinghouses. Unlike others, the Pouch Bagger improves automation and reduces changeover downtime; being servo-driven, the Pouch Bagger is specified for precise bag filling, packaging compatibility, and control of speed and soft-fill options.
Strawberry cap removal system / de-caylx / de-stemming machine from Atlas Pacific Engineering: The Atlas Pacific Strawberry Capper (patent pending) is designed to effectively and efficiently remove the caps (calyx) from strawberries at a rate of 5 berries per second per lane so 6,000 lbs/hour can be achieved with our 12 lane machine. The complete system will include washing through cap separation.
Vortex 150 from Turatti North America: Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Turatti Group, a new automated spin dryer had been released: the Vortex-150. The model is setting new standards in Product Quality and Hygienic Design and is bringing a number of Patented Designs together for Optimum Performance. A Compact Dryer with a Big Future!
Best New Vegetable Product
Apeel Asparagus from Apeel Sciences: Apeel extends the lifespan of asparagus by slowing the rate of water loss, bringing a new wave of benefits to growers, packers, distributors, and retailers in the category. With Apeel, asparagus that is normally shipped via air freight can now be shipped via sea freight – even without controlled atmosphere.
BrightFarms Happy Beet™ from BrightFarms: They are called beet greens, and they are delightfully sweet and juicy at baby size! Beet greens are one of the healthiest greens – packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. BrightFarms Happy Beet mixes beet greens with sweet baby spinach for a delicate balance of flavor and nutrition.
Cece’s Veggie Co. Organic Butternut Shells & Cheese from Cece’s Veggie Co.: Cece’s Butternut Shells & Cheese offers 100% organic, fresh-cut butternut squash paired with an organic cheese sauce packet for a heat-and-eat meal ready in minutes. Delivering a full serving of veggie nutrition in every bowl, this is a game-changer for busy families looking for healthy, organic, and delicious meal solutions.
Dole Bountiful Kits™ from Dole Food Company: Dole Bountiful Kits introduces a more satiating salad that delivers the fresh ingredient experience of grains and vegetables currently only available at a deli counter or restaurant. Features plant-based proteins in a Dole Bountiful Blend™ Fresh Pouch. Four flavors include: Sweet Thai, Lentil Cucumber, Fiesta Ranch and Triple Quinoa.
Garden Highway Chef Essentials Fresh Slaws from Renaissance Food Group: Garden Highway Chef Essentials Fresh Slaws provide a fresh convenient solution for consumers, while presenting the produce industry with an innovative new product line. Recognizing a consumer demand for healthy convenience, this lineup of Fresh Slaw products highlights the current Southwestern flavor trend.
LivingCube™ – Microgreens: Basil from Del Fresco Produce Ltd.: With 12 times the nutrients of mature leaves, LivingCube microgreens are a small way you can add health benefits to food! Varieties and customized packaging combinations are offered. Packaging comes in two sizes (50g, 100g), making them easy to buy, store and use. No need to chop, just sprinkle!
Nourish Bowls® Breakfast from Mann Packing: Mann Packing has added two new flavors to its award-winning Nourish Bowls product line, this time tackling the most important meal of the day. Nourish Bowls Breakfast Denver Scramble and Fiesta Scramble are chock-full of fresh vegetables and flavor, and high in protein with the addition of one or two eggs.
Plant Based Dips from Good Foods Group: Good Foods developed a cold pressure plant based dip product line for consumers striving to find better-for-you foods that are vegan, low calorie, low carb, no sugar added, gluten free, and Paleo friendly, all with clean simple natural ingredients and no preservatives.
Raw Wraps Kale Tacos from Green Leaf Foods: Kale tacos blend together kale, apples, onion, celery to create a dehydrated bread that is soft, pliable and flexible. Ready to eat. Shelf stable for one year, preservative free. Non GMO verified, grain free, paleo, vegan, raw, keto and only 25 calories with very low sodium. Retail and food service.
Ready Pac Foods Fresh Picked Protein Snacks from Bonduelle Fresh Americas: Power-packed snack with vanilla Greek yogurt, sweet red grapes, crisp apple slices, Monterey jack cheese, and crunchy trail mix made with banana chips, cashews, raisins, and almonds. They’re an excellent source of protein with ½ cup of fruit per serving to help tide you over until your next meal!
Southwestern Tortilla Vegetable Meal Bowl, Korean BBQ Vegetable Meal Bowl from Growers Express: Perfect for the time-starved consumer, Green Giant™ Fresh Vegetable Meal Bowls are satisfying as packaged or customizable. Each plant-based bowl is made with the company’s first-to-market Cauliflower Crumbles® or Vegetable Noodles, and paired with flavorful sauces. Two new flavors are coming soon – Korean BBQ and Southwestern Tortilla.
SUGAR BOMBS™ from Mastronardi Produce Ltd.: Following the fame of SUNSET Flavor Bombs®, these bright red grape tomatoes are taking their turn in the spotlight. Ripened and packed on the vine for optimal flavor and freshness, these beauties rock the flavor charts with their sweet taste, pleasant aroma, and crunchy texture.
Sweetpops Tomatoes from Red Sun Farms: A combination of refreshing sweetness and perfect snack size. This bite sized tomato will release an explosion of juicy flavor. The intense flavor is best enjoyed as a snack, but will deliver a sweet tomato pop to any recipe.
Taylor Farms Avocado Ranch Chopped Salad Kit from Taylor Farms, Inc.: This clean Taylor Farms Avocado Ranch Chopped Salad Kit is free from artificial preservatives, colors, and flavors. Delicious bright vegetables, including romaine, cabbage, carrots, cilantro, and green onion, come together in this mouthwatering salad. Complete this meal with creamy avocado ranch dressing, crispy corn, and taco seasoned cheese.
Best New Field Technology
Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) from Stemilt Growers, LLC: Stemilt’s new distribution center welcomes a piece of technology they call the “brains” of the operation: the automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS). ASRS is the one-stop-shop for order fulfillment to make the process flawless and speedy, resulting in an experience that is delightful from farm to table.
Produce Plan from Frontera Produce: This technology enhances your supply chain data visualization, actively updates production plans, and protects your crop investment through cultural practice performance monitoring. Soil moisture, heat units and estimated harvest dates per field and lot are just a few examples of how this technology can change traditional farming.
RipeTime from RipeTime: RipeTime has developed world-first patented technology that measures and reports in real-time of ethylene in post-harvest operations from 1PPB. This monitoring and alerting allows post-harvest operators to make decisions to assure the quality of their fruit and assist with prioritizing the load-out operations.
SC iOn™ Trak SC1204 from CalAmp: The SC iOn Trak SC1204 eliminates the manual processes of automatically logging location and environmental condition data using a wireless gateway (fixed or mobile) that can communicate with several Bluetooth tags for transport and storage applications. The solution is reusable, which helps to increase the technology investment ROI.
Best New Indoor Growing Technology
Hoogendoorn Analytics from Hoogendoorn America Inc.: An online platform for data storage and data analysis. Convert real-time data into valuable information that can give growers the possibility of producing more and better. This information is used to track the growth of the plants and look for the best combination to achieve high yield production.
LivingCube from Del Fresco Produce Ltd.: The LivingCube is a system of automated vertical growing machines that continuously produces living lettuce, living basil and microgreens all year long. It’s powered using an off-the-grid electrical cogeneration system, which is environmentally sustainable due to its minimal footprint, reduction in greenhouse gases, usage of recycled water and pesticide-free integration.
Virgo from Root AI: Root AI is building autonomous systems that care for specialty crops. The company’s first product, Virgo, uses the latest advancements in robotic hardware and artificial intelligence software to delicately harvest tomatoes with precision, efficiency, and dependability.
The 2019 United Fresh Innovation Awards finalists will be displayed on the trade show floor at United Fresh 2019 in Chicago, where attendees will have the opportunity to cast their votes for their favorite new and innovative products on Tuesday, June 11 and Wednesday, June 12. United Fresh will announce winners from the Main Stage on Wednesday, June 12 at 2:00 pm at Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center. Register to participate at www.unitedfreshshow.org.
Natural Heaven: An Alternative to Traditional Pasta
Natural Heaven is a company founded with a purpose: to make life easy and healthy for people with restricted diets. Natural 
Heaven products are made with just one ingredient, and can be used in all diets. The product is made of hearts of palm and its structure is 90 percent water and 10 percent fiber. It has only 4 grams of carbohydrates, and very low calorie content, fitting in all diets by replacing traditional pasta and improving health habits. It is natural, does not contain any kind of preservative, and has no sugar. Shelf life is up to one year.
The company’s facilities in Brazil and Ecuador use human and manual labor. Its harvest is sustainable; the plant does not die when pruning. Most of the process is handmade, preserving human work instead of complete automation.
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Made By True Finds Success With New Retail Front
By Greg Gonzales
Retailers know that the best way to prove a product is to let customers try it themselves. The people behind Made By True, the craft jerky brand, decided to try that themselves this year. They opened a storefront in their Bay Area office space this year, where the lobby was, so passersby can get a chance to try the product right there. Last year, Made By True launched its biltong snack, and its getting a lot of love.
The idea behind the storefront, explained Partner James Evans, is to let people try the jerky before buying in stores, and to spread the word about their products. Sales are great at the store so far, he said, and it also serves as an education tool. The opening attracted more than 150 people to the store, where they sampled the brand’s craft jerkies, its unique take on trail mix and its newest product, biltong.
“Biltong is ingrained in the culture in South Africa. You can’t really compare it to anything here in the States,” said Evans. “There’s always biltong served ― there’s a joke that babies teethe on biltong there. It’s that important.”
The air-dried meat snack is still relatively unknown in the U.S. It differs from jerky because it air dries in a big, long strip, a cut from the round of the cow. In South Africa, it’s sometimes sold in thicker slices, but Made By True’s New Jersey facility shaves it into smaller pieces, which is how most people eat it. The result is a tender meat that’s easy to chew and bite off.
It comes in three flavors: Cape Town Classic, Little Bit of Spice and A Savory Adventure.
As noted on the back of each package, Made By True biltong contains 16 grams of protein per ounce and a low sodium count at 200 milligrams per serving. That’s because it doesn’t require as much salt to preserve as jerky, and vinegar helps preserve it as well, though the vinegar doesn’t overpower other flavors. These health benefits attract the health-conscious, active crowd that seeks out high-protein snacks.
The Center for Generational Kinetics estimated that 89 percent of Millennials consumed one or more better-for-you snacks in the past week, and Nielsen’s Vice President of Consumer Insights Jorday Rost said meat snacks are a fast-growing category, in large part because Americans are trying to get more protein in their diets in what they perceive as a more natural vehicle than powders and bars. According to Fona International’s September report on meat snacks, 20 percent of women reported eating meat snacks, as brands in this category have begun successfully marketing to women.
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Made By True is one of those companies. Its six flavors of jerky appeal to a wide audience, said Evans, including women ― and older women. “My mom, for instance, this [Blackberry Merlot] is her favorite flavor,” said Evans. “She’s 70, she plays golf three days a week, and she brings our jerky to her women’s golf group and they all love it.”
In addition to Blackberry Merlot, flavors include The Old Fashioned: Honey Bourbon Brisket, The Sinsa: Korean BBQ, The OG: Original Peppered, The Sweet Heat: Thai Chili Mango and The Mountie: Maple Glazed Pepper. Older audiences are likely to enjoy the biltong and The Mountie, as the meat isn’t tough like a lot of jerky.
Along with its jerkies, Made By True offers a mix snack called Trail Remix. It’s a combination of jerky and trail mix, separated by a seal that keeps the meat fresh and peels apart when snackers want to mix them up. It comes in three flavors: All About That Baste turkey jerky mix, Don’t Go Bacon My Heart uncured bacon jerky mix and Carne Diem peppered beef jerky mix.
Made By True’s offerings haven’t always been so extensive, though its three partners decided together that they didn’t want to be just another jerky company, said Evans. The trio ― Evans, who was a mutual fund wholesaler, Jess Thomas, who was a third-generation cattle rancher and Kevin Hix, a former accountant ― quit their jobs in 2015 to start selling the jerky they’d been making together as friends.
They had friends in the Bay Area’s tech industry, and the company got its start selling to companies like Facebook, Twitter and Uber, where employees are provided free snacks – one of those snacks being Made By True jerkies.
Evans said the Trail Remix was the brand’s first step outside of jerky, but biltong was their pet project. “We had heard about biltong ― for like, two, three years, people were telling us about it, they had gone to South Africa,” he said. “But we didn’t know how to make it; nobody was making it here in the States, so what we did is, we took a trip, all three of us, to South Africa last summer. We spent about three weeks there, in Johannesburg, Kimberly ― which is kind of in the middle of the bush, but there were some cattle ranches there we went to ― and then finally Cape Town.”
Introduced by their South African investment partner, 1K1V, they met with 20 different biltong manufacturers, from small mom-and-pop operations to massive manufacturing facilities, in addition to spice blend companies and cattle ranches.
From those beginnings, Made By True has seen success in the U.S. market, now available in 2,500 stores, and as of late January, Sprouts markets. Through the retail shop, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and word of mouth, Evans said he expects the company to go even further this year.