ORLANDO, Fla. – As consumer demand remains strong for convenient, healthy, and high-end restaurant-quality meals at home, Fresh Express®, the brand leader in value added salads, today announced three new offerings in its line of best-selling chopped salad kits: Twisted Caesar Lemon Caesar, Twisted Caesar Pesto Caesar and Mexican Style, and its newest crunchy blend, Butter Supreme.
Trends like convenience, plant-based nutrition, and restaurant-inspired international flavors are driving food innovations, and chopped salads kits are well positioned to drive growth for the value-added salad (VAS) category. Chopped kits represent 18% dollar share of the total VAS category1.
“At Fresh Express, innovation is at the heart of everything we do – from seed selection to packaging technology to culinary development,” said Fabian Pereira, Vice President of Marketing and Innovation at Fresh Express. “Whether consumers are looking for a quick and flavorful meal with our chopped kits or curating their favorite salad creation with one of our salad blends, we have more than 100 fresh and affordable salad varieties for every meal occasion.”
A recent study conducted by OnePoll2 on behalf of Fresh Express found that of the respondents who believe there’s such a thing as the “ultimate salad”, 78% think the ultimate salad should be chopped and 51% think it should be loaded with toppings. The new Fresh Express chopped salad kits deliver on these consumer preferences and incorporate trending flavors and premium ingredients.
Lemon Caesar and Pesto Caesar are the latest additions to the Fresh Express Twisted Caesar Chopped Salad Kits line, which combine the popular Caesar salad with an unexpected yet delicious flavor twist.
- Twisted Caesar Lemon Caesar: crisp iceberg and green leaf lettuce, topped with crunchy Parmesan cheese crisps, dried cherries, and a well-balanced lemon white wine Caesar dressing.
- Twisted Caesar Pesto Caesar: a fresh blend of crisp iceberg and green leaf lettuce, tossed with crunchy garlic brioche croutons, parmesan cheese, and a creamy pesto Caesar dressing.
According to a consumer survey, more than 80% of consumers love Mexican food 3 and the cuisine appears on 23% of U.S. restaurant menus4. These insights, along with others, inspired the new Fresh Express Mexican Style Chopped Salad Kit.
- Mexican Style: crisp iceberg and green leaf lettuce, slivered carrots, and shredded red cabbage garnished with roasted pumpkin seeds, cheddar cheese tortilla strips, crumbled cotija cheese, and a cheesy sweet tomatillo dressing.
For consumers who prefer to create a salad using their favorite lettuce, toppings, and dressing (40% of survey respondents2), Fresh Express Butter Supreme delivers crunch in every bite.
- Butter Supreme: a tasty and colorful blend of green butter lettuce, red butter lettuce, radicchio and baby chard is an excellent source of vitamin K and a good source of vitamin A.
As part of its ongoing commitment to delivering innovative products that are consistently, deliciously, fresh, Fresh Express also released the final video in its Food Safety & Quality series: Innovation Never Rests. The video explores the ground-breaking Fresh Express technologies that led to the creation of the packaged salad category, including the Keep Crisp® breathable bag, and spotlights the brand’s culinary innovation center.
The new Fresh Express Chopped Kits and Crunchy Blend have a suggested retail price of $3.99 and are available now in the refrigerated produce department at retailers nationwide, including Albertsons, Aldi, Food Lion, Giant Eagle, and Walmart. For more information about Fresh Express, including products and recipes, visit www.freshexpress.com. About Fresh Express®
Fresh Express® is the brand leader in Value Added Salads and is dedicated to providing consumers with healthy, convenient ready-to-eat salads, leafy greens, vegetables and fruits. With the invention of its special Keep Crisp® bag in the 1980s, Fresh Express pioneered the retail packaged salad category and was the first to make them available to grocery stores nationwide. Today, Fresh Express fresh salads come in more than 100 different varieties offering exciting new flavors and convenient new ways to meet the daily dietary requirements for both conventional and organic fresh produce. More than 14 million consumers each week enjoy healthy, convenient ready-to-eat Fresh Express salads, spinach and vegetables. For more information, visit www.FreshExpress.com.
- IRI, last 52 weeks, week ending September 4, 2022
- Survey of 2,000 U.S. adults commissioned by Fresh Express and conducted by OnePoll, April 2022
- YouGov
- Datassential SNAP™ 2022
