Local food bloggers, trade media and members of Les Dames D'Escoffier (an international philanthropic society of professional women leaders in the fields of food, fine beverage and hospitality) gathered on Saturday, October 24, to learn about the latest trends in specialty produce. Robert Schueller, director of public relations at the Los Angeles, CA-headquartered Melissa’s/World Variety Produce, one of the largest distributors of specialty produce in the U.S., gave his annual talk at the 2015 Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit.
“We currently offer more than 1,300 specialty produce products, and we introduce 12 to 30 new items annually,” said Schueller, a walking produce encyclopedia and two-decade veteran of the specialty produce industry. “These introductions are either varieties of produce newly admissible to the U.S. or obtainable in a time frame not previously available as well as new value-added products.”
Schueller first named the Top 10 specialties in produce departments across the U.S.:
1. Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes
2. Baby Red Potatoes
3. Ginger Root
4. Sweet Mini Peppers
5. Steamed Lentils
6. Steamed Baby Beets
7. Chayote Squash (also called Christophine)
8. Tatuma Squash
9. Mint
10. Sweet Young Coconut
Secondly, Schueller ran the company’s proprietary sales data for the 52 weeks ending October 20, 2015 to create a Top 10 list of products with the largest sales gains — often double and triple digits. Melissa’s sells to many retailers including the Top 20 largest supermarket chains in the nation. These products are:
1. Sweet Young Coconuts
2. Mini Cucumbers
3. Turmeric
4. Passion Fruit
5. Brussels Sprouts
6. Tree-Ripened Mangoes
7. Dragon Fruit
8. Hatch Chilies
9. Peeled & Steamed Chestnuts
10. Okra
Schueller added a tasty new twist to his presentation this year. He hosted the event at downtown Atlanta’s Asante restaurant, where celebrity chef Marvin Woods, the restaurant’s owner, an Emmy Award-nominated television host and author of cookbooks Home Plate Cooking and The New Low Country Cooking, whipped up breakfast using some of Melissa’s specialty products as ingredients. For example, the egg frittata incorporated the company’s ready-to-eat vacuum sealed steamed lentils, fava beans and artichoke hearts, four varieties of fruit and nut Clean Snax were sprinkled on top of the baked breads and the breakfast rolls were stuffed with persimmons.
Source: PerishableNews.com
