PITTSBURGH — Fifth Season – a food system pioneer and the first player in the vertical farming space to launch ready-to-eat salad kits with distribution in 12+ states in over 1,200 locations – is upping the ante again with a bold new package design, as well as a brand new flavor variety.
Fifth Season operates a 60,000 square foot fully-automated vertical farm in Braddock, Pa. that, because of its advanced technology, has twice the growing capacity of traditional vertical farms. Using robotics and AI, crops are grown under the perfect conditions, taking light, water, and even “wind” into consideration, so they end up deliciously crisp and flavorful every time, all year round. These greens are then paired with top-notch plant-based, protein-rich, and whole grain inclusions to create a diverse variety of salad flavors – including the newly-launched Taco Crunch, which features Sabra’s popular creamy guacamole alongside Fifth Season’s crunchy baby romaine.
“Most pre-packaged salads contain sad, wilted, not-so-fresh lettuce that, for the most part, is there to be filler,” says Austin Webb, CEO & Co-founder of Fifth Season. “But because our greens are raised so carefully to be remarkably crisp and delicious, they are actually the star of our salads. Our package design and branding now showcase that.”
That advantage takes shape in Fifth Season’s completely reconstructed packaging that was built with functionality in mind. The salad mix-ins now sit atop the lettuce in a bento-style tray, separating those ingredients from the greens. This gives the robust lettuce the room it needs to remain intact without being tamped down by toppings, keeping it fresh and hearty days longer in your refrigerator than conventionally grown greens.
But this packaging redesign does more than just store the ingredients in the smartest way. It also was built to create the best grab-and-go salad eating experience possible for the consumer. The extra room in the bowl allows for “maximum shakability”: Once the toppings and dressing are added, the salad is properly tossed with a couple of quick shakes, and all components end up well-combined and coated with dressing, lending itself to forkful after forkful of flavor-layered bite.
Speaking of forks, Fifth Season salad kits now include them! With a recyclable fork now tucked into the package, the grab-and-go salad kits can more easily be eaten on the run, working well into the busy lifestyles of their consumers.
Fifth Season also upgraded the plastic and cardboard sleeves it uses for its salads to be more eco-friendly. The salads now come in 100% recyclable Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) plastic, which has a lower carbon footprint than glass or aluminum and can be recycled again and again, making it the most recycled type of plastic worldwide. Its paperboard sleeves are also 100% recyclable and are provided by a Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI)-certified supplier.
Centering the uniquely bright, fresh greens in its packaging aesthetic was also a priority when the team sat down to strategize on its revamped branding.
“Our greens are vibrant and alive, and incredibly visually appealing,” says Ben Hall, Fifth Season’s creative director who spearheaded the visual update. “We wanted to highlight that on the exterior of the package and on our website so that consumers could quickly understand they’re getting a high-quality product unparalleled in this category.”
The result is a new look that for the first time features eye-catching photography of the plated salad on the package and website, making for a wholly more appetizing look to the product.
Taco Crunch will make its debut in this new leveled-up packaging. It is the third flavor released by Fifth Season featuring iconic plant-based CPG company Sabra, and will be available at Giant Eagle, Wakefern, Albertsons, and FreshDirect.
“Taco Crunch showcases the familiar yet unique flavors we are creating in collaboration with Sabra,” says Varun Khanna, VP of Food Products. “They pop on the palate with unexpected elements, but are crowd pleasers at the same time – we think that’s the perfect balance.”
Fifth Season’s packaging and flavor updates come as the company expands rapidly in the retail space. Fifth Season salads are now available in 1,200+ supermarket locations, including at Kroger, Albertsons, Giant Eagle, Lidl, and many more.
Fifth Season also recently announced plans to build a second fully-automated farm in Columbus, Ohio. This location is still in development and further details on this expansion will be released in the near future.
About FIFTH SEASON:
Fifth Season is a food system pioneer creating a new category of local, fresh food grown in fully-automated vertical farms. Fifth Season farms are run by proprietary software built in house, and this software and robotics system is what enabled the team at Fifth Season to deliver an unprecedented, entirely replicable farm that produces consistently fresh leafy greens and prepared salads. Fifth Season’s flagship farm in Braddock, Pa., an historic steel town on the edge of Pittsburgh, features a 25,000-sq.-ft. grow room with twice the growing capacity of traditional vertical farms, growing up to 1 million pounds of produce per year. The company aims to decentralize the fresh food supply chain, grow fresh produce more efficiently in smaller spaces, and meet cravings for just-harvested, regionally-grown ingredients and inspired meals. For more information on Fifth Season, its technology, and produce, visit fifthseasonfresh.com.
