Frieda's Provides 'Edible Obstacle' At The Los Alamitos Sugar Beet Festival's Sugartown Challenge 5K Fun Run
June 17, 2014 | 3 min to read
LOS ALAMITOS, CA – Frieda’s Specialty Produce was a proud supporter of the 2nd annual Southland Credit Union Sugar Beet Festival in its hometown of Los Alamitos, California, on Saturday, June 7, 2014. In addition to the company’s usual booth space featuring its specialty fruits and vegetables, Frieda’s also sponsored an obstacle on the course of the Sugartown Challenge 5K-ish Fun Run.
“We took our ‘Eat One Fruit A Day That Scares You’ message to a different level and made our obstacle an edible one,” said Karen Caplan, president and CEO of Frieda’s. “You have to eat a piece of scary fruit before you continue on your race! And our scary fruit of choice for the challenge was Starfruit.”
Jackie Caplan Wiggins, vice president and COO of Frieda’s, managed the obstacle station, handing out slices of Starfruit and making sure the runners took at least one bite.
“There were about 300 participants in the challenge, and most came back to our booth after they completed the challenge to ask us about the fruit they just ate,” said Wiggins. “About half of the participants were children and teens, and they were very interested to check out our fruit and vegetable ‘petting zoo’ and see what other ‘weird’ things we had available.”
Frieda’s booth featured the “The Greatest Exotic Fruit & Vegetable Petting Zoo on Earth,” where parents and children could learn more about, and get their hands on, specialty items like Rambutan, Kiwano®, Tamarillo, Zululand Queen Baby Pineapples, Color Cauliflower, and Purple Snow Peas. Caplan and her mother, Frieda’s founder and produce legend Frieda Rapoport Caplan, were also on hand to meet and greet the community.
Frieda’s global headquarters has been based in Los Alamitos since 1994, but its ties to the community run deeper than just business. Frieda has lived in Los Alamitos since 1958, and both Karen and Jackie grew up in the area.
“We are always happy to support our hometown, which has always supported our family and our business,” added Karen Caplan.
The Southland Credit Union Sugar Beet Festival celebrates Los Alamitos’ founding and its historic ties to sugar beet farming and production, which began in the early 1900s.
About Frieda’s Inc.
Frieda’s Inc. celebrates more than 50 years of innovation in fresh produce. Founded in 1962 by Frieda Caplan, Frieda's was the first wholesale produce company in the U.S. to be founded, owned, and operated by a woman, and is still a family- and women-owned business today. With the mission of changing the way America eats fruits and vegetables, Frieda’s has introduced more than 200 specialty items to U.S. produce departments, including Kiwifruit, Spaghetti Squash, Habanero Peppers, Black Garlic, Sunchokes®, Stokes Purple® Sweet Potato, and many more. Frieda’s new programs for 2014 include Power of Purple, with a focus on the nutritional value of purple; Frieda’s Flavor Essentials, highlighting and promoting specialty ingredients for everyday cooking; and Eat One Fruit a Day That Scares You, which encourages everyone to #FearNoFruit. Find Frieda’s on Facebook, @FriedasProduce, and Friedas.com.
Source: Frieda’s Inc.