Los Alamitos, California – Frieda's Specialty Produce COO and Vice-President Jackie Caplan Wiggins spoke to more than 100 produce growers at the California Citrus Conference in Porterville, California.
The two-day conference put together by the Citrus Research Board was held October 11-12 and included members of produce, retail and the citrus industry. Wiggins, a panel member spoke alongside colleagues from Sunkist and Aldi. She shared her Top 10 Tips on “Partnering with the Right Distributor: Sell More of Your Product to the Consumer."
While her tips included understanding your distributor, marketing, packaging, pricing and quality of product, Wiggins’ speech emphasized food safety and the Global Food Safety Initiative.
“I was surprised that not a single grower in the room knew about GFSI certification, but I’m glad we could talk about such an important industry initiative,” Wiggins said. “It’s not a matter of ‘if’ but more of a ‘when’ for GFSI becoming a benchmark standard for everyone.”
Frieda’s received a score of 99.72 percent on their most recent GFSI annual audit; GFSI audits are quickly becoming the norm for produce handling facilities.
“Jackie did a magnificent job speaking to the growers at the conference. Her years of experience in specialty crops marketing brought a clear message to the audience of the necessity of good decisions. The message carried through all phases of crop preparation, food safety issues management and premium quality presentation to the consumers. We hope to keep the Caplan Family engaged with us for many years to come,” said Ted Batkin, President of the Citrus Research Board.
About Frieda’s Inc.
Frieda’s Inc. celebrates 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 and many more. Learn more at www.friedas.com
Citrus Research Board (CRB)
The Citrus Research Program is the grower-funded and grower-directed program established in 1968 under the California Marketing Act as the mechanism enabling the state's citrus producers to sponsor and support needed research. The program is administered by the Citrus Research Board, which is better known in the industry as simply "CRB."
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Source: Frieda’s Inc.