The ground-breaking discovery of what could be the ‘next kale’ earned The Nunes Company, headquartered in Salinas, CA, the 5th annual Joe Nucci Award for Product Innovation in Service of Expanding Consumption of Fresh Fruits & Vegetables, sponsored by Jim Prevor’s Perishable Pundit. The award, which was presented by Jim Prevor and Lorri Koster, chief executive of Salinas, CA-based Mann Packing during the 2014 New York Produce Show and Conference’s Keynote Breakfast on December 3, recognized the Nunes Company’s new Foxy-brand organic BroccoLeaf.
“Joe [Nucci] was a true innovator in our industry,” says Matthew Seeley, vice president of marketing for the Nunes Company. “To win this award on behalf of our BroccoLeaf product is humbling, gratifying and inspiring.”
BroccoLeaf is the Nunes Company trademark name for the large green leaves that surround a head of broccoli. Farmers have traditionally plowed these nutrient-dense leaves back into the field in order to enrich the soil. One of the Nunes Company’s growers shared his practice of using broccoli leaves for juicing. The four-generation family-owned international marketer of conventional and organic vegetables immediately picked up on the idea. First, they took the leaves into a test kitchen and saw just how much juice the leaves produced. Then, they sent samples to a lab for nutritional analysis. The result proved BroccoLeaf was indeed a nutritional all-star that is packed with vitamin C, calcium, folate and a number of cancer-preventative phytonutrients. Thus, the seed for brand new BroccoLeaf product took root.
“We believe juicing is the produce industry’s Holy Grail. It’s a perfect opportunity for all of us fruit and vegetable marketers to sell more fresh produce. This is especially true when you consider most people use 2 to 3 pounds of fresh produce to make a smoothie. It’s also a good way to increase vegetable consumption at breakfast, a meal where vegetables have traditionally been lacking,” Seeley says.
In 2015, the Nunes Company will follow up last year’s retail juicing initiative, which featured demos in 75 supermarkets, with continued retail demos that will spotlight how to juice BroccoLeaf and how to saute the leaves with olive oil and garlic to serve as a side dish.
BroccoLeaf is available year-round. It’s sold in a cluster of 10 leaves bunched together with a four-color graphic band containing brand label and UPC code. Suggested retail is $1.99 to $2.99 per bunch.
The Nunes Company’s BroccoLeaf is the fourth product to win the Joe Nucci Award. Other winners were Curry & Company’s Vidalia Sweet Carrot Program in 2011, Ocean Mist Farms ‘Season & Steam’ microwavable Brussels sprouts in 2012 and Kerry’s Kitchen Garden’s introduction of unique varieties of microherbs in 2013.
Source: PerishableNews.com
