Page 80 - 0419

dried fruits & nuts dehydrated and freeze-dried fruits Preservation Makes Comeback
Increased shelf space helps capture young, health-driven consumers: ‘It’s no longer Grandma eating prunes.’
This slows the growth of bacteria, yeasts and molds, as well as the enzymatic reactions within the food. In the end, dehydration offers a much longer shelf life, while main- taing much of the produce’s nutritional value.
HEALTH ON THE GO
Since consumers are “more health-focused, dried fruits have become a regular on-the-go snack for younger professionals and families,” notes Patrick Batcheller, director of sales for Great Lakes International Trading/Good & Ugly Snacks, based in Traverse City, MI. “It’s no longer just Grandma eating prunes. Sundriedfruitslikeapricots,datesandtoma- toes also have tremendous traction in foodser- vice. On-the-go snacking is very popular, as is snacking in general, especially for Millennials.”
The produce departments of some large retailers had given up on dried fruit over the years, Batcheller points out, with pressure to merchandise it in their Natural/Grocery departments. “However, as dried fruit has improved with fewer preservatives, innovative items and better packaging, produce depart- ments are happy to have the items back and regain the foothold. This has been a net posi-
tive overall, because Natural and Grocery still keep a good portion of their sales.”
As a 36-year-old dried fruit company, “we’ve had to continue to innovate,” says Batcheller. “Gone are the days of simply mixing in a few different raisin varieties. We, as producers, have to help our retailers create new subcategories. We created Good & Ugly Fruit and Nut Bites, which are all-natural. Bites are quickly becoming the new ‘bar’ in snacking. Consumers are also adding dried fruit to their yogurts and smoothies.”
The shift back to healthy snacks not only is on the minds of customers but also companies thataretryingtodeliveratargetedmessage.
“At Crunchies, we know our consumers are focused on better-for-you snack options, not only for themselves, but for their entire family,” says Brian Dudek, vice president of sales and marketing for Calabasas, CA-based Chaucer Foods, a leader in the freeze-dried industry. “When we conducted a consumer study back in late 2016, it helped us understand what they wanted. What we found is that our products were already delivering, yet our message was not. So as we re-branded the line, we made sure to tailor our message around the simplicity of
Good & Ugly Fruit and Nut bites, a Produce Business Innovation Award winner in 2018, from Great Lakes International Trading Company.
BA
Y HOWARD RIELL
s dehydrated and freeze- dried produce gains momen- tum with customers, retailers are embracing a host of best practices for merchandising
and promoting them. More and more, these healthy snack items are showing up in the produce department: from freeze-dried blueberries, mangos and bananas to dehy- drated snap peas, green beans and more.
Typically sold in convenient pouches, the sweet/salty morsels are gaining traction in produce sections nationwide. These items are marketed in a variety of ways — as part of lunch, a snack, on cereal, and other items.
Freeze-dried food is flash-frozen and placed inside a vacuum pouch or container. Unlike the long dehydrating process, water in freeze-dried food vanishes quickly. The fast removal of moisture prevents the food from shriveling or looking “deformed,” as it can often do during the dehydration process. Typically, freeze-dried food rehydrates more quickly than dehydrated food.
Dehydrating fruits and vegetables is one of the oldest forms of food preservation tech- niques. The process removes water where the microorganisms that break down food live.
80 / APRIL 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS