Crunch Pak Celebrates 10 Years In Business

CASHMERE, Wash. – July 15, 2010 – It seems strange to think of a grocery store without sliced apples; but just 10 years ago, the convenience of fresh sliced apples did not exist because the technology to deliver a delicious, crisp product did not exist.

Crunch Pak®, the founding and leading supplier of fresh sliced apples, is celebrating 10 years of business this month.

Founded in 2000, Crunch Pak® started as an idea with a group of apple growers in Washington state who believed that people would eat more apples if they were easier to eat. While many thought the idea was good at its core, few believed in the possibility of creating technology to maintain freshness after slicing.

“The idea had spectacular potential, but most people had given up on it, because of the lack of technology to keep the apples from browning,” said Steve Lutz, who was president and CEO of the Washington Apple Commission during Crunch Pak®’s inception. “In addition to figuring out the technology, they then needed to create a market by teaching consumers there was another way to buy apples.”

Crunch Pak® founders Tony Freytag, now the company’s national marketing director, along with the late Craig Carson and John Graden, manager and general manager of Dovex, an apple grower/shipper, worked with NatureSeal/Mantrose to develop the technology to treat the apples and maintain freshness after slicing. The team found the ideal formula to keep an apple crisp and fresh after it was sliced: a combination of vitamin C and calcium to prevent spoilage, the right width to maintain freshness after slicing, and breathable packaging to ensure the apples maintain optimum quality during transportation to market.

“Very few companies can claim that they helped launch a completely new concept to the marketplace that has become an international success,” Freytag said.

But success did not come overnight. The company’s first major supermarket customer was Publix in Lakeland, Fla. In 2002, Publix buyers took a chance and started carrying Crunch Pak® products; other supermarkets soon noticed. Then, in 2005, Crunch Pak® gained further exposure when Costco started carrying its organic sliced apples.

Crunch Pak® received national attention in 2006 when The New York Times sent a reporter to visit the plant and meet with grower/founder Craig Carson, who said, “An apple is like us; it’s alive. If we don’t handle it correctly, we can kill it.”

Carson’s commitment to quality drove the success of the company. Freytag said, “Ultimately, we believe it is the quality of Crunch Pak® apples that won people over and built the product into an entire category.”

Today Crunch Pak®’s sliced apples are available in supermarkets nationwide and organic sliced apples represent 30 percent of the business.

Crunch Pak® apples are also available in thousands of convenience stores nationwide, serving as an oasis in many of the nation’s food deserts.

“We are thrilled to provide a healthier option in local convenience stores. It can be hard to eat healthy when you’re not at home, but we’re trying to make that easier by providing a good choice,” Freytag said.

In the last four years, Crunch Pak® has tripled in size. While many companies struggled during the recession, Crunch Pak® stepped up its marketing efforts and boosted business. The trend continued in the first quarter of 2010, as sales increased significantly compared to the same time period in 2009. Crunch Pak® recently expanded distribution into Canada, and a new production plant in Pennsylvania opened in April with further expansion coming online in October 2010.

Today Crunch Pak® is the largest sliced apple producer in the United States. One apple, sliced into 12 pieces, has a 21-day shelf life. Crunch Pak makes about 2 million apple slices a day and more than 1 billion apple slices a year; if laid to end to end, the slices would reach around the world, twice.

“It is the passion and drive of the Crunch Pak® team that have made us the success we are,” Freytag said. “When we say 10 years, 5 billion slices, one slice at a time…we really mean it.

Every slice is looked at by people, not machines. They are the ones that make it happen.” Crunch Pak® sliced apples transformed the idea of snacking, making it possible to have healthy, cleaned and ready-to-eat produce available on the go.

“The most rewarding aspect of our success is seeing kids eating Crunch Pak® apples at lunch or after a game,” Freytag said. “We’ve helped revolutionize snacking by making nutritious options easy and accessible. It will have an impact on our kids’ health and eating habits for years to come.”

Source: Crunch Pak