CASTROVILLE, Calif. – Ocean Mist Farms, one of the largest grower/shippers of Brussels sprouts in the country, is expanding its value-added Brussels sprout product line that is ready to use, cook and serve and will unveil the line at PMA Fresh Summit in New Orleans in booth #1929.
The line extension, selected as a finalist for the 2013 PMA Impact Awards, features three fresh-cut formats designed to meet current culinary and consumer trends including: SuperShreds SuperFood™, Quick Cook Sprouts™ and Baby Sprouts.
All three formats are packaged in Ocean Mist Farms’ award-winning microwavable steam pack that gives users the option to pre-season the contents to their flavor preference, reseal with the zip lock and steam by microwave all within the same bag.
The three new microwaveable items are gusseted for a stand up, face forward shelf presentation and have a suggested retail price of $2.49-$3.49 depending on the region.
According to Nielsen Perishables Group FreshFacts scan data, total sales of Brussels sprouts grew for the third year in a row.
In the past 52 weeks ending June 29, 2013, Brussels sprouts category sales volume grew 24.5% over the same time the prior year. Fixed weight packages increased 31.9% during the same period.
The three fresh cut formats offer consumers a convenient way to add fresh produce to their diet and new cooking solutions, said Kori Tuggle, director of marketing and business development.
“The shredded and halved cut version of this old world vegetable creates a new avenue of texture and flavor for fresh salad making and other cooking methods,” Tuggle said. “Demand is still growing for Brussels sprouts; we made them fast and convenient for the home cook.”
In addition to the Brussels sprouts items, Ocean Mist Farms is debuting three other produce items at PMA: Cooking spinach in a 16-ounce bag; a three-count artichoke clamshell package and a Crisp Cello Leaf Wrap.
Chef Tony Baker of Montrio Bistro in Monterey, Calif., will be demonstrating all of the Ocean Mist Farms new items every 30 minutes throughout the show in booth #1929 at the top and bottom of the hour. His demonstrations will be streaming live on video shared through Ocean Mist Farms’ Facebook and Twitter channels.
The show will also mark the launch of its Quality Assurance Micro site that was created as a resource for the company’s in-house team and external customers.
“The site our team built gives us the ability to manage and communicate the detailed quality specifications that our reputation is built on and that we are known for,” Tuggle said. The site is password protected; filtered access will be provided to Ocean Mist Farms’ business partners with the goal of aggregating all the details they need in one, easy-to-access online portal.”
Beyond the quality assurance specifics that the Ocean Mist Farm’s harvest team is trained with, the site takes product information to the next level with common shipping details such as cube, pallets, case GTIN numbers; and product packaging details such as UPC codes, legal weights, graphics for print ads and more.
For more information about Ocean Mist Farms, visit Oceanmist.com.
About Ocean Mist Farms
Ocean Mist Farm’s growers are focused on meeting the needs of their customers and consumers. That means they are committed to the highest standards in the industry for quality, service, innovation, social responsibility and delivering year-round premium fresh vegetables. Ocean Mist Farms is four generations of family farmers who lead the artichoke category and also are leaders in a full line of fresh vegetables.
Source: Ocean Mist Farms