ORLANDO, Fla. — Gold pineapple, red and white malanga, green plantains and yuca will be among the items available in a new tropicals line from Springdale, Ark.-based Schmieding Produce.
Breadfruit, calabaza, avocados and sour oranges are more of the items that will be offered. Schmieding introduced the line at the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit Oct. 19-20.
“Experience tells us that the Hispanic market is going to continue to grow at an accelerated pace, and these items are the staple items of a Latin American diet, so we want to make sure that we’re providing retailers and our customers with solutions to be able to, as that continues to grow, be able to grow with it,” Scott McDulin, vice president of marketing and retail sales, said at the expo. “We listened to our retailers, listened to our customers, what they’re looking for, and were able to deliver on it.”
For the new line, Schmieding focused on items that many people use often, like plantains or breadfruit for tostones and calabaza for beans.
“When people move here, they have to give that stuff up a lot of times,” McDulin said. “Smart retailers, aggressive retailers are identifying that, they’re listening to the customers, and they’re bringing in an assortment that will bring (those shoppers) back and give them a point of difference versus the guy down the street.”