ANAHEIM, Calif. — This year's International Fresh Produce Association Global Produce and Floral Show featured an array of on-trend new products and innovations aimed at today's savvy and discerning fresh produce consumer. It also showcased campaigns, marketing and branding designed to meet consumers where they are.
Pure Flavor's Sensational Simplicity
Pure Flavor debuted its brand refresh that includes a sleek new booth and elevated packaging for its flavorful, on-trend produce. The new look is designed to make it easier for consumers to shop for fresh produce, says Julia Weber, director of marketing.
“Consumers are dealing with a lot today, including the need to get more fruits and vegetables into their diets,” Weber says. “With our new branding, we wanted to make shopping less chaotic and really wanted the produce to shine.”
A new color palette and a simplified look and language result in understated elegance with produce as the star. It also unifies the Pure Flavor portfolio with continuity across all of its greenhouse-grown produce from Woka “The Stir Fry Cucumber,” to its cherry-picked medley of tomatoes that includes Tiki, Azuca and OMG tomatoes, its Rocco Reds Chef's Tomatoes, its Uno Bites Cucumbers and more.
Idaho Potato Commission Says The Time Is Right for the 10-Pounder
At the Idaho Potato Commission, Ross Johnson, vice president of retail and international and a 2025 Packer 25, said the Idaho potato industry is eyeing changes in EBT/SNAP funding as well as rising food costs and the impact it may have on sales at retail.
“We hope it means consumers will be looking for more value,” Johnson says. What offers more satiation and value than 10 pounds of potatoes?
“The 10-pound bag has been beaten down in recent years, and we think it's going to make a comeback,” he says.
Idaho is ushering in a large crop this year, he says. And as larger potatoes sell cheaper than smaller potatoes, and jumbo potatoes offer retailers an opportunity to impress and delight shoppers during the holidays, there are ample opportunities for promotions through the end of the year.
California Avocado Commission Engages Audience
At the California Avocado Commission, Lori Small and Terry Splane discussed details of the commission's successful campaign that took consumers into the grove and highlighted sustainably and responsibly grown, ethically sourced, high-quality California avocados and the growers who cultivate them.
The multiplatform campaign included a YouTube commercial. While the average skip rate on commercials on YouTube is around 30%, Splane says in the campaign's first year, engagement was off the charts, with an estimated completion rate of 90%, even though the commercial is skippable.
CAC is already looking ahead to next April, when California is poised to promote marketable fruit volume, says Splane, who estimates a crop size of 325 million pounds, up from 319 million pounds this year.
Helping to boost California's avocado supplies, are growers who continually invest in the fruit, adding approximately 3 million trees in the past 10 years.
Sweetpotatoes Ready for Thanksgiving
Harvest is in full swing at Nash Produce, where Robin Narron, marketing director and sales support, says the company is ramping up for Thanksgiving. At IFPA, Nash was eyeing starting Thanksgiving deliveries in the next two weeks.
“The crop and the quality are looking great,” Narron says.
Recognizing the growing popularity of Murasaki sweetpotates, a Japanese variety with reddish-purple skin and a creamy white interior, Nash has increased acreage of the sweetpotato.
“They're really taking off,” Narron says.
Convenience and Flavor Converge
With the aim of making cooking with flavor more convenient, Spice World featured its new Organic Fresh Diced Garlic in a 5-ounce bag.
“It's gaining significant placement in the market for one primary reason: Garlic is the only ingredient in the bag,” says Chris Kiser, Spice World CEO.
The diced organic garlic also takes away unnecessary prep work, he says.
“Gen Z loves everything associated with flavor, but they don't want to do any heavy lifting,” Kiser says. They also don't like to throw away produce, he says, which is why the breathable bag that extends freshness without the need for preservatives, is also driving interest in the product.
Peeled ginger in a 7-ounce bag was another featured item in the Spice World booth. COVID-19 was a reminder of the need for good gut health, and it sparked a reintroduction to ginger for consumers, Kiser says. Add to this its prevalence in Asian and Middle Eastern food, the Make America Healthy Again movement, and ginger is having a rebirth, he says.
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Seen and Heard at IFPA Global Produce and Floral Show 2025: New Looks and New Offerings
