🌱 Crispy Green hits 20-year milestone

🌱 Good afternoon, and welcome to today's fresh newsletter! 

In today's email:

• Fresh Field Catalyst Names 2025 Ag-Tech Cohort

• Meeder Fresh and BE Fresh Produce Forge Strategic Partnership

• Trivia: What is the Most Consumed Fruit in the United States by Weight?

• Fresh Picks: Our Handpicked Produce Content from the Web

• Celebrating Women in Fresh Produce Farming

• Crispy Green: Two Decades of Transforming Fruit into Snacks

• Tip of the Day: Implement "Produce Personality Matchmaking"

AGRICULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY

Fresh Field Catalyst Names 2025 Ag-Tech Cohort

The 2025 Fresh Field Catalyst Accelerator has selected nine U.S.-based ag-tech firms specializing in sustainable packaging, traceability, and food-waste reduction.

Backed by the USDA’s $10 million Sustainable Packaging Innovation Lab, the six-month program connects these late-stage startups with produce industry leaders to refine and scale technologies.

Participants include Akorn Technology, SAVRpak, Corumat, and others, offering innovations such as compostable seaweed films and shelf-life-extending inserts.

Guided by Clemson University experts and industry mentors, the cohort will present market-ready solutions at the Global Produce & Floral Show in October.

The initiative focuses on replacing single-use plastics, boosting export readiness, and meeting sustainability goals through hands-on fieldwork and regulatory alignment, not early-stage incubation or direct investment.

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AGRO-FOOD INDUSTRY

Meeder Fresh and BE Fresh Produce Forge Strategic Partnership

Meeder Fresh and BE Fresh Produce have formed a strategic alliance to tackle ongoing supply chain challenges in the fresh produce industry.

The partnership aims to enhance service offerings for growers and buyers by combining resources, expertise, and a shared commitment to personal, transparent client relationships.

While operations will integrate further over time, both companies will maintain existing supplier relationships.

This move seeks to strengthen their market position, improve resilience, and support long-term growth.

Directors Hans and Ard Bergwerff of BE Fresh describe the partnership as a natural step, emphasizing its potential to inspire and better serve clients amid fluctuating market dynamics.

The collaboration reflects a broader trend toward consolidation to ensure supply continuity and service excellence.

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TRIVIA

The average American eats approximately 28 pounds of ________ each year, making it the most consumed fruit in the U.S.

________ don't grow on trees. Instead, it grows on a plant that's officially classified as an herb.

This plant is the world's largest herb, reaching heights up to 25 feet, and its "trunk" is made of tightly wrapped leaf bases rather than woody material.

🥬 Lettuce Markets Remain Depressed with Heavy Supplies and Weak Demand | Markon reports that while green leaf and iceberg lettuce remain in good supply with stable quality and low prices, romaine is facing rising prices and quality issues due to recent humid, windy weather and shifting conditions in California’s Salinas Valley (BlueBookServices.com | May 9, 2025)

🌱 We’ve Designed a System that Works Across Multiple Farm Formats | AGEYE Technologies has launched a modular, fully automated vertical farming system that streamlines every stage from seeding to logistics, aiming to boost efficiency and scalability with proven industrial tech tailored to growers' real-world needs. (FreshPlaza.com | May 8, 2025)

🥒 Sollum Study Offers Cucumber Lighting Insight | Sollum Technologies, in collaboration with Delphy, demonstrated that dynamic LED lighting strategies such as far-red modulation and morning blue light improve physiological balance, energy efficiency, and cucumber yield depending on the cultivated variety. (Fruitnet.com | May 8, 2025)

🍇 Challenges and Solutions for Efficient Vineyard Canopy Management | BDi Machinery offers vineyard mechanization solutions including low-volume sprayers, precision trimmers, and pneumatic deleafers to reduce labor costs, improve canopy management efficiency, and enhance fruit quality in vineyards. (GrowingProduce.com | May 6, 2025)

🏛️ More Than 15,000 USDA Employees Have Taken Trump Financial Incentive to Leave | Over 15,000 USDA employees about 15% of its workforce have accepted financial incentives from the Trump administration to resign as part of a broader federal workforce reduction plan, impacting key departments while exempting critical roles. (ThePacker.com | May 5, 2025)

FEMALE LEADERSHIP

Celebrating Women in Fresh Produce Farming

Creekside Organics, a women-led organic farming company, is gaining recognition after receiving certification from the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

Co-CEOs Brenda Haught and Bianca Kaprielian blend family-farm traditions with sustainable innovation, positioning Creekside as a leader in both female empowerment and organic agriculture.

Following a 50/50 merger with Fruit World, the company remains committed to supporting both multi-generational and first-generation women growers.

Despite women comprising 36% of U.S. agriculture producers, few lead entire operations making Creekside’s leadership notable.

The farm grows a variety of organic produce and collaborates with like-minded partners.

Creekside also advocates for the next generation of farmers, using its platform to promote inclusivity, sustainability, and the enduring value of family farming.

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INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

Crispy Green: Two Decades of Transforming Fruit into Snacks

Crispy Green began in 2004 when food industry entrepreneur Angela Liu set out to transform how people snack by offering a natural, convenient way to enjoy fruit anytime, anywhere.

Since then, the New Jersey company has grown the Crispy Fruit line into the best-selling freeze-dried fruit brand in the United States, distributing it nationwide through mass markets, club markets, natural foods, and, most recently, Whole Foods Market.

In an interview with Produce Leaders, Reneé Hewitt, Media & Communications Manager at Crispy Green, shared that the company positions itself at the confluence of clean-label innovation, community advocacy, and environmental stewardship.

“For us, it's more than just a tagline it's a philosophy that drives everything we do. We believe good food should not only taste good but also be good for you.

We are proud that our products positively impact people's lives by enhancing their fruit intake while enjoying their snacking."

"We promote healthy living through healthy eating by partnering with organizations like the Healthy Family Project, ECP Champs, and Future Shoppers of America. We also collaborate with Wakefern/Inserra dietitians on events like YMCA Healthy Kids Day to promote nutrition and wellness. We've joined HyVee's KidsFIT 8-State Midwest Squat Challenge Program, inspiring kids to get moving and make healthy choices,” shared Hewitt.

The flagship product, Crispy Fruit, remains the single-ingredient snack introduced two decades ago:

“Made from 100% pure fruit with no added sugar, preservatives, or artificial ingredients, our Crispy Fruit delivers the fresh flavor and nutrition of fruit in a light, crunchy texture perfect for busy, on-the-go lifestyles.”

Apples, mangoes, strawberries, bananas, pears, pineapples, and tangerines are harvested at peak ripeness, quick-frozen, and placed in a proprietary freeze-drying chamber that removes 98 percent of moisture without degrading natural color or vitamin content, a method that gives each pouch a three-year ambient shelf life and substantially reduces food waste throughout the supply chain.

The new Trial Pack bundles four of the company’s best-selling flavors: Apple, Mango, Pineapple, and Strawberry, under one recyclable sleeve to encourage sampling while staying within those tightened packaging metrics.

While sales data remain private, company executives note that online demand for snack-size multi-packs rose double digits year-over-year through 2024, boosted by the 4-PACK format that Angela Liu’s team introduced to meet lunchbox and portion-control trends.

Crispy Green amplifies through downloadable calendars and social-media challenges that encourage acts of generosity accompanied by the sharing of its fruit pouches.

Product development remains focused on what Liu calls “real fruit, re-imagined,” and the research team is experimenting with additional air-dried formats that meet internal sodium and sugar thresholds while providing tropical flavor profiles absent from U.S. orchards.

“Crispy Fruit stands out with its trio of uniquely satisfying qualities: premium quality with a variety of fun flavors, clean ingredients you can feel good about (think no added sugar, plant-based and nutritional), and the ultimate convenience of a better-for-you snack all wrapped in a 4-PACK. It’s real fruit, reimagined for modern snacking.”

The Company's long-term objective is to double U.S. household penetration for freeze-dried fruit by 2030 an objective she sees as achievable if retailers continue to index shelf sets toward plant-based, minimally processed snacks and if consumers keep equating kindness with the sharing of better-for-you options.

As the snack aisle evolves, Crispy Green’s leadership believes its early commitment to “simple, delicious, and nutritious” will remain the cornerstone that sustains category dominance and community relevance for the next twenty years.

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TIP OF THE DAY

Implement "Produce Personality Matchmaking"

Create a fun, quick quiz that helps customers discover which fruits and vegetables best match their lifestyle, cooking habits, and flavor preferences.

This could be a simple paper handout at your stand or a digital quiz accessible via QR code.

Questions might include:

• How much time do you typically spend preparing weeknight meals?

• Do you prefer bold flavors or subtle ones?

• Are you cooking for picky eaters or adventurous eaters?

Based on their answers, recommend specific varieties from your current harvest that would suit their needs.

For example, someone short on time might be directed to quick-cooking greens and pre-washed root vegetables, while someone who enjoys bold flavors might be guided toward your spicier peppers or more aromatic herbs.

This approach creates a personalized shopping experience, helps customers discover produce they might not have considered, and positions you as a helpful guide rather than just a vendor.

It's particularly effective for attracting new customers who might feel overwhelmed by unfamiliar varieties.