Sun Pacific, the company behind Cuties® Mandarins and Mighties™ Kiwifruit, has been busy expanding its organic offerings, launching organic options for Cuties and Mighties within the last six months. This adds to the company's already existing organic grapes under the Air Chief brand that have been in production since 2016.
The most recent addition has been organic Cuties®, launched in February of this year. Sun Pacific's Howard Nager said that due to the limited volume in this initial year, the organic mandarins are only going to be available for a couple of more weeks. However, the company already has plans to substantially increase volume from the next California season.
"Organic Cuties were introduced this past February," Nager shared. "They are packed in Gyro mesh bags and are available in both 2lb and 5lb offerings in the same regions as conventional Cuties are now. Next year we will be expanding our supply to offer them through the entire California Mandarin season. The acreage for the organic Cuties is being converted from conventional fruit."
Packaging provides key messages for organic Mighties Kiwifruit
The other recent organic option provided by Sun Pacific is the Mighties Kiwifruit. Mighties brand kiwifruit has been around for just over four years. Last October, the company launched an organic version coinciding with the start of the California kiwi season. Nager said the organic Mighties are available throughout the California season, from October to May in a 1lb clamshell. He also described how the packaging has been an important element this launch season.
"Mighties clamshells have revitalized the kiwi category and created increased awareness and consumption amongst a wide consumer audience," Nager said. "The Organic Mighties packaging has the design elements of its conventional counterpart, but with a purple background in place of a traditional green background. 'Fuzzy', the brand’s official mascot, is featured on the sleeve. Storytelling - how to eat kiwi, as well as its health benefits - continues to be a prominent feature of the design. We are also offering new in-store display shippers, which displays 'Fuzzy' and the brand’s key graphics and messaging. The display holds two cases each. For best results, we recommend displaying two Mighties shippers at a time, which draws attention to the product."
Organic grapes also increasing in volume
Sun Pacific's organic California grape brand, Air Chief, has been around a bit longer than its kiwi and mandarin counterparts, having been part of the company's lineup since 2016. Over the past few years, Sun Pacific has been steadily increasing its organic volume which is now approaching half of its total grape volume.
"During the 2018 season, organic grapes represented approximately 40 percent of our total volume with 15 varieties available organically," Nager shared. "The 2019 season will see that volume climb to almost 50 percent of our volume with 16 varieties (5 green, 8 red and 3 black) available to the organic consumer from the beginning of the season in July through the end in December. Air Chief Organic Grapes are available in different size bags and clamshells."
More organic Navel oranges on the way
Now that Sun Pacific has introduced organic options for its grape, kiwi and mandarin categories, the next step will be offering organic Navel oranges from next season. As with the organic Cuties®, the organic Navel oranges are coming from acreage converted from conventional orchards.
"For Navel oranges, we continue to transition fields to organic certification and will introduce organic citrus beginning in the 2019/2020 season," Nager announced. "Organic citrus, including Mandarins, will approach double digit volume for Sun Pacific."
For more information:
Howard Nager
Sun Pacific
Ph: +1 (213) 612-9957
howardnager@sunpacific.com
www.sunpacific.com