“In April of this year, we launched our Bites of Fresh Fruits (BFFs),” says Garrison Rajkovich with Farmington Fresh. Five different varieties of fresh-cut fruit are individually packed and sold in a clamshell. The fruit varieties include red and green apples, pears, grapes and oranges. In addition to this clamshell, the company also offers combo-packs. These clamshells also contain five packages, but only two different fruit varieties. The combos are grapes and red apples, green and red apples, green apples and pears as well as pears and oranges.
Available at 90 retail stores
“This new healthy snack item that comes in colorful packaging has been available in retail stores for three weeks,” said Rajkovich. “It is timed very well with the back-to-school season.” The product is available in all Lucky stores in the greater San Francisco Bay Area as well as in some local stores closer to Farmington Fresh’ location. “Altogether, it is in 90 stores now and we are looking to expand through the western half of the US.”
Farmington Fresh has been slicing apples for 20 years and has traditionally been focused on school districts. This is the company’s newest fresh sliced fruit product line in addition to their retail ready product lines of whole apples, onion and potatoes. The fresh sliced fruit products are also available for schools in boxes of 50 to 200 count individually packed bags.
Sliced pears
“Sliced pears are our newest product and the one we are most proud of,” declares Rajkovich. A lot of pears are grown locally in Northern California and end up in canneries. “We always wanted to offer an alternative to cans and found a way to ripen the pears at our facility. We peel them and slice them at the right pressure before we pack them in 3 oz. packages.”
Local sourcing if season allows
Farmington Fresh prefers to source from local growers. “We grow our own Granny Smith apples and source apples from growers in Washington State. Oranges are all sourced in California and pears are sourced locally as much as possible. Grapes are sourced in California for six months and they come from Chile and Mexico the remainder of the year.”
For more information:
Garrison Rajkovich
Farmington Fresh
Tel: (+1) 209-983-9700