On January 18th, 2020, Frieda Caplan, the Kiwi Queen passed away at the age of 96. On February 22nd, her life was celebrated in Los Alamitos, California. Hundreds of people gathered for the event, and a live-stream was made available for those who could not attend.
The celebration started off with a trailer for the 2014 documentary Fear No Fruit: the story of Frieda Caplan, her business and her family. Caplan was the first woman in the United States to open a wholesale produce company in 1962 when she started Frieda’s. She was also the first female vice-president of the PMA in the 1970s, among many other accomplishments.
Caplan is known for introducing many fruits and vegetables to US markets and consumers, which are now often staples on the supermarket shelves, but which were mostly unknown before Caplan brought them into the country.
The speakers at the celebration included Kathy Burns, CEO of the Produce Marketing Association and Tom Stenzel, President and CEO of the United Fresh Produce Association. Caplan is referred to as matriarch of the produce family, and of course, as the Queen of Kiwi. Everyone in attendance wore purple in Caplan’s honor.