California’s Cornucopia

The Golden State leads the way with innovative produce trends, packaging and farming practices.

Home of Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Disneyland and more than 80,000 farms and ranches, California cultivates technology, talent, ingenuity and fresh food like no other destination in the world.

California is the world’s fifth-largest supplier of food and agriculture commodities. The state produces one-third of the vegetables and two-thirds of the fruit and tree nuts grown in the United States — and all three are billion-dollar industries.

Whether it’s sustainable agriculture, food safety or culinary trends, when it comes to what’s cutting-edge in produce, California is leading the way with a spirit of innovation that defines the supply chain from farm to table.

“California has an innovation culture,” observes Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, in Sacramento. “I think of the Salinas Valley, maybe because it’s so close to Silicon Valley, but they are constantly introducing new products and packaging, and developing the logistics to efficiently and quickly go from harvest to getting the freshest food to retail.”

It was California’s “innovation and strong commitment to food safety,” says Ross, that launched the nation’s No. 1 seller in fresh vegetables: packaged salad mixes. “People think we’ve always had packaged salads, but we haven’t,” she notes. “Not that long ago, the idea of putting a mix of microgreens in a package and keeping them fresh was something people didn’t think was possible.”

Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. California lettuce is a nearly $1.5 billion commodity. But the true brilliance of packaging that lettuce, which started a revolution in value-added produce, couldn’t be fully appreciated until now. And with 400 different agricultural crops grown in the state, the future of California produce is ripe with innovative possibilities.

“Diversity,” responds Ross, when asked to define California agriculture in one word. “We’re so lucky because we can grow almost anything in California,” she adds. “We have 600 miles of coastline that produces air conditioning that is perfect for berries and all kinds of produce. Our microclimates can produce everything from herbs to specialty lettuce to Ethiopian kale. And we can do all of this because of our climate, our technology and the innovation of our growers.”

California’s 800 farmers’ markets are also fueling culinary trends and forging a stronger connection between consumers and what they eat.

“There’s a much greater interest in where food comes from and how it is produced. Consumers have a strong desire to connect with their food source,” says Ross.

“I’m excited for farmers to become the new rock stars,” she adds. “Winemakers and celebrity chefs have had their turn, and now there’s an opportunity for farmers to engage with consumers about what it takes to get food from the farm to the dinner table.”

Coveting the California Lifestyle

What spurs innovation in California produce? Jamie Strachan, president of Salinas, Calif.-based Green Giant Fresh, an integrated group of growers and shipper of fresh produce, sees healthy living as a key driver of trends.

“We believe California produce is focused on sustainability, health and flavor,” says Strachan. “One way we’re meeting those lifestyle trends is by introducing healthy snacking innovations.”

Green Giant Fresh is preparing to launch a whole line of single-serve produce-based snacks later this year. “We see this as an area that we can get significantly more penetration and teach kids how to eat produce as snacks, as opposed to junk food,” explains Strachan.

The forward-thinking company is also looking to change the merchandising dynamic of produce-based snacks. “We see the category in a well-defined area of the store, merchandised together across all produce categories as opposed to separately,” he says.

As to sustainability, Green Giant strives to be at the forefront from every angle, including helping to support its local and national communities. The only fresh produce company participating in General Mills’ “Box Tops for Education” retail program, Green Giant has helped contribute to the $375 million earned for U.S. schools since the initiative’s inception.

Sustainable packaging is another focal point. Green Giant conducted research on flexible pouch packaging versus rigid containers, and found that switching to pouches led to an 83 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and 81 percent less fossil fuel usage. The lightweight, compact pouch packaging also created fewer greenhouse gas emissions in shipping.

Where flavor is concerned, Green Giant is just a QR code away, supplying scores of recipes, product information, shopping lists, and nutritional and storage information. “Consumers want to connect to products through technology,” observes Strachan. “We’ve been putting a lot more QR codes on our products in the last two years.”

Additionally, trendsetting California cuisine inspires flavorful Green Giant product introductions. Strachan points to items such as Little Gem Lettuce European varieties, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower.

“Cauliflower is the new superfood,” asserts Strachan. “People use it for patties instead of meat, and they use it in place of heavier carbs, for cauliflower mashed potatoes. I think cauliflower will be big in 2014.”

Historic Drought

While the California produce industry is blessed with some of the best growing conditions in the world, this year’s unprecedented drought is calling for even greater innovation and resourcefulness from the Golden State.

“The severity of this drought is going to be a challenge like none other we’ve had to face in decades,” admits Ross. “The snow pack in the Sierras, which is our built-in storage system for water, is the lowest it has ever been. We’ve dealt with drought, but we’ve never been in this place before.”

True to the spirit of California innovation, farmers are using these dire circumstances as an opportunity to further explore technology that will allow them to optimize every drop of water they have, to manage groundwater basins, and to examine other methods of conservation, from recycling to improved water storage.

“There is continued pressure on our reserve water supplies and our labor force,” says John Carter, director of global sales for Limoneira, in Santa Paula, Calif. “As a result, California companies have to figure out new ways to be more resourceful, innovative and to do more with less.”

One of the largest providers of lemons and avocados in the United States, Limoneira is dedicated to integrated pest management, water resource management and energy conservation. In 2008, the company completed two state-of-the-art solar projects, including a 5.5-acre photovoltaic orchard that generates a full megawatt of electricity and powers the company’s lemon-packing house and storage facility in Santa Paula.

Additionally, on its Tulare County property, Limoneira installed four smaller solar arrays, which generate enough power to pump deep-well water into reservoirs for the irrigation of 1,000 agricultural acres. Limoneira estimates that its solar generation of 84 million kilowatt-hours over the course of 25 years will save at least 64,000 tons of greenhouse gases.

“Throughout our state’s long agricultural history, farmers have been subjected to many challenges, including weather, drought, pests and diseases,” agrees Kevin Fiori, VP of sales and marketing for Sunkist Growers Inc., in Sherman Oaks, Calif. “These challenges have made growers resilient by nature, and therefore I’m optimistic that we will continue finding ways to overcome obstacles and persevere.”

At Sunkist, which currently offers 40 varieties of fresh citrus, growers have adopted innovative and sustainable farming practices, including the use of solar water-efficient irrigation systems and low-emission vehicles. “Today’s technology allows farmers to monitor water levels in various parts of their grove and isolate irrigation based on those readings — helping to ensure that water, a precious California resource is used with care,” says Fiori.

California is not only seeking answers to energy and water shortages internally it’s also hoping to learn from other countries. “Australia has just come out of a 12-year drought,” says Ross. “We’re looking to them and places like Israel that have climates similar to ours, and working together to find solutions.

“Drought is not unique to farming,” she adds. “But the severity of this year’s drought is the concern. The real challenge is to produce enough food for our country and to eliminate hunger worldwide.”

Food Safety

“Part of our innovation in California produce is with an ever-increasing focus on food safety,” says Carter of Limoneira. “Our company is really on the forefront of food safety, with Global G.A.P. certification.”

Global G.A.P (Good Agricultural Practice) is an international private-sector body that sets voluntary standards for the certification of production processes of agricultural products around the globe, and seeks to minimize the environmental impacts of farming operations and ensure worker health and safety.

Limoneira has also received the highest rating from Santa Maria, Calif.-based PrimusLabs, the first certification body of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).

Innovative Campaigns

Sometimes moving forward means “revisiting the past,” Carter notes, referring to Limoneira’s innovative “Unleashing the Natural Power of Lemons” promotion. The campaign, targeted at retailers, foodservice, wholesalers and consumers, seeks to educate one and all that lemons are one of the most versatile items in the produce department, offering applications in health, lifestyle, beauty and cleaning.

Through the use of social media and QR codes on Limoneira packaging, shoppers are directed to the company’s web or mobile site, where they can explore everything from delicious recipes to functional health and beauty aids using lemons.

“It’s important to recognize the world we live in and how we’re getting closer in terms of language and traditions,” says Carter. “Some of being progressive is looking at the world around you. When we built the Unleashing the Power campaign, we knew it was something that would literally translate to other countries.”

Visitors to the Limoneira website have the option of clicking on an array of country flags that will deliver the world of California’s Limoneira and its Unleashing campaign in a number of languages.

Social Media

As in a multitude of areas, from sustainability to cutting-edge cuisine, California has its collective finger on the pulse of social media.

“Social media has the potential to become a deeply powerful marketing channel for the produce industry,” asserts Sunkist’s Fiori. “According to eMarketer, 71 percent of Internet users worldwide are projected to use a social network at least once per month in 2014.”

For Sunkist, social media has become another vehicle to connect consumers with their food source. “Consumers today are very interested in where their food comes from, and social media allows us to introduce consumers to the growers that make up our cooperative and learn more about how citrus is grown — making it a very powerful communications tool for us,” Fiori says.

Delicious Diversity

As Ross succinctly puts it, diversity is the hallmark of California produce, not only in terms of the state’s ability to cultivate an abundance of different kinds of fruits, vegetables and nuts, but also in terms of the diversity it delivers within a given category.

Consider the depth and breadth of citrus, one of California’s top 20 crops. “There has been a lot of innovation in the citrus industry, particularly when it comes to the development of new varieties, which allow for expanded availability and, of course, exciting new offerings for consumers,” says Fiori.

With the vast array of citrus options today, suppliers are placing unprecedented importance on packaging and the information it communicates. Sunkist’s pouch and giro bags, for example, are designed to showcase the fruit while at the same time providing consumers with the convenience and educational messaging they seek, so they can continue to purchase California-grown produce for a lifetime.

“We believe California produce is focused on sustainability, health and flavor.”
—Jamie Strachan, Green Giant Fresh

California companies have to figure out new ways to be more resourceful, innovative and to do more with less.”
—John Carter, Limoneira