Source: The Produce News
The concept of produce growers banding together for marketing purposes but keeping their own identity is relatively unique, but it is working quite well for eight potato grower-shippers spread out across the United States and Canada.
Fresh Network Solutions, LLC and its Side Delights® brand of fresh potatoes are moving into its second decade of existence with a full slate of eight partners and more than a couple of dozen SKUs including many unique value-added options ranging from potato kits to fresh-cuts to organics.
Fresh Network Solutions' new line of Steamables.
“We’ve hit our stride with our membership,” said Kathleen Triou, Chief Executive Officer and President of the San Francisco-based marketing organization. “Any more partners and we would be redundant in some areas; any less and we wouldn’t have national coverage.”
The last partner to join the group, Mack Farms in Florida, added fresh dig potatoes during the winter months to the group’s family of potato offerings. The partnership began in 2008 when three grower-shippers decided to come together to operate independently but market collectively.
The partnership expanded and now includes eight members: Basin Gold in Washington state, Sun-Glo of Idaho, NoKota Packers in North Dakota, Michael Family Farms in Ohio, Sterman Masser Potato Farms in Pennsylvania, Green Thumb Farms in Maine, Red Isle Produce in Canada and the aforementioned Mack Farms in Florida.
Triou said the group represents a significant percentage of fresh U.S. potato supply in aggregate, which gives it sufficient volume to negotiate with the largest retailers in the county on year-round programs. The Side Delights brand was developed to represent “visually exciting, high-performance product lines that deliver incremental volume, revenue, and shopper satisfaction. We offer a full range of fresh potatoes from fresh-cut, microwaveable, and value-added potatoes, to gourmet petite potatoes and organics — we have the product portfolio solution to delight your customers,” according to the group’s website.
Triou said the group works closely together and transparently to service its collective customers. Each grower-shipper has its own growing and packing facilities, as well as its own sales force. The Side Delights products are packed to rigid specifications so that buyers receive the right product specifications, regardless of the point of origin. In aggregate, the group can produce a full array of red, yellow, white, fingerling, purple and russet potato products, though not each member grows each variety.
Though the group has been introducing new products on a regular basis, Triou said no new introductions are expected in 2018. “We have a number of products under development but I believe our next new product line will be launched in 2019.”
She noted that the Network’s proprietary Side Delights Steamables brand has become the nations No. 1 selling microwaveable product. She also noted that Side Delights has some of its same value-added products in its Farmer’s Table organic line, such as a single microwavable potato. “Just because you want organic potatoes doesn’t mean you also have a lot more time to cook.”
Triou said this relatively new organic offering will be one of the products featured at the upcoming Canadian Produce Marketing Association show in Vancouver in late April. Fresh Solutions Network will also showcase its handful of products that are packaged specifically for the Canadian market with bilingual (French and English) verbiage. The Basin Gold crew, which is the closest operation to the convention site, will be the partner most heavily involved in the CPMA convention because of logistics.
Triou believes that Fresh Solutions Network, with both its unique partnership and stable of value-added products, has its collective finger on the pulse of the North American shopper. “We see continued opportunities in the convenience sector of the category,” she said.
Most consumers, and especially millennials, are spending far less time in the kitchen preparing meals. They want something that is good to eat, healthy and convenient. Triou said products branded under Side Delights are steeped in flavor, nutritious and are easy to cook. “We are coming off a very good year in 2017. Both our volume and our dollars are up.”
It’s no secret that the potato category as a whole has undergone retraction in recent years as consumer eating habits have changed with meal prep time taking a back seat to convenience. But Triou said the industry, with Side Delights leading the charge, is headed in the right direction. She believes product lines stressing taste & convenience — such as the Side Delights® Flavorables® line — are an excellent way to capture the new consumers. Flavorables, says the SideDelights.com website, are “perfect petite potatoes that microwave up in five minutes, seasoned with bold, globally inspired seasoning blends…” Currently, those flavors include Chimichurri Seasoning, Smokin’ Tomato Seasoning, and Malaysian Curry Seasoning.”
A couple of other value-added potato lines for Side Delights are “Gourmet Petite Potatoes” in various varieties and the “A Cut Above” line, featuring fresh-cut potatoes.