Product Partnership

River Ranch Fresh Foods has partnered with Nunhems, a Bayer CropScience subsidiary specializing in vegetable genetics, to create Heritage Blend. This fresh-cut salad blend differentiates itself from every other salad blends available to consumer, featuring petite green leaf and red leaf lettuce instead of whole lettuce leaves.

In the short year since the company released the blend to foodservice markets, it has gained wide industry attention, including the Best New Product Launch award at the Produce Marketing Association’s (PMA) Fresh Summit convention in Atlanta this past October.

“(The award) gave us incredible exposure for the Heritage Blend product line through the industry, and it‘s gratifying we were recognized for the incredible product we produced,” said Kim St. George, River Ranch Fresh Foods marketing director.

The project began when River Ranch partnered with Nunhems to create a new, genetically enhanced lettuce that would be an improvement over traditional spring mix blends. Nunhems had been studying a variety of European lettuce lines since 2005, identifying ways to introduce the crops to U.S. growers and consumers. River Ranch approached the company about creating new salad varieties, identifying qualities and characteristics they were looking for, including flavor, texture, color, shelf life and appearance. Nunhems studied the lines to find those qualities, but also looked at other traits, including mechanized harvesting ability, higher volume, mildew resistance and yield.

“River Ranch felt there was a need for something a little more robust, with a little more crunch and a little more flavor,” said Brian Bengard, Nunhems produce chain specialist. “We had to take the entire supply chain into account when we developed this product, from growers ultimately to consumer.”

Heritage Blend was introduced at PMA’s foodservice convention in July 2010 after two years of research, and they began offering the blend in limited capacity to foodservice outlets December 2010, with full retail availability January 2011.

“We thought that going to foodservice distributors would be a quicker introduction for us. It’s a newer and much more improved product versus spring mix, so we introduced it to food service first so they can use it in the kitchen,” St. George said.

River Ranch markets Heritage Blend as an update on the popular spring mix blends, but is has a twist that separates it from standard blends, using petite green leaf and red leaf lettuce instead of whole lettuce leaves. The greens are washed in the company’s two processing facilities in Salinas and El Centro, Cal., before going straight to packaging, minimizing handling. Heritage Blend also has increased shelf life over traditional spring mix blends, staying fresh up to 17 to 21 days, increasing value to the retailer and consumer.

The result is a mix that has more appealing qualities to meet consumers’ demands, available in a variety of sizes for food service and retail outlets, including a 5 oz. bag and clamshell and a 1-lb. family size bag at retail outlets, and a 1-lb. bag or clamshell for food service vendors. The blend is additionally offered in a 13-oounce kit that also includes vinaigrette dressing, sun-dried tomatoes, almonds and feta cheese.

“This is a whole new product that deserves a space on the shelf next to any other salad items,” Bengard said.
Vegetable production is a major component to River Ranch’s operations, affording the company the opportunity to market their commodities in a variety of fresh and processed offerings. Fresh products include broccoli, celery, cauliflower, romaine hearts and a variety of lettuces, including green leaf and red leaf, butter lettuce and romaine.

They also offer a variety of salad blends to retail and food service customers, of which Heritage Blend is only the latest. Fresh cut blends have been a company staple for nearly 30 years, and are available in a variety of products, including spring mix, coleslaw, Italian blend, American blend, European blend and several romaine varieties, to name only a few.

The company also packs a variety of retail private label fresh-cut products.

Operating their own processing facilities offers the company an opportunity to monitor food safety issues, ensuring product safety before it leaves the facilities.
The company follows a list of good agricultural practices in the field, the beginning of River Ranch’s food safety practices. Those include pre-season risk assessments and pre-harvest approvals, irrigation monitoring and a list of good harvesting practices. Once in the processing facilities, the company adheres to good manufacturing practices, including shelf life evaluations and quality checks, with routine educational classes and training in food safety for company employees. The result is complete traceability from field to customer.

River Ranch also works with third-party auditors for industry compliance, including pre-season and pre-harvest audits, along with audits of field and harvesting crews, cooling facilities, loading docks and processing operations.

The company was also one of the earliest companies to comply with the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement and the Arizona Leafy Greens Products Shipper Marketing Agreement.

Heritage Blend is only the latest product River Ranch Fresh Foods offers, and both companies are looking forward to more research projects to create new, innovative products.

“We are going to expand on this product line, making improvements over what we already have, and diversify as much as we can,” Bengard said.

And with the success of the new Heritage Blend salad, they keep moving forward with new products that meet consumer demands.

“Consumers are always looking for something new and flavorful, and Heritage Blend shows product innovation and our commitment to consumers to always be looking for the best products out there,” St. George said.

Everett Brazil, III

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