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- What’s Up Doc?
- California carrot industry explodes with
new specialty, pre-cut products
- By Lisa Lieberman
California Correspondent
Over the last few years, there has been an explosion of new carrot products, including carrot chips, carrot crinkles, coins and shreds. And that’s not to mention the ever-popular baby carrots, which have become national and international best sellers in the carrot world.
Suzanne Powell, vice president of marketing and business development for Peter Rabbit Farms, Coachella, Calif. said that baby carrots have made up a healthy chunk of her company’s business in the past few years.
Peter Rabbit recently expanded its baby carrot processing facility to accommodate an additional 50% in production, Powell said.
Lisa McNeece, vice president of foodservice sales at Grimmway Farms, Bakersfield, Calif. said that in addition to baby carrots, Grimmway markets more than 18 different types of carrot cuts.
Some of the more popular value-added carrots include carrot coins, chips, and shreds, she said.
“They’re good dipping tools, and we see sales volume increasing, especially during holidays when we do more deli trays. We also see higher sales during certain sporting events, like the Super Bowl,” McNeece said.
In addition to retail, Grimmway has seen higher volume sales in value-added carrot cuts among foodservice buyers. More chefs are becoming more amenable to buying pre-cut carrots rather than cutting the carrots themselves. Pre-cut carrots help save money on labor as well as freight, McNeece said.
“There’s a cost savings with (pre-cut) carrots. We help restaurants save money on labor and the pre-cut carrots also have an 18-day shelf life,” McNeece said.
For those chefs who still prefer cutting their own carrots, Grimmway offers peeled cello and jumbo carrots. This way, chefs can cut down on having to expend time and labor peeling carrots, but yet can still cut the carrots any way they choose.
In addition to using pre-cut carrots for salads and snacking, different carrot cuts also offer consumers a wealth of options in preparing meals, McNeece said.
Consumers can use the chips, coins and shreds in stir fries, or they can pop them into the microwave for a quick and easy side dish for their main meals, McNeece said.
In the old days, baby carrots used to be made from culled carrots. Over time, as babies became bigger sellers, Grimmway as well as other carrot companies used special carrot varieties designed specifically to produce baby carrots.
These varieties have smaller, more slender shoulders and are sweeter than some cello and jumbo carrots. As a result, babies have gotten sweeter over the years, and have been appealing to a wider range of consumers.
“I think more people are eating carrots. Kids prefer them to candy because of how sweet the carrots are,” McNeece said.
To encourage children to eat more carrots, Grimmway has also been proactive in marketing boxes of one-ounce bagged baby carrots to schools.
“We’ve been moving more toward schools and selling cases of 100 two-ounce bags through broadline distributors. Schools utilize them because the carrots meet the USDA recommended standards for one serving of vegetables,” McNeece said.
For consumers who want to pack carrots into their children’s lunches, Grimmway also sells two-ounce and three-ounce bags of babies at retail. This smaller packaging makes it easier for parents to pack carrots into their kids’ lunches instead of the requisite bag of chips or candy, McNeece said.
Grimmway Farms sees the multi-billion dollar snack food industry as a good segment of the grocery store for carrots to break into. As consumers become more health conscious and want quicker, easier, more convenient foods, more of them are turning to pre-cut carrots rather than other snack foods, McNeece said.
Over the last few years, Grimmway has been successful in marketing pre-cut carrots to airlines, convenience stores, and vending machines at universities, McNeece said.
One of Grimmway’s more popular sellers is a vacuum packed bag of baby carrots with dipping dressing, which is packaged in the shape of a carrot.
Some critics of all the new pre-cut carrots say that the new products may cannibalize already existing carrot markets.
But, McNeece said, more carrot cuts add to incremental carrot sales. They also help retailers set up more attractive produce displays.
“The thing about carrots is that they’re orange and they’re a good color break in the produce aisles and retailers like that,” McNeece said. It’s not uncommon to see baby carrots, carrot chips, cello and jumbo carrots, for instance, spread out among all the dark green vegetables in the produce sections.
Recently, Grimmway has also introduced a new carrot cut into the market place called carrot bites. The carrot bites are only half an inch to one inch long, which is about half the size of baby carrots. Grimmway has already begun marketing the carrot bites to in-store supermarket delis as well as other foodservice salad bars.
“The carrot bites are good because you can eat them in one bite. You don’t have to cut them in half to eat them. They’re something that’s convenient and a good way to get your vitamins,” McNeece said.
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