WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 7, 2018) – United Fresh this week announces 48 new products as finalists for the United Fresh Produce Association’s 2019 Innovation Awards. This year’s finalists will compete in seven categories for the title of Best New Product at United Fresh 2019, June 10-12 in Chicago, where attendees will be able to vote for those winners during the trade show.
“The fresh produce community is constantly adopting new strategies for growth at an innovative pace,” said United Fresh President & CEO Tom Stenzel. “From new varieties, packaging and merchandising solutions, to advancements in automation, growing technologies and more, these awards shine a spotlight on the products and solutions that are driving the industry forward.”
The 2019 United Fresh Innovation Awards finalists:
Best New Food Safety Solution
CLEARthru
RSM US LLP – Booth # 18017
We’re more interested in the path our food takes from field-to-fork than ever before. CLEARthru leverages blockchain technology to let food producers and brands add a new layer of transparency with the end user, giving consumers a complete window into where their food comes from for the first time.
ColumbusFood ERP
Columbus – Booth # 5019
ColumbusFood solution adds industry-specific core ERP capabilities, and also integrates key features traditionally found only in third-party ecosystem solutions. Our goal is to deliver, and continuously enhance, robust functionality that meets common requirements and scales and upgrades easily—with minimal customization and affordable pricing.
Food Freshness Card for Packaging
Food Freshness Card – Booth # 15049
The Food Freshness Card has been laboratory tested to increase shelf life 40% of many fruits, vegetables and breads. The Food Freshness Card for Packaging is 1 ½ inch Square sticker version that covers a 1 foot radius and ideal for extending shelf life of meals, salads and boxed produce.
GO Real-Time Flex Tracker
Emerson Cargo Solutions – Booth # 14024
The GO Real-Time Flex Tracker provides versatility to help customers simultaneously monitor ambient temperature, measure relative humidity and take pulp temperature readings of produce. This single solution helps achieve optimal freshness and improve shelf life of sensitive commodities such as berries, melons and other fresh cut produce.
Logmore dynamic QR
Logmore Ltd – Booth # 18045
Save over 90% of monitoring costs that logistics require. Logmore take this monitoring to the parcel level. Just scan QR-code to upload the measurements logged during the transportation with any scanner such as smartphone. Combination of hardware with secure cloud makes this the most scalable solution for transport monitoring.
Best New Fruit Product
Arctic® Grannys – ApBitz™ Snacks
Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc. – Booth # 11029
Not all apples are suitable in size for Arctic® Granny fresh slices. One of our core initiatives is to reduce unnecessary food waste and we didn’t want the unsuitably sized apples to go to waste. Arctic ApBitz® dried apples were the solution and are just as delicious as our slices.
Golden Crush Melon
Frontera Produce – Booth # 13046
Golden Crush™ only a few days before the melon is ripe, the exterior of the melon will begin to transform into a deep golden color; this is the harvest indicator. The melon is non-gmo, disease resistant, non ethylene producer. It will not continue to ripen once picked.
Honeydude Melon
Sol Group Marketing – Booth # 10045
Honeydude SOL’s exclusive variety More flavor, less netting, and no brown spotting. So sweet, so smooth and sooo cool… it’s a honeydew that will have your shoppers saying “it’s gotta be a honeydude”!
Natierra® Organic Freeze-Dried Pomegranate Arils
BrandStorm Inc. / Na Booth # 5044
We’re taking organic pomegranate arils on a freeze-drying adventure, to deliver the crunchiest and oh so sweet pomegranate arils that have kept all their essential nutrients. We’ve selected the ripest and tastiest pomegranate arils to bring you this delicious snack.
NatureSweet Comets
NatureSweet LTD – Booth # 4027
NatureSweet Comets is our “Out of this World Sweet” Yellow Grape Snacking Tomato. Comets has the highest BRIX in our line of tomatoes and provides an indulgent snacking experience. It has a vivid golden color that adds brightness to your snack or salad.
Peeled, Diced or Sliced Pears
Crunch Pak – Booth # 6040
From America’s favorite sliced apple producer comes the latest in fresh-cut innovation: peeled, sliced or dice pears. With just-pick flavor these tender pears elevate any dish, try on salads, desserts, or even on their own – the combinations are endless! Visit booth 6040 to PEAR up with Crunch Pak!
WOW™ BERRIES
Mastronardi Produce Ltd. – Booth # 10040
Introducing our latest lineup of SUNSET® berries! Ridiculously sweet, incredibly juicy, and bursting with flavor, these premium berries will change expectations for how berries should taste. A healthy snack and a great addition to any dessert, breakfast item, or salad, these better-than-chocolate treats will have you smiling with every bite.
Best New Packaging
100% Backyard Compostable Packaging
Mastronardi Produce Ltd. – Booth # 10040
SUNSET® is proud to offer a line of 100% backyard compostable packaging, which breaks down naturally in your backyard compost. This increases the likelihood the top seal and tray are properly composted and empowers consumers to make a difference—literally in their own backyards!
Brighthouse Organics Tomato Medley 8oz
NatureSweet LTD – Booth # 4027
Introducing New Brighthouse Organics Tomato Medley! This little greenhouse holds a trio of the best tasting organic snacking tomatoes and is made from transparent recycled (and recyclable) packaging. Merging the best of traditional farming with the latest greenhouse technology yields simply better produce. Brighthouse Organics – sustainably sown, greenhouse grown!
Film-sealed Fruit Cups
Del Monte Fresh Produce, N.A., Inc. – Booth # 2000
Del Monte Fresh Produce continuously works to develop innovative packaging with consumer trends in mind. Today’s consumers seek more sustainable, recyclable packaging that is convenient and easy to use. Our new film seal packaging enhances product quality and delivers an improved consumer experience.
Fox Stand-Up Combo® Bag
Fox Packaging – Booth # 6012
The retailer and end-user substantially benefit from the Stand-Up Combo® bag ? with impulse purchasing on the rise, the aesthetic of this bag captures consumers’ eyes, extends shelf life and, in responsibility, is reusable and recyclable ? communicating convenience, a clean lifestyle, and healthy choices.
Giro “Easy Open” Bag
Giro Pack Inc. – Booth #10022
The Perfect close! The new patented “Easy Open” system allows you to open AND re-close the bag with ease. The bag is also sturdy enough to stand tall, even after opening. Our research shows breathability and ease of use, packaging is what consumers want. It’s so Easy!
LivingCube™ – Living Lettuce
Del Fresco Produce Ltd. – Booth # 12027
With multiple varieties available, the LivingCube™ can grow many different living lettuce and leafy green varieties in each growing chamber. We’re able to customize our packaged living lettuce combinations to satisfy our retail partners’ requests. We offer our retail partners new, innovative and local commodities with various options.
Mix & Match
Limoneira Company – Booth # 10030
The Limoneira Mix & Match Bag features three lemon varieties: Classic, Meyer and Pink in one enticing grab-and-go-bag. The packaging clearly highlights key flavor differences – Meyer are sweeter while Classic are tart and Pink are tangy. Consumers can scan the code on the bag for pairing information and recipes.
Peel and Reseal Compostable Packaging
Naturipe Farms, LLC – Booth # 6036
Naturipe® now offers convenient Peel and Reseal technology on their compostable Earthcycle® packaging. The new easy-access feature provides consumers with a packaging alternative that protects fresh berries, while reducing spills and potential waste. When paired with our delicious berries and eco-friendly pack, this new addition enhances the overall consumer experience.
PlatBioWrap
The Platinum Packaging Group – Booth # 10019
High Barrier Paper / Film
Schur’s ZIP POP
Schur Star Systems Inc. – Booth # 4021
Utilizing our patented flavor release chamber to cure / spice the contents, Our Schur®Star Zip-Pop packaging – automatically packed dual chamber pouch, a unique combination of engineering, design, and materials. In the bottom compartment you pack any product to microwave. The Flavor release chamber in the top holds the butter-puck / spice mix separate from the product below.
Simple Snack
Mucci Farms – Booth # 9024
SIMPLE Snack SIMPLE Pack! This “GreenERhouse” package is made of cardboard and 100% recyclable film. Enjoy your favourite Mucci Farms snacking items in a simply sustainable container. Sustainable Innovation Made Purposely for our Living Environment.
Best New Packing/Processing Equipment
Multivac R535 with Integrated Yamato Combination Weigher & Depositor
Multivac, Inc. – Booth # 6033
A combination of Multivac thermoformer to make snack packages from semi-rigid film and Yamato multihead weigher with distribution and depositor to fill package compartments with fruits, vegetables, nuts and diced cheese. The combined approach eliminates labor and food safety risk while improving throughput and product quality.
Pouch Bagger
Fox Solutions – Booth # 6012
With pack-line efficiencies and food safety as priorities, the Pouch Bagger is custom built for fresh produce packinghouses. Unlike others, the Pouch Bagger improves automation and reduces changeover downtime; being servo-driven, the Pouch Bagger is specified for precise bag filling, packaging compatibility, and control of speed and soft-fill options.
Strawberry cap removal system / de-caylx / de-stemming machine
Atlas Pacific Engineering – Booth # 14011
The Atlas Pacific Strawberry Capper (patent pending) is designed to effectively and efficiently remove the caps (calyx) from strawberries at a rate of 5 berries per second per lane so 6,000 lbs/hour can be achieved with our 12 lane machine. The complete system will include washing through cap separation.
Vortex 150
Turatti North America – Booth # 18009
Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Turatti Group, a new automated spin dryer had been released: the Vortex-150. The model is setting new standards in Product Quality and Hygienic Design and is bringing a number of Patented Designs together for Optimum Performance. A Compact Dryer with a Big Future!
Best New Vegetable Product
Apeel Asparagus
Apeel Sciences – Booth # 12031
Apeel extends the lifespan of asparagus by slowing the rate of water loss, bringing a new wave of benefits to growers, packers, distributors, and retailers in the category. With Apeel, asparagus that is normally shipped via air freight can now be shipped via sea freight – even without controlled atmosphere.
BrightFarms Happy Beet™
BrightFarms – Booth # 6005
They are called beet greens, and they are delightfully sweet and juicy at baby size! Beet greens are one of the healthiest greens – packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. BrightFarms Happy Beet™ mixes beet greens with sweet baby spinach for a delicate balance of flavor and nutrition.
Cece’s Veggie Co. Organic Butternut Shells & Cheese
Cece’s Veggie Co. – Booth # 10015
Cece’s Butternut Shells & Cheese offers 100% organic, fresh-cut butternut squash paired with an organic cheese sauce packet for a heat-and-eat meal ready in minutes. Delivering a full serving of veggie nutrition in every bowl, this is a game-changer for busy families looking for healthy, organic, and delicious meal solutions.
Dole Bountiful Kits™
Dole Food Company – Booth # 8000
Dole Bountiful Kits™ introduces a more satiating salad that delivers the fresh ingredient experience of grains & vegetables currently only available at a deli counter or restaurant. Features plant-based proteins in a Dole Bountiful Blend™ Fresh Pouch. Four flavors include: Sweet Thai, Lentil Cucumber, Fiesta Ranch and Triple Quinoa.
Garden Highway Chef Essentials Fresh Slaws
Renaissance Food Group– Booth # 8040
Garden Highway Chef Essentials Fresh Slaws provide a fresh convenient solution for consumers, while presenting the produce industry with an innovative new product line. Recognizing a consumer demand for healthy convenience, our chef team created a lineup of Fresh Slaw products highlighting the current Southwestern flavor trend.
LivingCube™ – Microgreens: Basil
Del Fresco Produce Ltd.– Booth # 12027
With 12 times the nutrients of mature leaves, LivingCube™ microgreens are a small way you can add health benefits to food! We offer varieties and customized packaging combinations. Our packaging comes in 2 sizes (50g, 100g) making them easy to buy, store and use. No need to chop, just sprinkle!
Nourish Bowls(R) Breakfast
Mann Packing – Booth # 2000
Mann Packing has added two new flavors to its award-winning Nourish Bowls(R) product line, this time tackling the most important meal of the day. Nourish Bowls(R) Breakfast Denver Scramble and Fiesta Scramble are chock-full of fresh vegetables and flavor, and high in protein with the addition of 1-2 eggs.
Plant Based Dips
Good Foods Group – Booth # 6029
Good Foods developed a cold pressure plant based dip product line for consumers striving to find better-for-you foods that are vegan, low calorie, low carb, no sugar added, gluten free, and Paleo friendly… all with clean simple natural ingredients and no preservatives.
Raw Wraps Kale Tacos
Green Leaf Foods – Booth # 3044
Kale tacos blend together kale, apples, onion, celery to create a dehydrated bread that is soft, pliable and flexible. Ready to eat. Shelf stable for one year, preservative free. Non GMO verified, grain free, paleo, vegan, raw, keto and only 25 calories with very low sodium. Retail and food service.
Ready Pac Foods Fresh Picked Protein Snacks
Bonduelle Fresh Americas – Booth # 12006
Power-packed snack with vanilla Greek yogurt, sweet red grapes, crisp apple slices, Monterey jack cheese, and crunchy trail mix made with banana chips, cashews, raisins, and almonds. They’re an excellent source of protein with ½ cup of fruit per serving to help tide you over until your next meal!
Southwestern Tortilla Vegetable Meal Bowl, Korean BBQ Vegetable Meal Bowl
Growers Express – Booth # 5015
Perfect for the time-starved consumer, Green Giant™ Fresh Vegetable Meal Bowls are satisfying as packaged or customizable. Each plant-based bowl is made with the company’s first-to-market Cauliflower Crumbles® or Vegetable Noodles, and paired with flavorful sauces. Two new flavors are coming soon – Korean BBQ and Southwestern Tortilla.
SUGAR BOMBS™
Mastronardi Produce Ltd. – Booth # 10040
Following the fame of SUNSET® Flavor Bombs®, these bright red grape tomatoes are taking their turn in the spotlight. Ripened and packed on the vine for optimal flavor and freshness, these beauties rock the flavor charts with their sweet taste, pleasant aroma, and crunchy texture.
Sweetpops Tomatoes
Red Sun Farms – Booth # 10011
A combination of refreshing sweetness and perfect snack size. This bite sized tomato will release an explosion of juicy flavor that you just can’t stop snacking on! The intense flavor is best enjoyed as a snack, but will deliver a sweet tomato pop to any recipe.
Taylor Farms Avocado Ranch Chopped Salad Kit
Taylor Farms, Inc.– Booth # 4031
Our clean Taylor Farms Avocado Ranch Chopped Salad Kit is free from artificial preservatives, colors, and flavors. Delicious bright veggies including romaine, cabbage, carrots, cilantro, and green onion come together in this mouthwatering salad. Complete this meal with our creamy avocado ranch dressing, crispy corn, and taco seasoned cheese.
Best New Field Technology
Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS)
Stemilt Growers, LLC – Booth # 6015
Stemilt’s new distribution center welcomes a piece of technology they call the “brains” of the operation: the automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS). ASRS is the one-stop-shop for order fulfillment to make the process flawless and speedy, resulting in an experience that is delightful from farm to table.
Produce Plan
Frontera Produce – Booth # 13046
This technology enhances your supply chain data visualization, actively updates production plans, and protects your crop investment through cultural practice performance monitoring. Soil moisture, heat units and estimated harvest dates per field and lot are just a few examples of how this technology can change traditional farming.
RipeTime
RipeTime – Booth # 18045
RipeTime has developed world-first patented technology that measures and reports in real-time of ethylene in post-harvest operations from 1PPB. This monitoring and alerting allows post-harvest operators to make decisions to assure the quality of their fruit and assist with prioritizing the load-out operations.
SC iOn™ Trak SC1204
CalAmp – Booth # 18025
The SC iOn Trak™ SC1204 eliminates the manual processes of automatically logging location and environmental condition data using a wireless gateway (fixed or mobile) that can communicate with several Bluetooth tags for transport and storage applications. The solution is reusable, which helps to increase the technology investment ROI.
Best New Indoor Growing Technology
Hoogendoorn Analytics
Hoogendoorn America Inc. – Booth # 18045
Our online platform for data storage and data analysis. Convert real-time data into valuable information that can give you the possibility of producing more and better. We use this information to track the growth of the plants and look for the best combination to achieve high yield production.
LivingCube™
Del Fresco Produce Ltd. – Booth # 12027
The LivingCube™ is a system of automated vertical growing machines that continuously produces living lettuce, living basil and microgreens all year long. It’s powered using an off-the-grid electrical cogeneration system, which is environmentally sustainable due to its minimal footprint, reduction in greenhouse gases, usage of recycled water and pesticide-free integration.
Virgo
Root AI – Booth # 9028
Root AI is building autonomous systems that care for specialty crops. Our first product, Virgo, uses the latest advancements in robotic hardware and artificial intelligence software to delicately harvest tomatoes with precision, efficiency, and dependability.
The 2019 United Fresh Innovation Awards finalists will be displayed on the trade show floor at United Fresh 2019 in Chicago, where attendees will have the opportunity to cast their votes for their favorite new and innovative products on Tuesday, June 11 and Wednesday, June 12. United Fresh will announce winners from the Main Stage on Wednesday, June 12 at 2:00 pm at Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center. Register to participate at www.unitedfreshshow.org.
For questions about the United Fresh Innovations Awards, contact United Fresh Vice President of Convention & Industry Collaboration, John Toner at jtoner@unitedfresh.org or 202-303-3424.
About United Fresh Produce Association
Founded in 1904, the United Fresh Produce Association brings together companies across every segment of the fresh produce supply chain, including growers, shippers, fresh cut processors, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, foodservice operators, industry suppliers and allied associations. We empower industry leaders to shape sound government policy. We deliver the resources and expertise companies need to succeed in managing complex business and technical issues. We provide the training and development individuals need to advance their careers in produce. Through these endeavors, we unite our industry with a common purpose – to build long-term value for our members and grow produce consumption.
