YAKIMA VALLEY, WA - Innovation and health meet in Root 24 Farms’ latest products drop. The marketer and grower already has a formidable hold on the fresh blueberry category, but when Jonathan Gottfried, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Innovation, tells me about the company’s new products, I make haste to clear room on my shelves.
First up on our radar is the grower’s new value brand of fresh organic blueberries called Winks. The new release is a premium quality of fresh blueberries, just a bit smaller than the Root 24 Farms’ brand of blueberries.
“We believe we can help retailers grow the fresh blueberry category by offering two different price options for delicious organic blueberries,” Jonathan explains. “Our fresh harvest starts mid-June and runs into early August every year. Retailers should contact us if interested in a fresh organic blueberry program.”
Joining this fresh release is the grower’s newest juice line. And as Jonathan describes it to me, I immediately begin to think this September would be just the perfect time to enjoy a fresh glass of cold-pressed blueberries.
“This fall, we are introducing our line of blueberry juices, made with our 100 percent organic blueberries. The line will include Organic Blueberry Lemonade, Organic Blueberry Ginger Juice, and straight Organic Blueberry Juice,” he shares with me. “All our juices are cold-pressed, never from concentrate, and receive a non-thermal version of pasteurization to extend the shelf life.”
The juices are available in 12 oz bottles, with the Organic Blueberry Juice also available in a 32 oz family size. According to Jonathan, it takes a pound of blueberries to make each 12 oz bottle of cold-pressed blueberry juice.
While we wait for this exciting line to make its debut, the grower is satiating consumers’ demands for blueberries with its recent additions to the market—frozen and dried blueberries.
“Recently, we launched our frozen blueberries and dried blueberries, with plans for even more launches already on the way,” Jonathan illustrates.
Available in a 2 lb bag, the Organic Frozen Blueberries come in a stand-up resealable bag. The frozen product is available in two varieties, original standalone blueberries and in a Blueberries + Red Tart Cherries blend consisting of 75 percent blueberries and 25 percent cherries.
Also new to the portfolio, the grower recently launched its Dried Organic Blueberries online on the company’s site, available in lightly sweetened and unsweetened. The lightly sweetened SKU is made with organic cane sugar and uses 50 percent less sugar than the leading brand for dried blueberries. It takes three pounds of fresh blueberries to make one pound of the sweetened blueberries and 10 pounds of fresh blueberries to make one pound of the unsweetened.
With these products already out on the market, it comes as no surprise that Root 24 Farms is continuing to push the innovation envelope. Just as the juices aren’t made from concentrate, so too is Root 24’s newest line—blueberry powder. Coming this fall, the grower is continuing to expand its portfolio with its Organic Blueberry Powder.
“Our new 8 oz Organic Blueberry Powder line will be available around September,” Jonathan shares. “The organic blueberry powder has all the nutrition and flavor consumers would find in fresh berries, but available in a convenient powder form to add into smoothies and for baking.”
To make the powder, the grower removes the water from its blueberries while keeping the nutritional benefits consumers are looking for intact. As it takes more fresh produce to make a powdered product, there are 94 blueberries in every serving of powder.
All the new lines are made with the grower’s blueberries, which the company grows in Central Washington. Root 24 Farms has over 1,200 acres of organic blueberries and expects to harvest over 7.5 million pounds this year.
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