Dole Fresh Vegetables/Bud Antle Has its Sights Set on Millennials and Gen Z with Salad Kit Packaging Refresh; David Austin Comments

MONTEREY, CA - As part of its continued leadership of the packaged salad space in both product quality and merchandising innovation, Dole Fresh Vegetables/Bud Antle, manufacturer of DOLE®-branded packaged salads, has completed a bold new packaging refresh of its DOLE® Salad Kit line to make it easier for salad lovers to choose, shop and enjoy their favorite all-inclusive salad experiences.

While intended to appeal to all salad kit users, which remains the fastest-growing segment of packaged salads, the refresh, incorporating compelling new colors, photography, ingredient iconography, and callouts, represents an intentional nod to the growing number of Millennial and Gen Z shoppers buying packaged salads for the first time.

The research-backed new look is being unveiled this month on the company’s 31 Chopped, Premium, and Classic salad kits at supermarkets throughout North America.

To introduce the refresh to salad lovers, Dole Fresh Vegetables/Bud Antle has launched a money-saving offer good on any DOLE® Salad on its Instacart page, starting Aug. 18.

According to David Austin, Dole Fresh Vegetables/Bud Antle’s VP of Marketing & Innovation, the Instacart offer will help customers visualize the extent of the redesign, which represents the first time in years that the packaging has been reimagined on such popular, industry-defining kits as Sunflower Crunch, Endless Summer, Sesame Asian and its five Caesar flavor varieties.

“The new packaging is meant to better communicate specific brand and product benefits to make it easier for occasional and frequent salad users to choose DOLE® Brand while reinforcing our identity as the premier provider of fresh foods,” said Austin in the recent release. “Because they tend to shop differently, Millennials and Gen Z are often motivated more by visuals, transparency, and specific flavor, nutrient, and ingredient claims than other consumers.”

“Ultimately, we want more people to experience the flavors, freshness, and convenience of a DOLE® Salad as part of our larger goal to increase Americans’ nutritional health through a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables.”

Austin said that one of the goals of the redesign was to accelerate the growth of DOLE® Branded packaged salads among Millennial and Gen Z consumers, who account for 42% of the U.S. population combined, and represent much of the growth of the segment. The company conducted extensive qualitative and quantitative research with Millennial, Gen Z, and older packaged salad users to measure packaging appeal, believability, clarity, and impact on purchase intent.

Dole Fresh Vegetables introduced its first packaged salad in 1993. The company, now represented through Bud Antle, was instrumental in the launch and growth of new salad varieties, such as its DOLE® Chopped Salad Kits line, and the overall salad segment.