ISRAEL & UNITED STATES - With health top of mind more than ever before, industry-leading companies are looking for more unique and diverse ways to make well-being as good for business as it is for the body. It is a gift to be in the produce business where we naturally sell food that’s as impactful as medicine, but there is still innovation to be had and an edge to be gained as outside-of-the-box thinking leads to new ways of existing on the shelf.
Enter Wonder Veggies, a company that has developed some of the first-ever technology for offering consumers probiotic produce.
“Wonder Veggies has achieved this feat by developing a family of formulations and application protocols for naturally growing probiotic vegetables and fruits, putting value-added health benefits—and in a natural way, free of GMOs—in the hands of consumers,” Steve Junqueiro, President of Wonder Veggies U.S., and Chief Executive Officer of Steve Junqueiro Associates, shares.
When I ask the team how they hope to make naturally growing probiotic produce profitable for everyone in the value chain, Danny Weiss, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the company, breaks it down for me.
“Wonder Veggies’ mission is to create a new category of healthier-than-ever probiotic produce in the market, contributing to consumer health and nutrition security,” Danny says. “The added cost for the consumer is expected to be in the range of 20 percent, at the low end of premium products, ensuring a significant market penetration. That premium is expected to be split between all parties in the value chain, the retailers, growers/shippers, and Wonder Veggies.”
Wonder Veggies is marrying a $1.5 trillion fresh vegetables and fruits growing market with a $68 billion probiotics growing market, as we learned previously.
Produce categories currently utilizing the program are all types of leafy greens, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, and berries. Additional produce types and being explored as well.
“Within a few years, we plan to cover most of the fresh produce categories,” Danny reveals. “Peppers, stonefruit, and grapes are next in line to be trialed, and we cannot see an end in sight for the potential of the Wonder Veggies application.”
As the benefits of this new program make their way into some of our favorite brands, keep checking back with AndNowUKnow for more on the up-and-coming company.
