Frieda's Branded Produce's Alex Jackson Looks Toward Making Produce Brands Mainstream

ANAHEIM, CA - Produce has joined the conversation, and it’s about time.

Finally, produce branding is getting noticed outside of our industry! Our brands are showing up in the same podcasts and platforms as CPG brands and tech brands.

I listen to a podcast called The Best One Yet (TBOY). Each day, the TBOY hosts, Jack Crivici Kramer and Nick Martell, discuss “the top pop business stories.” Their reports focus on the hottest business stories and trendiest brands. Netflix’s move to buy Warner Bros? Poppi selling to Pepsi? These guys cover it.

Recently, their attention has turned to produce.

They’re not talking about our recalls, “dirty dozen” lists or shortages. They’re talking about brands.

This is exciting because TBOY doesn’t exist to flatter the produce industry. Their raison d'être is tracking what’s culturally relevant in business.

In October, Crivici-Kramer and Martell reported on the rise of dates and date sugar as a true natural sugar alternative, highlighting the branding of date growers like Joolies.

They also talked about Fruitist and how their only item, jumbo blueberries, highlighting their “main character energy.” They also covered how consistent quality and eating experience are driving loyalty in their produce brand.

How has it taken this long? Is it because we have taken this long to learn how to tell our story?

For years, we’ve defaulted to how something is grown or where it’s grown or why it’s good for you. All true. All important. None of it is enough to cut through the thousands of messages we’re exposed to daily. How do we find the sexy angle?

Brands that break through understand you need to stand for something unique and appealing. And when you tell people what you stand for, you need to break the expected patterns.

The Fruitist and Joolies are doing a great job at this. They’re talking like brands instead of produce growers. Market watchers and tastemakers who are far removed from our industry are noticing. TBOY confirms it. Branding does matter.

Telling your story does matter.

Consumers and market watchers don’t owe us their attention. If we want to earn it, we really do need to rethink everything.

• The way we talk about it.
• Why we talk about it.
• Who we’re talking to.
• What reaction we really want.

Look at what Equifruit is doing as a Fairtrade-certified banana importer—I can’t wait for the day TBOY talks about them. They’ve built a mission-based brand, a tribe of “banana badasses” who are challenging consumers and retailers to rethink prices and business practices.

Produce needs bold stories, provocative ideas and unforgettable innovations. TBOY didn’t discover produce on their own. Produce gave them something worth talking about.

A challenge for our industry: If we want to be part of a broader conversation around food and business, the produce industry can’t play by the same old rules.

We need creative storytelling that builds consumer loyalty. We need attention-grabbing PR. We need to step up and get people talking about produce by telling better stories.

We need to take more risks.

Because when we do, people listen.