• The Products
  • The Scope of This Report
  • Two Main Value-Added Produce Categories: Precut and Organic
• The Market
  • Value-Added Produce in Strong Push to $7.8 Billion in 1998
  • Precuts Category Surpassed $6.4 Billion in 1998
  • Packaged Precut Salads Break $1.4 Billion Mark
  • All Other Precuts Segment Tops $5.0 Billion
  • Organics Boom to $1.4 Billion
  • Table 1-1: U.S. Retail Dollar Sales of Value-Added Produce by Category, 1994-1998
  • Health Awareness Still Heightening
  • Convenience to Keep Driving Precuts Sales
  • Branding Provides Stimulus
  • Precuts Dominate Share, But Organics Are Gaining
  • Precuts Contribute Most to Growth in 1994-1998
  • Figure 1-1: Share of Retail Dollar Sales of Value-Added Produce by Category, 1996 vs. 1998
• The Marketers
  • Among Thousands of Value-Added Produce Marketers, Only a Handful with National Distribution
  • Only Seven Significant Marketers of Branded Precuts in 1998
  • Organics Marketers Particularly Hard to Count
  • Bruce Church, with Fresh Express, Leads in Precut Salads
  • Small Marketers See Opportunity; Large Marketers See Tougher
  • Battle Ahead
  • An Average of 93 New Precut Salads Annually
  • Many Organics in Strong Rollouts
  • Over $2.7 Million Spent on Mass Media Buys in 1998
  • Ad Spending Still Low for This Market
• Distribution and Retail
  • Two Distribution Paths: Traditional and Direct
  • Availability and Quality
  • Value-Added Produce Margins
  • Brand Assortment Strategies Vary
• The Consumer
  • Over 106 Million Principal Shoppers Buy Fresh Vegetables
  • About 110 Million Principal Shoppers Buy Fresh Fruits
  • Over 90% of Consumers Have Tried Precuts
  • The Core Precuts Consumer Is Affluent, Well Educated
  • For Organics, a Core Audience of 20 Million
  • The Core Organics Consumer, Too, Is Affluent, Educated
• Report Methodology

• The Products
  • Two Main Value-Added Produce Categories: Precut and Organic
  • Vegetables and Fruits That Are Often Precut
  • Varied Uses of Precut Produce
  • Uses of Organic Produce
  • Branded versus Bulk
  • Ready-to-Eat Salads a Segment of Both Categories
  • Popular Conceptions about Value-Added Produce
  • Nutritional Characteristics of Vegetables and Fruits
  • Table 2-1: Featured Nutritional Components of Popular Fresh
  • Produce Types
  • Packaging and Preservation
  • Bags, Trays, and Clamshells
  • Precut Vegetables Are Washed
  • MAP and CAP Packaging
  • Vacuum-Packs
  • MAP Packaging
  • CAP Packaging
  • Films
  • Preservatives Are Used
  • Waxes Used Even on Organics
  • Proper Handling Procedures Vary by Item
  • Packaging for Precut Fruit
  • The Search for New Ways to Peel Fruits
  • Freshness Dating
• Regulation Issues
  • Two Burning Issues
  • Industry Wants HACCP to Remain Voluntary
  • National Organic Food Standards Are Still in Works

• Market Size and Growth
  • Methodology for Estimating Sales Figures
  • Value-Added Produce in Strong Push to $7.8 Billion in 1998
  • Convenience, Health Awareness, Quality Propel Growth
  • Precuts Category Surpassed $6.4 Billion in 1998
  • Packaged Precut Salads Break $1.4 Billion Mark
  • All Other Precuts Segment Tops $5.0 Billion
  • Organics Boom to $1.4 Billion
  • Table 3-1: U.S. Retail Dollar Sales of Value-Added Produce by Category, 1994-1998
  • Figure 3-1: U.S. Retail Sales of Value-Added Produce by Category, 1994-1998
  • Value-Added Produce Reached 600 Million Pounds in 1998
  • Table 3-2: U.S. Retail Pound Volume of Value-Added Produce, 1996-1998
  • Value-Added Produce Sales within Larger Contexts
  • Factors in Future Growth
  • Health Awareness Still Heightening
  • Convenience to Keep Driving Precuts Sales
  • All Adult Age Brackets Aware of Health Benefits of Fresh Produce
  • Baby Boomers
  • Seniors
  • The Younger Generation
  • Table 3-3: Projection of U.S. Population by Age, 1998-2008
  • Restaurant Trends Are Favorable Influence
  • The Home Meal Replacement Trend Lends a Boost
  • Branding Provides Stimulus
  • Technological Advances Will Keep Improving Quality, Freshness
  • Refrigerated Foods Distribution Improving
  • Exposes of Bacterial Counts to Have Little Effect in Next Few Years
  • Government and Industry Efforts to Foster Good Nutrition
  • Supply Issues
  • Weather Patterns
  • Migrant Labor Issues
  • Proposed HACCP Regulation
  • Organic Produce Availability Is Still Limited
  • Projected Sales
  • Value-Added Produce in Bullish Progress to $16.4 Billion in 2003
  • Sales of Precuts Will Double, Reaching $13 Billion Mark
  • Packaged Precuts Will Leap to $2.5 Billion
  • All Other Precuts in Climb to $10.4 Billion
  • Organics to Keep Rocketing to $3.4 Billion
  • Table 3-4: Projected Retail Dollar Sales of Value-Added Produce by Category, 1998-2003
  • Figure 3-2: Projected U.S. Retail Dollar Sales of Value-Added Produce by Category, 1998-2003
• Market Composition: By Product Category
  • Precuts Dominate Share, But Organics Are Gaining
  • Table 3-5: Share of Retail Dollar Sales of Value-Added Produce by Category, 1994-1998
  • Precuts Contributed Most to Growth in 1994-1998
  • Table 3-6: Contribution to Value-Added Produce Retail Sales Growth by Category/Segment, 1995-1998
  • Precut Fruits Account for 1% of Supermarket Produce Sales
• Market Composition: By Outlet
  • Supermarkets Account for Majority of Precuts Sales
  • Supermarkets Rapidly Build Share of Organic Produce Sales
• Market Composition: Seasonality
  I Spring the Best Time for Precut Salad Business

• The Marketers
  • Among Thousands of Value-Added Produce Marketers, Only a
  • Handful with National Distribution
  • Only Seven Significant Marketers of Branded Precuts in 1998
  • Organics Marketers Particularly Hard to Count
  • Many Retailers Should Also Be Considered Marketers
  • Types of Companies Involved
  • Chart of Marketers
  • Table 4-1: Selected Value-Added Produce Marketers and Their Brands, 1999
  • Marketer and Brand Shares
  • Special Note on Share Data
  • Bruce Church, with Fresh Express, Leads Field of Seven Majors in Precut Salads
  • Table 4-2: Share of U.S. Retail Dollar Sales of Precut Fresh Salads by Brand and Marketer, 1997 vs. 1998
  • Bruce Church/Fresh Express Also Leads Volume Rankings
  • Table 4-3: Share of U.S. Retail Volume Sales of Precut Fresh Salads by Brand and Marketer, 1997 vs. 1998
  • The Competitive Situation
  • Small Marketers See Opportunity; Large Marketers See Tougher
  • Battle Ahead
  • How Competition Differs in Precut versus Organic Produce Categories
  • Retailer-Marketers Build Private Label
  • Some Smaller Marketers Kept Out of Supermarkets by Slotting Fees
  • If Precut Fruits Catch On, Broad Range of Major Companies Poised
  • to Enter Market
• Competitive Focus: Bruce Church, Inc.
  • Sales of About $500 Million
  • An Aggressive Pioneer in Precuts Is Besieged
  • Positioning on Co-Branded Meal Salads with Chicken
• Competitive Focus: Dole Food Company, Inc.
  • Dole Breaks $4.4 Billion Mark in 1998
  • Dole Ideally Positioned as Value-Added Marketer
  • Dole Could Overtake Bruce Church in Coming Years
  • New Value-Added Plants Help Dole to Compete in Midwest and East
  • Dole Takes Cue from Home Meal Replacement Marketers
  • Dole's Prospects as a Precut Fruits Marketer
• Competitive Focus: EcoScience Corporation
  • Sales of More than $20 Million
  • Positioning on Something Different—Precut Tomatoes
  • The EcoScience Partnership with SunBlush Technologies
• Competitive Focus: The Fleming Cos., Inc.
  • Sales Rally to $3.6 Billion in 1998
  • Fleming Invests in Private Label
  • Fleming's Guided Retail Strategy
  • Nature's Finest Priced Comparably to National Brands
• Competitive Focus: Met West Agribusiness
  • An Aggressor in Precut Fresh Fruit
  • Competitive Focus: Natural Selection Foods LLC
  • Estimated Sales of $60 Million
  • An Early Positioning on Packaged Precut Organics Has Paid Off
• Competitive Focus: Ready Pac Produce, Inc.
  • Sales Estimated at $250 Million
  • Ready Pac the Pioneer Is Threatened by Dole—And Others
  • Ready Pac Poised for Major Assault in Precut Fruits
• Competitive Focus: Tanimura & Antle, Inc.
  • Sales Estimated at $300 Million
  • T & A a Creative Niche-Marketer
  • T & A Targets the Northeast
  • Staking Out a Whole Section of the Cooler—Under the Healthy
  • Choice Brand
  • T & A Positions to Children
• Marketing Trends
  • More and More Branding
  • Also More Private Labels
  • Lots of Line Makeovers, New Products
  • Some Reliance on Mainstream Consumer Promotions
  • Most Marketers Still Do Not Advertise to Consumers
• Product Trends
  • An Average of 93 New Precut Salads Annually
  • Table 4-4: Number of Precut Fresh Salad Introductions, 1995-1998
  • Gourmet Precut Vegetable Blends
  • Crispier and Greener Vegetable Blends
  • Single-Serving Salads
  • Many Organics in Strong Rollouts
  • Still Few Precut Fruit Introductions
  • Table 4-5: Selected Value-Added Produce Introductions, 1997-1999
  • Consumer Advertising Expenditures
  • Over $2.7 Million Spent on Mass Media Buys in 1998
  • Ad Spending Still Low for This Market
  • Some Hidden Expenditure
  • Dole the Only Million-Dollar Spender in 1998
  • Other Advertisers
  • Consumer Advertising Positioning
  • Still Not Much Mass Advertising for Value-Added Produce
  • Good Nutrition and Loving Care
  • Chicken Content
  • Coupon Ads Positioned Variously
  • Positioning Coupon Ads on Restaurant Quality
  • Consumer Promotions
  • Couponing
  • Targeting the Workplace with Coupons and Samples
  • A Movie Tie-In
  • A Rare Merchandise Offer
  • Trade Advertising
  • Trade Advertising More Affordable Than Consumer Advertising
  • Trade Ads Samples in Appendix I
  • Public Relations
  • Marketers Ally to Tout Safety of Precut Salads
  • The 5 A Day Campaign
  • Food Pyramids
  • The Organic Outreach Program
  • Dole's Encyclopedia, CD-ROM, and Website Teach Nutrition

• Distribution
  • Two Distribution Paths: Traditional and Direct
  • Availability and Quality
  • More Wholesalers Implementing Product Safety Procedures
  • Marketers Expand Distribution, Add Regional Facilities
  • At the Retail Level
  • Value-Added Produce Margins
  • Supermarket Produce Department Profile
  • Brand Assortment Strategies Vary
  • Retailers Increasingly Motivated by Produce Slotting Allowances,
  • Co-Op Monies
  • Why Some Smaller Retailers Pass Up Slotting Fees
  • Protests against Slotting Fees
  • Careful Category Management at Safeway
  • Retailers Have Ability to Add Value In-Store
  • Multideck Coolers Recommended for Value-Added Produce
  • At Least Half of Supermarkets Now Carry Organic Produce
  • Genuardi's Sometimes Replacing Regular Produce with Organic
  • Retail Focus: The Health Food Channel
  • Overview: The Rise of the Health Food Supermarket
  • Whole Foods Markets Chain Rolls Out Across Nation
  • Wild Oats' Defense against Whole Foods Markets
  • One Retailer's Magazine about Organics
  • Local Food Co-ops in the Changing Retail Scene
  • Case Study: Iowa's New Pioneer Co-Ops

• The Produce Consumer
  • Over 106 Million Principal Shoppers Buy Fresh Vegetables
  • Potatoes, Lettuce, Tomatoes Are Most Widely Used "Vegetables"
  • Table 6-1: Principal Shoppers for Fresh Vegetables by Type, 1998
  • About 110 Million Principal Shoppers Buy Fresh Fruits
  • Bananas and Apples Are America's Favorite Fruits
  • Table 6-2: Principal Shoppers for Fresh Fruits by Type, 1998
  • Relatively Few Americans Follow 5 A Day Recommendation
  • Table 6-3: Servings of Vegetables or Fruits Consumed, 1997-1998
  • Nearly Two-Thirds Choose Vegetables in Fresh Form
  • Table 6-4: How Shoppers Buy Their Vegetables, 1996
  • Frozen Vegetables Perceived to Be Most Convenient
  • Table 6-5: Shoppers Rate the Convenience of Vegetables, 1996
  • Supermarkets Are Best-Patronized Produce Outlets
  • Table 6-6: Where Consumers Purchase Fresh Produce by Outlet Type, 1997 vs. 1998
  • About One Out of Five Consumers Shops at Farmers' Markets
  • Americans Attempting to Eat Healthier
  • A Consumer Poised to Purchase Value-Added Produce on Impulse
• The Consumer of Precut Vegetables and Fruits
  • Over 90% of Consumers Have Tried Precuts
  • Table 6-7: Purchase of Precut Produce by Type
  • Light Use of Precuts Is Still Prevalent
  • Table 6-8: Frequency of Precut Produce Purchase by Type, 1997
  • The Core Precuts Consumer Is Affluent, Well Educated
  • Boomers Are Core Precuts Audience
  • Reasons for Not Buying Precuts
  • Table 6-9: Reasons for Not Purchasing Precut Produce, 1997-1998
• The Consumer of Organic Vegetables and Fruits
  • For Organics, a Core Audience of 20 Million
  • Tomatoes Are Most Popular Organic Vegetables
  • Table 6-10: Purchase of Fresh Organic Vegetables by Product Type, 1997
  • Apples and Grapes Are Most Widely Purchased Organic Fruits
  • Table 6-11: Purchase of Fresh Organic Fruits by Product Type, 1997
  • Most Consumers of Organic Produce Want to See Organics at the Supermarket
  • The Core Organics Consumer, Too, Is Affluent, Educated
  • In Organics Purchase, Boomers, X-ers Stand Out Less Markedly
  • Concerns About Powerful Chemicals Are More Widespread

Appendix I: Advertisements. This appendix appears in bound editions only.
Appendix II: Company Addresses