Dole completes salad kit refresh
Dole completes salad kit refresh
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 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, 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 vice president of marketing and 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 identify as the premier provider of fresh foods,” said Austin. “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,” said Austin.
He added that one of the goals of the redesign was to accelerate the growth of Dole-branded packaged salads among Millennial and Gen Z consumers, which account for 42 percent 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.
