Fruit d’Or and Bridges Produce announce partnership
Fruit d’Or and Bridges Produce announce partnership
Fruit d’Or announced Bridges Produce as its exclusive fresh partner in the United States, expanding Bridges Produce’s product line to include both fresh and dried organic cranberries.
Fresh organic Stevens and other premium variety cranberries will be on the shelves from early October through December in the United States, while in Canada, HyRed cranberries will be available in late September, ready for Canadian Thanksgiving.
Fruit d’Or’s International Account Manager Marie-Michèle Le Moine noted her company has had a long relationship with some of the people at Bridges.
“Now is a good time to work with them,” she said. “They specialize in organic, which is important to us, and they have a very talented team which has worked in the organic industry for years and years.”
Bridges will offer 18/8-ounce bags, 12/7.5-ounce clamshells and 22-pound bulk pack types.
Fruit d’Or is one of the larger organic cranberry ingredient providers and has a sales network in over 45 countries.
The partnership with Bridges is the result of a strategic initiative to expand Fruit d’Or’s U.S. market from ingredients to include retail on the shelves. Domestically, the company works with Indigo Natural Products Management to market its retail line.
“Retail expansion in Canada for organic fresh, dried and juices started in 2004 but it was more locally commercialized,” said Le Moine. “Now, we wish to put more emphasis on retail with bringing innovative products and gaining geographical expansion.”
Fruit d’Or’s values include environmental sustainability, innovation and partnership, and those values are threaded throughout its history.
Martin Le Moine and Marcel Pilotte started Canada’s first organic cranberry farm in 1997, helping to develop organics in Canada by working with ECOCERT and other groups to build organic certifications. Located in Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes and Villeroy, Quebec, today the company employs 180 employees and works with over 25 Quebec growers to specialize in organic cherries, blueberries and cranberries.
“Around 85 percent of organic cranberry production is in Quebec because of our excellent growing conditions. You need the cold to grow organic. We have no fungus issues like you find in some U.S. states,” said Le Moine.
