It takes an innovative, broad-minded company to stay at the leading edge in the specialty produce arena, and Babé Farms Inc., a grower, packer and shipper of specialty vegetables, headquartered in Santa Maria, CA, is known for doing just that. The company continually adds new and unique products to its already vast line of colorful, flavorful and highly nutritious products.

Ande Manos, marketing and new business development director, said the company’s latest addition to its line is the Purple Ninja radish.

“This is a perfect fit with Babé Farms brilliant rainbow of gourmet radishes,” said Manos. “Torpedo in shape, and aptly named for its spicy kick of flavor, the Purple Ninja has a purple exterior with a light purple interior flesh. The beautiful color of this radish makes it the perfect edible garnish. Julienned it’s perfect for ceviche, or slice thinly and garnish seared scallops.”

She noted that the Purple Ninja radish will be featured at the Babé Farms booth, No. 3438, at the annual Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit in Atlanta  on Oct. 23-25.

Early November, Manos noted, will mark the close of the local baby squash season in the Santa Maria Valley.

“But, starting in mid-November, Babé Farms will be offering baby squash from the Baja growing region for the late fall and winter season,” she explained. “The squash varieties will include baby green zucchini and baby yellow and green summer squash. These are packaged in cello perforated bags and will be available in two, five-pound bags to the case and one, five-pound bag to the case.”

She stressed that advance orders are required for these items and encourages those interested to contact Babé Farms Specialties sales for more information.

The creation of Babé Farms Specialties can be credited to its visionary founder, Will Souza, a third-generation farmer from a pioneer farm family in the Santa Maria Valley, CA.

With over 600 SKUs and growing, it is one of the busiest specialty vegetable farming operations on the West Coast.

“Babé Farms was one of the first companies to introduce packaged European salad mixes, or mesclun, hand-selected specialty greens and a colorful array of baby vegetables into the United States and Canada,” said Manos.

Today the company is owned by founding partner Judy Lundberg-Wafer and her son, Jeff Lundberg.

Jeff Lundberg is the president and chief executive officer, and he oversees all aspects of the farming operation and business. Judy Lundberg is the chairman of the board and remains actively involved in the day-to-day operations. The company has maintained its family style business culture over the years. Many of the employees from the field, administrative and sales staff have been with the company for well over 20 years.

“Babé Farms welcomes customers and chefs to come visit our colorful farm fields in the Santa Maria Valley,” said Manos. “We strongly believe in educating and engaging our customers and end-users in our unique farming program, to see firsthand how our over 70 varieties of specialty vegetables we grow from seed, to sale and to the plate.”