Melissa’s, Supreme Cuts sign deals to market Peppadew Gold
Melissa’s, Supreme Cuts sign deals to market Peppadew Gold
The North American agent for Peppadew has signed deals with two well-known produce marketers to sell Peppadew Gold, which is currently being grown in New Jersey.
Pierre Crawley of Peppadew USA said that Melissa’s/World Variety Produce, based in Los Angeles, and Supreme Cuts, based in Mahwah, NJ, will market Peppadew Gold to the retail and foodservice markets, respectively. The deals were signed in early August.
“We
have been in discussions with Melissa’s and Supreme Cuts for about the past five years,” Mr. Crawley told The Produce News. “Both companies loved the product over the years, but Peppadew Red was not a good fit for them since it is a brined product. When we started growing Goldew in New Jersey for fresh consumption, it was a much better fit for their strategy so the talks progressed quickly.”
This is the first year the Peppadew Gold has been grown commercially in New Jersey, and Mr. Crawley said that it made sense to put the marketing into the hands of other fresh produce marketing experts.
“It was really quite impressive that both Melissa’s and Supreme Cuts were able to react so quickly once we reached out to them,” said Mr. Crawley. “Within a week, they were able to come up with labels and a marketing plan. They now have all pricing and product specifications in place, and they just made presentations to their sales teams.”
Mr. Crawley said that production is still somewhat limited, with product being grown on several acres in central New Jersey. He said that the plan is to expand to other farmers and possibly have the involvement of other marketers, especially with additional distribution channels, such as industrial and IQF.
“We will have a better idea in the next 30 days about where we will be going in the future, as production of Peppadew Gold culminates and an analysis of the season takes place,” Mr. Crawley said Aug. 30.
Peppadew is native to South Africa and was discovered there 16 years ago. Unlike Peppadew Red, which has a 180-day growing cycle, Peppadew Gold has a 90-day growing cycle, making it suitable for production in New Jersey. The Garden State was selected as the hub for production since it is in close proximity to a large percentage of the population in the Northeast.
Peppadew Gold will be packed in six- and 10-ounce clamshells for the retail market and 2.5 and five-pound containers for the foodservice market.
