East Coast Fresh Cuts, the fresh cut division of Coastal Sunbelt Produce, is located in Savage, MD, a few miles from the Maryland Wholesale Produce Market.

Dave Zeleznik, vice president of East Coast Fresh Cuts, told The Produce News that the company, which in the past catered predominantly to the foodservice sector, is now focusing just as strongly on the retail side.

“We started marketing to the retail side several years ago, and it has really kicked in for us,” said Mr. Zeleznik. “Our ‘Fresh Cut’ fresh salsa line expands with new additions every year. The original salsa we offered now sells in the millions of pounds each year. Last year we introduced ‘Carolina Salsa’ and ‘Chesapeake Salsa,’ and both are doing great.”

The Carolina salsa has a slight vinegar flavor and includes fresh cabbage. The Chesapeake salsa has apple vinegar and Chesapeake-type seasoning. Another recent addition to the “Fresh Cut” salsa line is the Southwestern salsa. It includes 13 fresh-cut vegetables and herbs in a custom blend of chipotle seasoning. The line now includes nine individual flavors, all of which are naturally low in fat and carbohydrates, and include no preservatives.

“This entire line continues to perform extremely well,” said Mr. Zeleznik.

New for the company this year is an overwrap vegetable program.

“We are overwrapping a wide variety of products, from cut fajita vegetable mixes to snow peas,” he said.

East Coast Fresh Cuts also continues to focus on precut mixes that include salads, coleslaws and vegetables, including onions, carrots and celery. It also provides many custom blends for foodservice and retail customers who offer signature-style salads and mixes. One customer alone orders 500 pounds of one mix per week from the company.

“Our current skew count is in the hundreds per day,” said Mr. Zeleznik. “In our experience, the foodservice side cut back a little on fresh cut products during the recession, but the retail business picked up. The analogy was that everyone was continuing their same buying habits at the grocery stores, but they were cutting back on dining out. But people still didn’t have time to cook, so they were buying fresh cut items to help them save time.”

East Coast Fresh Cuts distributes heavily in the Mid Atlantic footprint region, in New York state and west to the tidewater areas of Virginia and Pittsburgh. It ships via third party from New England south to the Carolinas.

The company focuses as strongly as possible on the locally grown movement. Mr. Zeleznik said that providing local product is easy in the summer months, as most of the company’s produce comes from local sources.

“We even backhaul on our own trucks,” he added. “Local product is more of a challenge from late fall into early spring, but even then we’re able to take advantage of local greenhouse and hothouse product, so we’re able to maintain some local presence in the dead of winter for customers who want it.”

East Coast Fresh Cuts totally renovated its website last year, and it has now entered the social media era with its Facebook page named East Coast Fresh Cuts.

“Our 169,000-square-foot facility now has 120,000-square-feet of cooling space,” said Mr. Zeleznik. “We’re enjoying steady growth while always focusing on our high level of customer service. As we grow, we maintain our spirit of a small company, while taking advantage of the opportunities that being a large company affords us.”