Who doesn't love a best of (insert year) list?
Learn about some of the year's best produce products, promotions, packages, retailer social accounts and merchandising. This list was curated by PMG and The Packer's staff after a year of continuous research, interviews, stories, casual conversations — and travel to grocery stores, farms, facilities and conferences worldwide.
(Photo courtesy of Row 7 Seed Co.)
See a few examples of what wowed in 2023.
Produce product
Row 7 Seed Co.'s Organic Sweet Garleek: Time magazine called this the best new vegetable of 2023, part of its Best New Inventions issue. A cross between garlic and a leek, Sweet Garleek is the latest vegetable from chef Dan Barber's Row 7 Seed Co. The result after a decade of breeding and testing, the vegetable intensifies the sweetness of the leek and the rich, savory taste of garlic (without the aggressive pungence), Time said.
Produce product runner-up — Nature Fresh Organic Greenhouse Berries: While indoor farms across North America launched several great new products in 2023, we chose this one because it's possibly the first USDA-certified organic, indoor-grown, wide-scale commercially available strawberry, launched in the summer of 2023. The company says it's trying to get strawberries off the (not scientifically sound) “Dirty Dozen” list.
Several indoor leafy greens growers have launched berry programs, but this is the first we've heard that's officially organic too. By growing indoors, these berries are protected from the outside elements, fed the ideal nutrients and grown using clean farming methods such as using a lot less water and almost eliminating the need for pesticides. The cute packaging doesn't hurt either.
Merchandising
Central Market: Owned by San Antonio-based H-E-B, Central Market is the “crown jewel” of the larger retailer, says Kristin Leigh Lore, who submitted produce display photos of the store as part of our Market Crush series. Wow. Just wow. The whimsy, the neatness, the artistry, the all-out showmanship and the useful tips you didn't realize you needed — this retailer's produce departments just blow us all away.
Photo: Kristin Leigh Lore
Social media
Erewhon Market: Although we love Whole Foods Market's playful social presence, for 2023, it was all about the aspirational aesthetic of Southern California-based Erewhon Market. With 25,500-plus TikTok followers and 314,000-plus on Instagram, it doesn't boast the largest audience compared to a behemoth like Kroger. Then again, there are only 10 stores, in cities such as Beverly Hills, Palisades, Santa Monica and Studio City.
The celebrity-created, limited-time smoothies are epic. They look like unicorn magic fairy cloud drinks, including ingredients like collagen and Blue Majik. But in these goddess-like drinks are also a bunch of whole fruits and vegetables — all organic, from this retailer, a Certified B Corporation. Inspired by her certified organic skincare lineup, Miranda Kerr's KORA Glow Smoothie has organic lucuma, banana, blueberries and pitaya in it. Of course, a portion of proceeds were donated to Organic Farming Research Foundation. Posts and reels of the produce department itself are also quite inspirational, if not unattainable. We love to dream.
(Image courtesy of Erewhon Market)
Social media runner-up — Love Beets: Grown in upstate New York, Love Beets has an un-beet-able Instagram vibe followed by 50,600-plus people. The account is awash in shades of garnet, featuring fun trends like Barbie hormone-happy pasta, vegan caramel, candy-coated apples and beetroot-cured salmon balls. But there are also nods to farmers and the growing number of retailers that have agreed to carry Love Beets, from Publix and Costco to Harris Teeter and Sprouts Farmers Markets. The company also understands how to partner with the right social influencers. We'll dance to this beet.
Snacking item
Dandy Celery Dippers by Duda Farm Fresh Foods: There's a problem when you pluck a celery stick from a crudité platter, dunk it in the dip or dressing and snap off a bite with your teeth — you still have the rest of the celery stick, and you can't double-dip when your mouth has been there, especially at a communal platter. Duda Farm Fresh Foods created a simple solution in Celery Dippers. The 2-inch-long, pre-cut, washed celery sticks are truly sized for a single bite. Also, proprietary seed variety improvements mean that these tiny but mighty celery sticks are sweeter and crunchier than before. Sometimes the best innovations are so simple, you wonder why you didn't think of that. Size does matter. And in this case, smaller is better.
Promotion
POM Wonderful: They had us at the nationwide campaign tagline, “Real Life is Scary: Protect Yourself With POM.” Because it is, isn't it? But slashing through the fear (or laughing through the fear?), the campaign aims to empower consumers to fortify their defenses against free radicals — the unstable molecules that can cause damage to our bodies over time — by protecting themselves with the antioxidant power of POM Wonderful 100% pomegranate juice.
(Photo courtesy of The Wonderful Company)
In a series of comedically spooky ads, the health antagonists, or free radicals, are manifested by ghosts, aliens and vampires who pop up in everyday locations: business elevators, the laundromat and movie theaters. The POM polyphenols protect the protagonist against the chaotic free radicals. The campaign was developed by The Wonderful Company's in-house creative team at Wonderful Agency, led by Margaret Keene. The spots were directed by Randy Krallman and ran on streaming, connected TV, digital and mobile, linear TV and cinema, as well as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and at select Spotlight Cinema theaters.