MONTEREY, Calif. — Earlier this year, 4Earth Farms added eight new stock-keeping units to its organic produce line. The expansion represented the largest product launch at one time in the company’s history, 4Earth Farms Vice President of Sales and Marketing Mark Munger told The Packer during a booth visit at the Organic Produce Summit’s trade show at the Monterey Conference Center on July 14.
“We now have a whole family of products and can be a one-stop shop for retailers with organic, which was our goal all along,” Munger said.
While 4Earth Farms offers an expansive selection of branded produce, its roots are in private label.
“We were doing private label 10 years before we put our name on products,” Dave Hewitt, 4Earth Farms vice president of sales, said during an OPS education session earlier that day.
The session titled "Private Label Versus Consumer Brand: The Competition for Shelf Space" was moderated by Randy Riley of GoldenSun Insights, and also included panelists Jeff Cady of Tops Friendly Markets and Josh Leichter of Pacific Trellis Fruit.
“When you talk about organics, every day, it’s growing private label-wise,” said Hewitt, adding that two-thirds of 4Earth Farms’ business is private label.
“Private label is growing exponentially,” he added, attributing the growth to a combination of consumer and retailer demand. “It’s kind of [an] ‘If you build it, they will come’ [effect].”
The panel discuss also explored the challenges in storytelling with premium private label products.
“I think organic shoppers want to know more than it’s organic,” Hewitt said. “They want to know who grew it and how it was grown — where their food comes from. Tell the story. That’s what’s going to keep the consumer moving forward.”
It’s a compelling reason for Cady, director of produce and floral for Tops, to focus more on branded produce.
“How do [our customers] know where it’s grown if it’s got my label on it?” asked Cady, who suggested during the panel that the future may bring more co-branding. “Co-branding is great because, when you share the label, you both have skin in the game."