Ready Pac Produce
PASADENA, CA

Ready Pac Produce has been a leader in fresh cut vegetables for over 25 years. They are a food processor and distributor. When I joined the company, sales were mainly to the foodservice trade. We compiled a two-prong brand building attack. Initially we built our relationship with Burger King and McDonald's by helping them to develop their first salad programs. We educated them, for free, in what it takes to have a successful salad program. This included how to buy produce and the temperamental nature of the product and the special handling it required. These actions solidified our relationship with these two major foodservice players. They both continue to offer salads.

The next challenge was to bring the benefits of cleaned, fresh cut salads to the consumer. We achieved this goal by creating items that customers wanted and working closely with the retailers to promote them. The product would not have succeeded if not for the support from the key retailers. The trick was to get the retailers excited about the product. We accomplished this by proving that this was a new growth area that would yield incremental sales. We designed attractive packaging that really stood out and gave the retailer something new to talk about.

While at Ready Pac Produce I developed many new products including a stir-fry vegetable mix that won 1st place in the "Prepared Foods" 1983 National New Item Contest. This product made it possible for the consumer to prepare a great mix of vegetables in minutes. It also saved the consumer money, as it would have cost them more if they had to buy each ingredient separately.