Spring 2002
| Flavor Focus | Presidents Message | From the Lab | Mexican Plant up and Running |
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Through trade shows and baking seminars, Graceland Fruit, Inc., has been busy penetrating markets in Japan, Korea, Singapore and China, according to international broker, Dan Arkema of Connect, International.
"FoodEx in Tokyo ran really smoothly this year thanks to our new Japanese representative, World Scope, " Arkema revealed. "They made sure the right people came to the booth."
As
in past years, Japanese attendees were very interested in Graceland's
blueberries, and this year showed a lot of interest in the organic blueberries
and cranberries as well.
"The Food Ingredient Asia show in Shanghai, China was very dynamic, too," Arkema said. "The specialty dried fruit market is ready to pop in China."
Chinese attendees of the small, but focused, show were particularly interested in Graceland's infused dried blueberries, cherries and cranberries, as well as the Soft-N-Frozen product line. In addition to exhibiting, Graceland started some significant relationships during the Shanghai show. "We began working with a big trading company who may decide to distribute Graceland's products in China, and we further developed relationships with several other companies," Arkema said. "China is a good market. Our products are beautifully packaged and well marketed there."
The Singapore show, Food & Hotel Asia, opened a new market for Graceland, according to Arkema. "While there were ingredient buyers there, the majority of attendees were restaurants and hotels. They looked at blueberries, cherries and bing cherries for in-house baking, buffets, salad bars, breakfast bars and entrée ingredients."
In addition to the food service market, Graceland also discovered some good leads in Singapore rebagger companies. "They rebag mangoes and papayas there now. They want to bag something that's more exotic to them, like cherries or blueberries from the U.S.," Arkema explained.
Another way Graceland has penetrated the Asian market is through baking seminars. Graceland Vice President of Sales and Marketing Steve Nugent recently attended a seminar in Korea.
"We bring in European, Asian and American chefs to demonstrate the uses of our dried fruit in Asian applications," he explained. "It's a great way to get our products out there."
Most seminars are held in Korea, and some are held in other Asian areas like Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and Malaysia. Both retail bakers and research and development departments of baking manufacturers are invited.
"We do more than 20 seminars a year, and they are well attended. It's a great way to come up with new products for the Asian market and spur sample requests for our extraordinary fruit ingredients," Nugent remarked.
Higgins and White was named Broker of the Year for Graceland Fruit, Inc., during the company's annual broker meeting April 28 - 29 in Michigan.
"Higgins and White had an excellent year," according to Graceland Vice President of Sales and Marketing Steve Nugent. "They did a great job with our infused dried cherries, blueberries and apples, as well as Soft-N-Frozen products. Thanks to them, our products will be featured in bagel, dry mix and trail mix applications."
All Graceland brokers were successful this year. "Our brokers have done a fantastic job of positioning Graceland as a national ingredient supplier," Nugent said.
During the meeting, representatives from each brokerage firm met Graceland's management team. "Now the brokers have a better understanding of what we're doing to support their efforts," Nugent said.
"We also had a presentation from our Research & Development Director Dr. Nirmal Sinha, who explained the importance of R&D in growing our business."
In addition, Graceland unveiled its latest marketing tool, a video. "The video shows what we do and how we do it so potential customers can see our commitment to quality in action," Nugent said.
For more information about Graceland's brokers, visit our Broker's
Page, or contact the Graceland sales department at (800) 352-7181
or outside the U.S. at (231) 352-7181.
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Sweet, luscious strawberries are staples of summertime picnics, dinners on the patio and ice cream socials. Now the great taste of strawberries is available all year long with Graceland Fruit's delicious infused dried and Soft-N-Frozen strawberries. Graceland's manufacturing process is a gentle one to preserve the fruit identity, color and taste of its strawberry products. Infused dried and Soft-N-Frozen strawberries add natural, delicious flavor to muffins, trail mixes, ice cream, yogurt, cheesecake, pound cake, cereals, frozen baked goods and more. Plus, delectable strawberries provide much needed vitamins and contain anthocyanins, a dietary phytochemical that helps prevent cancer. Graceland's moist dried strawberries are available whole and 1/4" sliced to suit any application. Soft-N-Frozen strawberries are offered whole, sliced and diced in the Stabilized category and whole in both the Premium and Infused Frozen categories. A mixed berry product featuring strawberries, raspberries and blueberries is also available. For more information, specifications or samples of Graceland's succulent strawberry products, please contact the sales staff at (800) 352-7181, or outside the U.S.A. at (231) 352-7181.
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This last year has been memorable, both for the negatives as well as the positives. Certainly 9/11 is a day etched in all of our minds. A day of national terror. A day that tied every American to the terrorists' death and destruction; either directly or indirectly. May such a horrible action never strike this great nation again. This year was accomplished by the great teamwork of our employees and sales team. Our employees worked to produce more product of higher quality at greater efficiency, while our sales team continued to work with current and new customers on both existing and new products and applications of Graceland's extraordinary fruit products. A special thanks goes to: • Our customers - we appreciate your business and want to continue to serve your ingredient needs. • Our Broker of the Year, Higgins and White, and their staff. • VP of Sales and Marketing Steve Nugent, VP of Operations Doug Plumstead and CFO Troy Terwilliger and their staffs. • Director of Engineering Bob Donnan and Director of Research & Development Nirmal Sinha, Ph.D. as they lead the way for some major process improvements in our systems. We all recognize that people make an organization and great people make an organization great. I believe we are well on our way to make Graceland such an organization. I hope you'll stop by our booth, #5628, during IFT and give us a chance to thank you personally for this past year. God bless you and God bless America. |
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On
the positive side, Graceland increased sales 25% and improved the
bottom line to close another record year.
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Strawberries are not true berries in the "botanical sense," but an aggregate, or multiple, fruit. They rank among the top popular fruit flavors of ice cream and are prized for their rich natural red color. Their delicate fruity note emanates from a balance between naturally present sugars (sucrose, glucose and fructose) and organic (citric and malic) acids. The methyl and ethyl esters are considered a significant component of strawberry (fruity) flavor. These two esters typically differ from one strawberry variety to other.
For
example, in the popular Camarosa strawberry, methyl esters are reported
to be twice that of ethyl esters. Strawberries are also valued for
their phytochemicals (antioxidants), fiber, vitamin C, folate and potassium
contents.
Graceland Fruit Inc., has successfully applied infusion technology to develop and market infused dried and stabilized Soft-N-Frozen strawberry products. Infused dried strawberries are currently used in various applications and also as snack items. Soft-N-Frozen strawberries are used in ice cream and frozen products. Just as other Graceland products, these value added products are made without any preservatives or sulfites.
Graceland's Advantage
Graceland's products are all natural, functional, cost effective,
nutritional and tasty, "ready to run" ingredients. As
always, our objective is to innovate and develop products that meet market
needs. We actively collaborate with other R&D groups to develop
ingredients for particular applications. We have an impressive and
broad range of products (some 23 infused dried fruits and vegetables and
26 different Soft-N-Frozen fruit flavors). However, we are always
working on bringing new ideas to fruition, creating new markets and increasing
the consumption of fruits and vegetables in our diet. We look forward
to your continued support.
~ Nirmal Sinha, Ph.D.
Research & Development Director
Increased quality and lower costs are only two of the benefits of Graceland Fruit, Inc.'s new plant in Zamora, Mexico.
A partnership with Texas Fruit and Berry, the plant, which began production in January, is now efficiently producing dried strawberries.
"The success of the strawberries has been tremendous. We've increased the quality of both the color and character of the finished product as the result of processing the fruit at the point of harvest," according to Graceland's Vice President of Operations, Doug Plumstead.
Improved quality is not the only benefit of the Zamora plant. "Logistical operations are now maximized because it is more efficient to ship a truckload of dried strawberries than it is to ship fresh," Plumstead explained.
"We're planning to process some of our other tropicals in Mexico as well, such as pineapple and mango, plus some lower volume runs," he said.
The added capacity in Mexico will free the Michigan facility to produce more traditional products, like cherries, blueberries and cranberries.
"This new plant will be a positive addition to Graceland's fruit-drying capacity," Don Nugent, President and CEO of Graceland Fruit, Inc, said.
Graceland Fruit provides the engineering, quality specifications and
technical support services for the dryer to ensure the ingredients meet
Graceland's strict quality requirements, and handles all dried fruit
sales.
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