Hollandia Produce Wins PMA Impact Award for Butter Lettuce Packaging

Hollandia Produce, LLCs, innovative produce squircle clamshell and shipping container won one of the five 2011 PMA Impact Awards for Excellence in Packaging last week in Atlanta, Georgia at the 2011 Produce Marketing Association conference. In its 5th year, the PMA Impact Award is presented to companies recognized for maximizing all opportunities to sell more fresh produce and floral products through innovative packaging. Packaging submissions were awarded points based upon excellence in the following areas: Marketing Design and Messaging, Food Safety, Supply Chain Efficiencies / Functionality, Sustainability / Environmental Impact and Consumer Convenience.

Hollandia Produce’s Live Gourmet Living Butter Lettuce packaging was released this year.  Hollandia Produce, LLC’s CEO Pete Overgaag said “it’s an honor to be named one of this year’s winners and to receive the recognition from our fellow produce professionals. Our new squircle packaging is the result of years of company-wide investments of time, talent and financial resources to achieve the ultimate package for our Live Gourmet Living Lettuces. Every aspect of our new package was examined to see how we could optimize the new design to insure we met and exceeded all merchandising, physical protection, food safety, sustainability, transportation and packaging criteria”.

“The new Squircle design is an attractive improvement on the antiquated design of our original package that will help differentiate our Live Gourmet Living Butter Lettuce from all other living lettuce grower shippers” said Director of Marketing Vincent Choate. An eye catching, colorful and communicative label compliments the new design and acts as a tamper evident seal for the new package. Target consumer and frequent user focus group studies suggest the new optimized design achieves the goal of continued brand recognition while attracting first time buyers with its colorful and distinctive design.

Source reduced, elegantly redesigned and supremely functional. The new Squircle clamshell package meets and exceeds merchandising, physical protection, food safety, sustainability and transportation packaging criteria for the 21st Century.


About Hollandia Produce Live Gourmet®:
Hollandia Produce LLC. is a multi-faceted agricultural concern specializing in greenhouse-grown vegetables. Hollandia Produce, family owned and operated, is located in Carpinteria, California. In 2011 the company celebrated 41 years in business. As a producer of Live Gourmet® brand butter lettuce, upland cress, and 3-n-1 lettuce, Hollandia Produce provides many of the major supermarket chains in the western states with a year-round supply of premium quality produce. Live Gourmet® family of products are harvested with their roots intact and the lettuces are packaged in a unique see-through clamshell that functions as a mini-greenhouse. As living plants, these products have an exceptional long-lasting freshness that retains flavor and color much longer than comparable varieties in the produce department.

About Produce Marketing Association (PMA):
Produce Marketing Association is the leading trade association representing companies from every segment of the global produce and floral supply chain. PMA helps members grow by providing business solutions that expand business opportunities and increase sales and consumption.

Contact:
Vincent E Choate
Live Gourmet
Carpinteria, CA
(805) 684-4196