Minimizing Wheel Traffic Damage to AlfalfaĪ “Focus on Forage” fact sheet written by Dan Undersander, UW-Extension Forage AgronomistĪdjusting the Conditioning System on a Mower-Conditionerīy Dr. “We’ll be expanding our school offerings with a smaller stick,” Noritake said.Don’t make your cows eat dirt: Reducing ash in hay and haylageīy Dan Undersander, UW Extension Forage Agronomist That includes producing small celery sticks for children. The company is also working on fresh-cut products that meet the new guidelines for school lunch programs. They plan to introduce a new 5-pound foodservice pack of ready radishes by the end of the summer. ![]() The company is currently working on new products, Noritake said. “By developing and building distribution of snacking products and drawing additional attention to snacking celery, we are generating consumer awareness of celery as a healthy, everyday snack.” “Innovation has always been our mission, and consistent with our ongoing research we know what traits and attributes are most important to the consumer when it comes to the product and the way it is presented,” Duda said. The new, 65,000-square-foot facility features 40,000 square feet of processing space and 25,000 square feet for its cooling operations.ĭuda also has production and shipping operations in California and Florida, as well as in Arizona, Texas, Georgia and Michigan.ĭuda, which markets fresh produce internationally, also partners with growers in Chile, Peru, Morocco, Spain and Mexico to meet year-round demand.Ĭompany president Dan Duda said the company is not resting on its laurels and is continually working to meet the needs of consumers. To meet the growing demand for fresh-cut products, the company opened a new plant in 2008 with double the capacity of its original fresh-cut facility. Headquartered in Oviedo, Florida, the company has a celery research facility in Salinas, California, and its fresh-cut facility in Oxnard, California. The family owned company has been growing celery for nearly 90 years. “We have an extensive breeding program that has produced our proprietary varieties.”ĭuda’s fresh-cut program has expanded to include 1-pound packages of washed, trimmed and cut radishes, and mini-stick cut radishes in 4- and 8-ounce bags. “Our celery straws are the result of 15 years of plant research and cross breeding,” Noritake said. ![]() The beverage straws, which are used on cruise ships, at resorts and in sporting arenas, are fully edible and provide customers with a healthy alternative to plastic, Noritake said. Available by special order, the celery straws are a foodservice item. One of Duda’s latest entries is triple-washed, 7-inch celery straws. Fresh-cut celery is sold to industrial users in 1,100-pound bins. “We also do 2.5-pound club packs of 8-inch sticks,” Noritake said.įoodservice offerings include diced, crescent-cut and sticks in 1-, 5- and 20-pound packages. Four- and 8-inch sticks are packaged for retail in a variety of weights, ranging from 8 ounces to 1.25 pounds. The company’s fresh-cut celery is available as sticks, crescents or diced, and is marketed under the Dandy brand. ![]() ![]() Switching to water-jet cutters slashed the processing time from 45 minutes to an average of four minutes. At that time, no other vegetable company was using that kind of technology to cut any type of vegetable, Noritake said.Īlong with speed, using water-jet cutters provides a smoother cut, locks in freshness, keeps the celery crunchy and provides a longer shelf life, according to company officials. The proprietary practice was groundbreaking for the industry. A year later, the company began using a water-jet cutter to cut its celery. The need for more efficient methods became more urgent in 2001, when Duda began packing celery sticks for retail and foodservice markets, as well as its industrial customers. “It took about 45 minutes to process one bin and it took three full days to complete the initial order.” “In the beginning, we utilized segment cutters or knives to cut the celery,” said Susan Noritake, director of fresh-cut sales. Today, the company processes millions of pounds of fresh celery annually, and has added fresh-cut radishes to its product line.Īlong the way, Duda Farm Fresh Foods – which invests 2 percent of its annual budget in research and development – developed innovative practices for processing fresh celery. The first order was for 26 1,200-pound bins of cut celery. In 1997, the company – the world’s largest grower and processor of celery – began its fresh-cut program processing celery for the Campbell Soup Co. With the nickname the “Celery King,” it’s not surprising that Duda Farm Fresh Foods entered the fresh-cut market in a big way.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |