It seems that Farmers’ Markets are everywhere these days!
Fortunately for me, one of the most famous is right here in Southern California. Every Wednesday at 8 a.m., dozens of California farmers set up their stands at the Santa Monica Farmers Market — just blocks away from the Pacific Ocean.
A few hours earlier, our company forager — Mary — packs up her car with coolers and handcarts and makes her way to the market. Mary started working for Frieda’s a few years ago and she tells me that she has to “pinch herself” sometimes when she thinks about how much fun she’s having. Part of that fun is going to the Farmers’ Market on Wednesday mornings, in search of trends in fresh produce.
A few weeks ago, Mary arrived at the office for a Farmers’ Market “show and tell” for our sales and marketing team.
“You can tell summer has officially begun!” Mary started out explaining to everyone.
In previous weeks the variety and selection at the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market had been a bit mundane. But, with the change in season, there were new fruits, flavors and plenty of excitment!
Take a look at some of the amazing samples she brought back for us to taste.
The office was filled with the aroma of peaches, plums, melons, berries, cherries and the crisp scent of lemon verbena. You can see that she labeled the fruits by variety and grower name, so our sales team could taste the difference. This is helpful when we are describing them to our customers across country.
Farmers’ Markets — especially those in metropolitan cities like San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles — are great places to find new foods. In fact, these markets are where Mary has found a few of our newest growers.
Every season we continue to find new tastes, shapes and varieties of fruits and veggies that American consumers will love.
What are some of your favorite summer fruits and veggies?
Karen