New product winners and losers: Playing the long game

I can’t think of a company that introduces more new items to the fresh produce category than Los Angeles-based Melissa’s/World Variety Produce, Inc. BB #:111686

Every fall, I get a dozen new product sheets from Robert Schueller, director of public relations.

While you may think of things like jackfruit pods or steamed beets, you’d probably be surprised to know that out of the 1,500 items the company offers, the top product was introduced way back in 1995.

That item is Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes, and by 2007 they were leading sales. “They became the number-one selling specialty baby potato by 2010,” Schueller says.

Among the attributes for DYPs, as the company calls them, is they’re quick cooking thanks to their small size, and for retailers they’re a safe bet on shrink.

“It’s the only baby potato that doesn’t ‘green’ under lighting or sunlight, making it a shrinkless variety in the produce department,” Schueller says.

Melissa’s continues to support the product’s sales, which included a DYP cookbook in 2016.

This is an excerpt from the cover story of the September/October 2021 issue of Produce Blueprints Magazine. Click here to read the whole issue.

Image sources are either licensed or customer-provided.