|
Landec is one of the fastest growing suppliers of whole and fresh-cut specialty packaged produce. In December 1999, Landec purchased its largest customer, Apio, Inc. of Guadalupe, California. Apio, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Landec, delivered close to $90 million worth of specialty-packaged pre-cut vegetables in 2002 to major retail grocery chains and club stores. The biggest driver of Landec's food business is its proprietary breathable film and membrane technology that results in longer produce shelf life, lower retailer shrink and higher quality products for the consumer, all in convenient package formats. The pre-packaged, pre-cut produce market is a multi-billion growth market fueled by consumers' interest in convenience, nutrition and safety. Package atmospheres can be uniquely tailored to accommodate high respiration rates and compensate for modest ranges of temperature abuse, resulting in extended shelf life and higher quality taste, smell, and appearance of fresh produce.
Landec markets its proprietary packaging for diverse applications in the rapidly growing fresh-cut segment of the produce industry. Landec has developed modified atmosphere packaging systems that incorporate a super-high oxygen permeable membrane that is applied as a package label to both flexible film and rigid packages. Landec's "smart" membranes regulate the transmission of oxygen and carbon dioxide gases in and out of a package at optimum rates to achieve high quality produce and to meet shelf life demands of the retail, club store and food service distribution channels. Since fresh-cut produce is a processed, living product, preserving freshness and minimizing quality degradation associated with temperature abuse during transit is very important. Intelimer® packaging is market proven to deliver results in 9,000 retail supermarkets, and club store locations. Industry analysts estimate that U.S. fresh cut produce sales were $11 billion n 2000 and forecasted to grow to $15 billion by 2005. For more information call 1-800-277-3075 or email Customer Service. |
