Crispy Green Inc. has a clear mission to use food as a “Force for Good,” and promote healthy eating, a core principle of the business, which drives all of its key decisions — including product selection and development.

“We focus on what we do best — providing freeze-dried fruit snacks; while differentiating ourselves with the best quality products and offering a wide variety of convenient packages,” said Angela Liu, founder and chief executive officer of the Fairfield, NJ-based company. “We actively engage in social media and listen to our fans and customers. We believe that if we hold true to our vision, success will follow. That’s why we are the No. 1 freeze-dried fruit brand in the United States.”

The company is also building its senior leadership positions to set the foundation for the next growing phase of the business.

“We just brought in Michael O’Donnell to head our sales, and he will be leading the sales team to execute our go-to-market strategies,” Liu said. “Additionally, we’re in the process of recruiting a chief operating officer to join the company as the second in command to run the day-to-day business.”

This year, Crispy Green promoted several people internally: Gabriella Costantini to marketing communication specialist; Luis Rodriguez to warehouse and logistics manager; and Mauricio Salazar to director of business planning. Liu noted the success of the company comes from having such a strong team, such as Sheri Feldman, who was named the Sales Person of the Year for 2018.

“At Crispy Green, we recognize the contributions our staff make and provide opportunities for them to develop and grow within the company,” said Liu.

Cherie Boldt, director of marketing for Crispy Green, said the company recently launched its new look for the brand, which has been a huge hit. The packaging has even caught the eye of Hollywood with its banana bag showing up several times on The Big Bang Theory.

“After spending a few years honing in our brand position and growing market share, we are once again turning our focus on new product development,” Boldt said. “We’re working on some exciting new ideas that we hope to introduce to the market in 2020.”

Business in 2019 began a little slow, but after some bumps in the road, things are smoothing out with a better second quarter.

“This pace continues to pick up steam, and we are very optimistic about our upcoming back to school season, which historically has created the highest demand for our healthy, convenient snacks,” Boldt said. “Crispy Fruit snacks from Crispy Green are the quintessential back to school lunchbox addition. No added sugar, one single, clean ingredient (100 percent pure fruit) and a convenient way to get fruit into the diet are all reasons why moms gravitate to our freeze-dried fruit snacks.”

 She added that it’s not just the kids who love the products, but also adults who wish to snack healthier, including health-minded Gen Z college students and senior citizens.

“This is an incredibly important segment to our business; although, other seasons are also picking up for us due to the incredible versatility and convenience of our freeze-dried fruit snacks,” Boldt said. “People love them for travel, outdoor hiking, just about any occasion where a convenient snack can be consumed. It is the perfect product to complement fresh fruit, when fresh fruit may not be available or the most convenient option.”

While retailers already do a terrific job promoting back to school in general, Crispy Green would like to see produce departments getting in on the action a bit more by promoting convenience products that are healthy and kids love to eat.

“Our new vibrant and fun packaging of our Crispy Fruit snacks attracts both kids and Moms,” said Mark McHale, the company’s national sales director. “We also have just introduced a new Grab-N-Go display bin to grab attention and promote new trials of a variety of flavors. It’s a great way to introduce freeze-dried fruit snacks to consumers who may not have tried them yet.”

As Crispy Green grows, the company needs to ensure it has the resources and infrastructure in place to meet increased demands, which is why it recently expanded its distribution capability by adding a new warehouse in New Jersey, which doubled its warehouse capacity in the state. 

The secret to success, Liu said, is simple, “staying true to our mission and core values is the foundation.

“Also, having a proven team in place who are never complacent, and always seeking continuous improvement is integral to our success,” she said. “The focus on our mission never changes; but the team is always focused on ways to expand and improve and create more opportunity to maximize the success of the Crispy Green brand.”