Piña Rica

Talking about labels (see below if you missed the Del Monte® post), this one on the right came home attached to a pineapple. I eyeballed it because it’s so well-designed. The color scheme is vivid and says “fresh.” In fact, it led me to an equally excellent website.

Bievenidos a Piña Rica. Here’s a group of Mexican pineapple growers in Veracruz state, south of where I hunt white wing doves. According to the site, 100 haciendas grow 400 tons of pineapples a month, year ‘round. The company says it’s an equally strong supporter of job creation in that part of Mexico, which is badly needed.

Family-owned Ganaflor in Alajuela, Costa Rica sells under an older “Piña Rica” label. It has an equally strong social conscience but…less evolved…brand graphics. It’s clear from the two companies’ labels that there’s some kind of connection – I’m just not certain what that connection is.

Take a break. Read all about Piña Rica in Mexico and you’ll see how the company has adapted a comprehensive brand strategy, from packaging – five to eight pineapples per box, depending on the size of the fruit, 75 boxes per pallet FOB Veracruz – to labeling to importing. Then buy a pineapple: Fresh fruit is good for you.

Label Wonder

The last time I blogged about Del Monte (here), I wondered about the company’s departure from the salsa market. Today, I post to applaud the firm for a remarkably minor detail: How easy the product label comes off the container of Del Monte® Orchard Select® Apricot Halves...that is the label itself, jpeg-ed above.

Now according to a 2004 “Product Spotlight” on FoodProcessing.com:

The intention of packaged produce..like Orchard Select…is to provide premium quality fruit with year-round consistency and convenience for consumers, while extending Del Monte’s reach beyond the “center store.” The Orchard Select brand is…packed in glass and marketed in the chilled produce section. Orchard Select packaging and labels are designed to remind consumers of the days of home canning and the Del Monte heritage of top quality…

Which it did, especially the 24-ounce glass jar, which Barbara decided to recycle as a kitchen storage container. Why not? It’s neat. It comes with a secure top. And you can see through it.

Once Barbara served up the apricot halves in various tasty forms, she placed the empty Mason-type jar in the dishwasher. She had two objectives. One, get the jar clean. The other, help remove the attractive but now unnecessary Del Monte label.

Usually, consumer package labels cannot be removed without the Jaws of Life or a heated scalpel, whichever we don’t have available in the house. This time, Barbara removed jar from dishwasher, simply peeled the label off with gentle fingers, and presented the separated items as last night’s leading example of “making my life a lot easier.”

Digging into the depths of a consumer brand’s packaging (glass jars, label adhesives, that sort of thing) is mainly unproductive – this is a trade-secretive branch of the industry. So what we have is empirical demonstration of the cool, thoughtful and utterly unmessy Del Monte label removal scheme.

Some days, it’s the little things that matter. Thanks, Del Monte. And the apricots taste good, too.

“ORCHARD SELECT” is a trademark registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office since October 31, 1995. For an extra-credit look inside the process of protecting a trademark, see the WIPO decision, “Del Monte Corporation v. David Crumpacker.” “DEL MONTE” is also a registered trademark. “JAWS OF LIFE” is a trademark of Hale Products Inc.

Mixed Fruit

How very odd, the plumicot!
A lot of flavors, this fruit’s got.
Now what about the aprilum?
They’re really much the same, in sum.

Barbara brought these home, had ‘em for din tonight. I wondered if we’d had these before, this funny cross between the plum and the apricot. Barbara said, “I think they’re also called pluots.”

“Why not aprilums?” I laughed (it’s easy to entertain myself.) So the verse above was invented on the spot – about the plumicot, you see.

As usual, I’m the last one to get the word about new fruit hybrids. The Chocolate Peanut Butter Factory, a blog about “the world’s two best ingredients,” posted an article on the same topic: A Pluot! Er…Plumicot! Or is it an Aprium? Conclusion: this fruit hybrid has too many names. It’s part of a tasty recipe involving peanut butter (naturally) and cocoa thingies.

According to Digitalseed, all these names are valid – and describe different hybrids. (Digitalseed uses “plumcot” rather than “plumicot.” Tough.) It’s worth noting, though, that this site identifies the various hybrids by some pleasant varietal names: Plum Parfait (plumcot), Flavor Delight (aprium) – and my fave, Dabble Dandy (pluot interspecific, whatever that is).

I’m not finding these hybrids advertised in the HEB flyer. You’ll just have to go to your nearby supermarket and see if they’re available: For once, advertising is really POP (uh…Point of Plumicot?).