Chat - Tony Freytag

The Packer's National Editor Tom Karst on March 9 chatted with Tony Freytag, marketing director of sliced apple marketer Crunch Pak, Cashmere, Wash.

4:24 p.m. Tom Karst: Hey Tony

4:25 p.m. Tony Freytag: I am here

4:26 p.m. Tom: Great. Thanks for taking time for another Fresh Talk chat. I might change up the order of my questions today. I want to ask what are some things you are working on of late at Crunch Pak? What's a typical week like for you?

4:28 p.m. Tony: Usually Hectic. Crunch Pak is pretty lean in structure so as a manager I am involved in numerous areas. Especially product development and design. Those issues along with the management of brokers around the country and regional managers keeps me on the phone a great deal. Travel is sporadic, I am coming up on three weeks of constant travel so will be living out of a suitcase.

4:29 p.m. Tom: When you visit your customers, what are the typical conversations like? What are you most excited to share concerning developments there? What do your customers tell you about the category?

4:32 p.m. Tony: Conversations are usually a review of our mutual business. This is from the aspect of how are they doing in sales and movement and how are they doing in comparison to their competition in the market. We have tools that help us look at things in perspective. Our retail customers are great feedback, as is their customers. With a branded product, every package we produce has our name and website on it. This gives great access to us, and ultimately gives us the feedback from a consumer, the ultimate customer, as to how we are doing. The numbers we share with the retailers are only part of the picture, the rest comes from consumers. That is invaluable information.4:34 p.m. On the new front, we see organic continuing to move up in the market. Right now there are some constraints via the economy, but if history is any gauge, there will be a time we look back on this and hopefully we have learned. To answer your question, you will see continued emphasis from us on organics and the snacking categories.

Tom: Regarding consumer feedback, what happens when consumers send you an email - do you write back, etc?

4:38 p.m. Tony: Our policy is to respond the same day to feedback; hopefully in just a few minutes or hours. We want to know all the news. If it is good, that is great and we like to know where they bought the product, how they are using it; a snack, in a lunch, party tray, etc. If the review is not positive, we want to know even more; where did they buy it, when did they buy it, what was the appearance, etc? We ask for the coding on the back of the package as this tells us so much; where the apples came from, when they were packed, what line they were packed on, even down to the staff that packed it. It helps us be better. Finally we want to know if they would like coupons to utilize for the future and thankfully, most do! We find the consumers like our product very much. The critique is generally positive as they want to buy again and again. Bottom line, if the quality is amiss, we want to know about it. Right away!

4:39 p.m. Tom: Sounds like everything is in place for the information loop to be complete, which I think is important.

Tony: We are always asking what someone would like to see from us? A new package type, a new convenience, a new fruit mix.

4:40 p.m. The information loop is critical. The moment we lose that connection, we will be out of business.The moment we lose site that it is all about the product, then we are gone!4:41 p.m. Tom: Take us back to the early days of the fresh cut apple business. When did you first become involved with the apple business, and subsequently fresh cut apples...?

4:43 PM Tony: I became involved in the "produce" business in the early 90s. While still in Texas I had a client that was in the pecan business. 5000 acres of pecan trees that he wanted to take from a commodity driven business to some type of value added. We developed retail packaging, retail stores, mail order and an early website. That was my first adventure in "value added"

.4:45 p.m. As for fresh cut or sliced, that was in the late 90s. The first research was pears, then with apples. We continue to research pears but the apple business has kept us very busy. I experimented with the Nature Seal product in my kitchen. My kids loved it. There were times when I had samples in my extra refrigerator that would disappear. I found out my son would come over and help himself. He loved them. My daughter was active in ice skating and would pack baggies of the sliced apples for a quick snack. It sort of went from there.4:46 p.m. Sliced apples are really not very old as a category. As early as 2003, you could hardly find sales data on sliced apples. Today that is quite different. I believe over 70% of all retail grocery stores have sliced apples today

.4:48 p.m. Tom: Wow...very interesting beginnings and of course the category is big and growing still. I know pears have wanted in on the fresh cut deal for quite some time... do you think it will happen soon? What's your quick take on the USDA purchases of sliced apples for schools?

4:51 p.m. Tony: Two very good friends in the business are Kevin Moffitt and Chris Zanobini from California. When we all get together, they are always asking when pears will be on the menu. Crunch Pak is constantly researching the idea and trying to identify the right eating qualities the consumer wants. We would like to do pears. One challenge has been our growth. It may sound strange, but our focus is on apples and as we do more, we can't lose sight of our quality. Pears also take different equipment and we have generally been short on space. it will happen!

4:55 p.m. Tony: As for USDA. The bids will go in over the next week (through March 17). We are excited about this as it is another opportunity for the industry to get sliced apples into the hands of more people. Kids in particular. If a child eats sliced apples at school and then comes home to tell their parents, I believe most parents will be happy to buy those same snacks at their local grocery store. And as many, we are all concerned about obesity. If more fruit and vegetables are consumed, that problem will diminish. That is a benefit that is widespread. We also see the program as helping support our retail program. With over 75% of our business at retail, that is very important

.4:57 p.m. Tom: Yes, it seems sliced apple will have a lot of appeal in the schools, and the ability to brand market could have some follow through demand for you and others. Well, I know I've kept you a while. so to wrap up, I'd like to ask you what you think your business will be like in five years?

5:00 p.m. Tony: In a nutshell....the business will be different than what it is today. A broader mix of price-points, a wider array of snacks. We added apples and grapes to our mix over the last 6 months and it has been a good addition. We will continue to mix it up. All that said, our business will be apples. That is what we do, and we believe we do that very well. We won't lose sight of that!

5:01 p.m. I believe our business of the future will have to be even more in-tuned with the consumer. The better we are at that, the better we will be. Hope this answers a few of the questions. Thank you for having me.

Tom: Good perspectives... I really enjoyed this. Thanks for taking the time today

.5:02 p.m. Tony: It was my pleasure.