Yorkshire's Freeman: Fruit to Nuts

After 16 years in packaged foods marketing and sales, including stints at Dole Foods and at the snack food division of Curtis Burns, Jeff Freeman has learned a lot about new product launches, including understanding that a successful launch does not rely solely on distribution to one class of trade. That knowledge will serve him well as the new vp-sales/marketing for Premier Valley Foods' Yorkshire Foods division, a position that puts Freeman in charge of expanding the company's Del Monte Dried Fruit & Nut franchise to new consumers and into new arenas.

Freeman, who has been with the Fresno, Calif.-based firm for five years, will oversee the dried fruit and nuts line as Yorkshire looks to further leverage and contemporize the Del Monte brand.

"Traditionally, raisins, prunes and cut fruits are declining categories, as the typical consumer is older, but we're trying to create health-oriented snack-type items that appeal to baby boomers as well as kid items that make dried fruit fun to eat," Freeman said.

Freeman hopes to fuel growth via more impulse-size products along with increased distribution to c-stores, club stores and mass merchandisers. In order to promote the expanded line, Yorkshire will use a combination of print and radio ads, plus "a lot of trial programs," he said.

COPYRIGHT 1998 BPI Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group