Mills to sell whole leaves in stores
Process to remove lettuce leaves by hand from core
By FRANCOISE CHANUT
from The Salinas Californian

You don't want to use the small or pre-torn leaves of spring mix. Yet you don't want to wash and sort the leaves from a lettuce head, either, as you prepare your sandwich or dish requiring whole leaves.

Salinas-based Mills Family Farms announced Tuesday grocery shoppers will soon have access to the same Wholeaves® product line it's been selling to the food-service industry for several years.

Mills plans to market individual, pre-washed leaves of romaine, red- and green-leaf lettuce and its Green Cascade Mix® in 9- to 10-ounce retail bags.

Development of bags that retain the leaves' freshness has delayed retail release of the product, Senior Vice President Dave Mills said Monday by phone from Yuma, Ariz. Wholeaves® is a registered trademark of Mills Family Farms. The produce company uses a patented process to remove leaves by hand from the lettuce core without using metal blades to cut them. While the process is labor-intensive, it keeps leaves from wilting as quickly as they do when chopped mechanically, Mills has said. The company hopes to attract large West Coast retailers at the Fresh Produce and Floral Council Expo and Seminars held next Tuesday in Anaheim. "We are going to show it to retailers and see what the interest is," Mills said. "Hopefully one day, it will be sold nationally."

The company has not yet started packaging Wholeaves® for grocery-store sale, he said.

Mills Family Farms is not the only Salinas company marketing whole lettuce leaves.

"We have been doing this for approximately four years," said Greg Gattis, vice-president of sales and marketing at Salinas-based Misionero Vegetables. But Misionero sells its whole-leaf product - under the name Garden Cuts - mostly to East Coast retailers and food services, which is why customers have not seen it in local shops yet, Gattis said.

"It's a nice product," Gattis said of whole lettuce leaves in general. "It takes all the work and waste away and leaves all the creativity to the customer."

Mills acknowledged the two companies will be offering similar items. But he isn't worried: "There is plenty of room" for this product in the retail market, he said. "Wholeaves® has been very successful with the food-service industry," Mills said. "We believe it will be successful with retail."

Mills Family Farms has been selling whole-leaf products to the food-service industry for several years. "Wholeaves® represents 30 percent of our production, and 95 percent of it goes to food services," he said.

DETAILS

Mills Family Farms, which has been selling whole lettuce leaves to the food-service industry for several years, plans to begin selling its Wholeaves® products in retail grocery stores in the near future. The company could not give a precise release date.