Homegrown Organic Farms, the nation’s leading marketer of fresh organic fruit has teamed up with sister company, Thomas Creek Farms to launch a line of freeze-dried organic fruit products branded under the well-known and trusted “Homegrown Organic Farms” name. The Porterville-based companies plan to begin shipping the new value-added snack in May to continue their efforts of offering healthy and nutritious food products that can be enjoyed all year long.
In 2012, Homegrown Organic Farms’ founders, John and Cindy France came together with long-time business partners Tom and Karen Avinelis (founders of AgriCare, Inc.) to form Thomas Creek Farms (TCF). Together, the two families share a passion for sustainable farming and remaining on the cutting edge of food science and technology. This thought and continual drive toward new ideas led them to the creation of Thomas Creek Farms. TCF has been tasked with bringing innovative processed fruit products to market in a manner that encourages consumers to live a healthy lifestyle. Currently, the company is focused on R&D and creation of value-added fruit products without the use of added preservatives or unnatural sweeteners.
Scott Mabs, CEO of Homegrown Organic Farms and Thomas Creek Farms noted, “The preliminary response we’ve received from both retailers and consumers has been outstanding. We’re excited to be able to help bring these new, innovative snacks to market under the Homegrown Organic Farms brand.”
Karen Avinelis, founder and Director of R&D of Thomas Creek Farms stated, “With our expertise as growers, we have an advantage in knowing what makes the perfect freeze-dried piece of fruit -- from seed to shelf. We’ve put close to three years of R&D into the product we have today and we’re excited to finally be able to share it with the world.”
The new line was launched at Natural Products Expo West in March. The line currently includes multi-serve pouches of freeze-dried organic apples (.95oz), freeze-dried organic grapes (1.2oz), and freeze-dried organic blueberries (1.2oz). To complement the larger packs, the company is also offering single serve (10g) packs of freeze-dried organic blueberry and apple blends, blueberry and grape blends, and single-ingredient blueberry. The fruit is all organic, grown in the USA and has a shelf-life of 18 months. The entire snack-line is certified RAW and is Non-GMO project verified.
