inside
costco
Costco
gets
vegetables
save you
time and
money
fresh
C ostco”s
f resh cut
fruits and
IRIDIO PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO
BuyingSmart
Consumer reporter Pat Volchok
gives a behind-the-scenes look
at Costco products and services.
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article to:
buyingsmart@costco.com.
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I RECENTLY TRIED an experiement at our
home. I discovered that if produce is washed,
sliced and ready to eat rather than left whole,
it is gobbled up and many times chosen in
place of unhealthier foods.
Wanting to provide healthy choices on a
tight budget but not having the time such a
continuous kitchen task requires, I typically
turn to Costco’s produce cooler, which is
filled with a rainbow of beautiful, all-natural,
great-tasting, washed and ready-to-go fresh
cut items.
The cornucopia of goodness includes
Costco’s luscious gourmet fruit bowl, sliced
Gold pineapple, sliced mango, organic sliced
apples, single-serving or large bags of organic
peeled carrots and the recently upgraded
gourmet vegetable tray.
Recognizing that there must be complex
logistics behind supplying warehouses with
this bountiful fruit booty, I contact Costco’s
produce buyers to learn more. Within days I
am whisked off by Costco’s Heather Shavey
and Mark De Costa for a firsthand look at the
making of Costco gourmet fruit bowls at
Ready Pac® Produce in Irwindale, California.
Gourmet fruit bowl
At Ready Pac’s spotless plant—the largest facility for fresh cut produce in North
America—we first focus on Costco’s
4-pound gourmet fruit bowl, which currently comprises strawberries, Gold pineapple, kiwi, cantaloupe, red seedless grapes
and mango.
All fruit is cut by hand. The fruit is hand-
