Why You Should Watch ‘Fear No Fruit’

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I loved this movie, and you will too! If you have any interest in produce, the produce industry, business or marketing, ‘Fear No Fruit‘ is a must-see! ‘Fear No Fruit’ is a documentary that centers around a family that has greatly impacted the produce industry and has a great message about perseverance and family values.

Frieda’s Specialty Produce

Frieda’s was the first woman-owned, woman-run company in the produce industry. Since initiation, Frieda’s has introduced over 200 new produce items into the U.S. market. A few that might jog your memory are kiwifruit, Asian pear, Donut peach, starfruit, habanero chile, jackfruit, papaya, spaghetti squash and turmeric. In ‘Fear No Fruit‘, you get to see the family and legacy of Frieda’s.

The company was started by Frieda Rapoport Caplan in 1962. Now her two daughters, Karen and Jackie, run the company. At the age of 91 (as of 2014 when this documentary was filmed), Frieda continues to go to work every day to file invoices.

Never Accept “No” as an Answer

When Frieda initially started trying to sell unknown specialty items, she was turned away multiple times. However, Frieda wouldn’t accept no as an answer and kept going until she found a buyer who would say yes. Or, she would teach consumers about the product to create the demand so the buyers would have no other option. She didn’t see obstacles.

The Power of Innovation & Marketing

It is very impressive and hard to believe that all these ideas first started with Frieda’s.

Frieda’s was the first company to:

• Ship produce in air containers (to maximize the shelf-life and maintain product quality)
• Put actual labels on their products. Besides one other company having put a label with the brand name on their products, Frieda’s not only put their name, but the name of the product, information about the product and even included recipes on the labels. This was before the internet, and they found a way to educate the consumer.
• Offer the 100% consumer guarantee on their label
• Include the country of origin on their products. Frieda’s imports a lot of their products and started doing this at a time when other produce companies were trying to nullify new policy requiring them to label products with the country of origin.

Behind the Scenes of How a Produce Company Operates

This documentary provides a rare, behind the scenes look at how a produce company operates. You get to see the different cold rooms at the Freida’s warehouse, how they measure the ripeness of the fruit that arrives, how the buyers find some of their products and grower relations. The movie shows you how the buyers create and maintain relationships, while also discovering new products at the LA Produce Market and at the Santa Monica Farmers Market. There is also a focus on meeting the farmers, learning about their products and forming relationships. This documentary was filmed during California’s drought and also sheds some light on how that affected their growers.

Be Ageless

My favorite part of the movie was when Frieda described a conversation that she had with a woman in her early thirties. The woman asked, “Frieda, how does it feel to be old?” Frieda responded, “Well, I’ve never figured I was beyond 18. I still feel the same way.” What a message! After first watching this documentary two years ago, I have returned to this quote multiple times, attempting to get myself into that mindset as well.

I highly recommend watching ‘Fear No Fruit‘. It definitely motivates me to want to do and be better, and is something you can watch to motivate you or just to learn about the produce industry and business, in general.