Ever eaten a kiwi? If so, you may have Frieda Caplan to thank.
The 86-year-old woman founded exotic fruit and vegetable distributor Frieda’s Inc. in 1962 with a stand at the Los Angeles Produce Market.
Today, the Los Alamitos-based company has more than 4,000 different products of fruits and vegetables it distributes to upscale markets and major supermarket chains including Cincinnati-based Kroger Co.’s Ralphs; Pleasanton-based Safeway Inc.’s Vons; and Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Supervalu Inc.’s Albertsons.
It also counts restaurants and distributors as clients.
Frieda’s was honored with the medium business award at the annual Family Owned Business Awards luncheon hosted by the Orange County Business Journal and California State University, Fullerton’s Family Business Council on Nov. 19 at the Hyatt Regency Irvine.
Frieda Caplan remains chairman of the company, which has sales of less than $100 million and about 80 employees at its 81,000-square-foot warehouse.
Frieda still comes into the office every day. She sold the business in 1990 to her daughters Karen Caplan, who serves as president, and Jackie Caplan Wiggins, who serves as vice president.
“We’ve always specialized in exotic fruit,” Karen Caplan said. “Being women we’re open minded. We want to change the way America eats.”
When it comes to working with family, Caplan said it’s always been a positive experience.
Focusing on business first puts them on the same team, she said.
“Business has to be business,” she said. “We all get along well and work things out together.”
Caplan first started doing sales and inventory in the refrigerated storage spaces for her mother when she was 14 years old.
“The goal was to take down the inventory before my pen froze,” she joked. “I wanted to work here. Who doesn’t like being around food?”
After college, she joined the company fulltime and became president in 1986, when it saw less than $12 million in sales.
Today, one of her biggest roles is running Frieda’s sales department.
This year Frieda’s changed its product lineup to match interest from consumers for less expensive foods.
“We want to stay on the leading edge of things, not the bleeding edge,” Karen said. “Many of our products were bought on people’s disposable income.”
Frieda’s counts many medium-size competitors across the country, as well as large ones such as Cincinnati-based Chiquita Brands International Inc. and Westlake Village’s Dole Food Co.
Most of Frieda’s retailer clients pick their produce up themselves from Frieda’s warehouse in Los Alamitos.
“Cultivating good relationships with our retailers has always been critical,” Caplan said.
Frieda’s uses that interaction to help inform retailers about new products it has.
The company takes credit for introducing the kiwi fruit to many U.S. eaters in 1962. Back then, it was called the Chinese gooseberry but was renamed for marketing purposes.
Since then it’s added nearly 200 other items such as cherimoyas, donut peaches, sugar snap peas and habanero chilies.
World’s Food
Much time is spent scouring the globe for the next produce item to introduce here, such as the cherimoya from Chile, which also is known as the custard apple.
A couple years ago Frieda’s introduced dried Goji berries, dried cranberries with Omega-3 fatty acids and dried black currants.
Frieda Caplan takes credit for having the first produce distribution company in the country to be founded, owned and operated by a woman. And the company has remained in the hands of its female family members ever since.
Alexandra Jackson, Karen Caplan’s daughter, is the fourth family member involved in the business. She worked as an intern during the summer and is a third-year student at George Mason University in Virginia.
Frieda’s husband and father of Karen and Jackie died about 12 years ago. He never worked for the company as he had a career as a labor relations consultant.
