Frieda’s Inc. is a privately owned company, based in

Los Alamitos, California Los Alamitos () is a city in Orange County, California. The city was incorporated in March 1960. The population was 11,780 at the 2020 census, up from 11,449 at the 2010 census. The adjacent unincorporated community of Rossmoor uses the same 9 ...

, which markets and distributes specialty produce. It was founded in 1962 by

Frieda Rapoport Caplan Frieda Rapoport Caplan (August 10, 1923 — January 18, 2020) was an American businesswoman who was the founder of Frieda's Inc., a specialty produce company in Los Alamitos, California. She created the specialty produce industry in the ...

. It was the first wholesale produce company in the United States to be founded, owned, and operated by a woman. Caplan died on January 18, 2020, at the age of 96. Frieda's Inc. is credited with introducing many produce items to the U.S. including the

kiwifruit Kiwifruit (often shortened to kiwi in North American, British and continental European English) or Chinese gooseberry is the edible berry of several species of woody vines in the genus '' Actinidia''. The most common cultivar group of kiwi ...

, alfalfa sprouts, spaghetti squash,

jicama ''Pachyrhizus erosus'', commonly known as jícama ( or ; Spanish ''jícama'' ; from Nahuatl ''xīcamatl'', ) Mexican turnip, is the name of a native Mexican vine, although the name most commonly refers to the plant's edible tuberous root. Jícam ...

shallot The shallot is a botanical variety (a cultivar) of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with '' Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the ...

s, mangos, Donut® peaches, and various Asian and Latin specialties.

History

In 1956, Frieda Caplan first worked as a bookkeeper at Giumarra Bros. Fruit Co. Later on, she began selling Brown Mushrooms, which were a specialty item in those days. After the success of selling mushrooms, Caplan opened her own company in 1962 with mushrooms as the primary item. She started with a small stand at the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

wholesale produce market. Once titled the “Queen of Kiwi,” Caplan gained international recognition from bringing the Kiwifruit to the United States. This fruit was discovered in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and originally known as "Chinese gooseberries". Although some in the U.S.A. believe Caplan renamed this fruit after the country's flightless bird, the

Kiwi Kiwi most commonly refers to: * Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand * Kiwi (nickname), a nickname for New Zealanders * Kiwifruit, an edible berry * Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of currency Kiwi or KIWI may also ref ...

, the name was actually proposed by New Zealander Jack Turner in June 1959 at a management meeting of Turners and Growers in Auckland, New Zealand. She convinced California growers to plant the fruit and soon California had more than 700 Kiwifruit growers. She played a key role in popularizing Kiwifruit in the United States by convincing supermarket produce managers to carry the odd-looking fruit. Caplan's elder daughter, Karen Caplan, was promoted to President and CEO in 1986. That same year the company had annual sales of $US13 million. Jackie Caplan Wiggins, Frieda's younger daughter, serves as Vice President and Business Chief Operating Officer. In 1990, Karen Caplan and Jackie Caplan Wiggins became owners of Frieda's, Inc. In that same year, the name of the company changed from Frieda’s Finest/Produce Specialties Inc. to Frieda’s Inc. As of 2019 one of Karen Caplan's daughters, Alex Berkley, joined the firm as a sales manager. In 2015, the film ''Fear No Fruit'' was released. The film chronicles Caplan's influence on American cuisine.

Products

Frieda's Inc. distributes more than 600 exotic produce and specialty gourmet items to grocery stores and foodservice distributors. Hundreds of the products are labeled with detailed descriptions, usage and handling tips, and offers for free recipes via mail or email. Frieda's, Inc. has a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee. For every consumer complaint, the company will issue a full refund, plus postage to any customer who is dissatisfied with Frieda's products.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frieda's Inc. Food manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Los Angeles County, California Los Alamitos, California