Press Kit - Ocean Mist Farms

Press Kit
OCEANMIST.COM
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Company Background
Company Name:
Ocean Mist Farms
Headquarters:
Castroville, California
Website:
www.oceanmist.com
Company Description:
Ocean Mist Farms, a fourth generation family-owned business and the
largest grower of fresh artichokes in North America, is committed to
delivering the highest standards in the industry for food safety, product
quality, customer service, innovation and sustainability. The company’s
full line of 30 fresh vegetables includes the award-winning Season &
Steam and Ocean Mist Organic product lines.
.
Food Safety Leader:
Joe Pezzini is president and chief executive officer and the first
chairman of the advisory board for the California Leafy Green Product
Handler Marketing Agreement (LGMA.)
Media Contact:
Diana McClean
Director of Marketing
831-770-6435
dmcclean@oceanmist.com
OCEANMIST.COM
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Logo Style Guide
For downloadable logo files: See Press and Media Section of
www.oceanmist.com
OCEANMIST.COM
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Growing Regions
Ocean Mist Farms is headquartered in Castroville, California the world’s artichoke capital.
All of our growing ground is strategically located in regions with
prime soil and micro-climates that enable us to farm more than
30 fresh vegetable commodities including artichokes year
round.
Castroville, CA
Huron, CA
Oxnard, CA
Coachella, CA
Yuma, AZ
Mexico
OCEANMIST.COM
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Company History
Ocean Mist Farms has a more than 90-year legacy of growing fresh vegetables in
California. Since 1924, Ocean Mist Farms has led the commercial growing and shipping of
artichokes from Castroville (a town that is now synonymous with the thorny, odd-looking
little vegetable), and today it is recognized as the largest artichoke operation in the United
States. Through the Depression, labor strikes and two world wars, Ocean Mist Farms'
commitment to high quality and superior service has never wavered. That commitment to
customers dictated a continuous emphasis on quality assurance from soil to consumer
In 1924 Daniel Pieri and cousins Amerigo and Angelo Del Chiaros launched the California
Artichoke & Vegetable Growers Corporation, renamed Ocean Mist Farms in January of
1995. Pieri had been in the produce business in San Francisco since 1908 and had
considerable experience growing artichokes and Brussels sprouts in the San Gregorio
and Half Moon Bay areas. Having earlier formed the San Francisco Artichoke Association
and the Santa Cruz Vegetable Company, he and the Del Chiaros leased land south of
Castroville. Soon the three men were in business joined by Alfred Tottino, a local
vegetable grower.
The foursome set up business in a wood and tin shed at the Del Monte Junction. In the
early days and into the 1930s, many growers had no electricity or telephone service,
consequently much business was done by a handshake or through the mail.
Today the Pieri/Reasons and Tottino families are still involved in Ocean Mist Farms
operations.
Prior to World War II, the company expanded into broccoli and in the 1950s and 1960s
added fava beans, English peas, cabbage, cardone and fennel sprouts (sweet anise) to its
inventory of commodities.
OCEANMIST.COM
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Company History- Continued
In 1972, Ed Boutonnet, chairman of the board of Ocean Mist Farms and native of Salinas,
joined the company, bringing with him Sea Mist Farms (artichokes) and later Boutonnet Farms
(mixed vegetables) which further diversified the company’s vegetable offerings. The
Boutonnet family is also a third-generation farming family and active in managing Ocean Mist
Farms. Since the early 1980s, asparagus, cauliflower, celery, corn, green onions, leeks,
iceberg lettuce, mixed lettuce, and rapini have been added to Ocean Mist Farms’ commodity
list.
The Bengard family became part of Ocean Mist Farms in 1983, serves on the board of
directors, and grows approximately 1,800 acres of product annually for the company.
In 1997, Ocean Mist Farms moved into a new facility and today employs approximately 90
people in sales and related administrative positions, approximately 200 in its packing and
state-of-the-art shipping and cooling facilities, and nearly 1200 individuals at is affiliated
ranches and harvesting operations.
With satellite operations in Coachella valley, Oxnard, Huron, Calif. and Yuma, Arizona, and
Mexico, the closely held corporation leads the industry in field packing and cooling technology
as well as innovative packaging.
The people at Ocean Mist Farms have great respect for the environment and use advanced
techniques of water conservation as well as integrated pest and soil management.
For the past nine decades, Ocean Mist Farms has maintained its leadership position as a
quality grower and shipper of a wide variety of fresh produce based on consistent standards of
excellence in all aspects of its business.
OCEANMIST.COM
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Leading the Artichoke Category
•Largest grower of fresh artichokes in North America
•Largest collection of artichoke dedicated content at
http://www.allaboutartichokes.com
• Only online Artichoke Club with more than 60,000
members and growing
•Only year-round/52-week artichoke growing and
harvesting program in the country
• Largest proprietary artichoke plant breeding program
in North America
OCEANMIST.COM
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Season and Steam Technology
Ocean Mist Farms’ presents its award-winning microwavable steam package for
cleaned and ready-to-cook fresh vegetables that gives users the option to preseason the contents to their flavor preference, reseal with the zip lock and steam
by microwave all within the same bag.
The ability to pre-season the fresh vegetable contents (prior to cooking) is an
exclusive convenience attribute to the produce department.
This technology is available for artichokes as well as four Brussels sprouts items:
SuperShreds SuperFood®, Quick Cook Sprout®, whole Brussels sprouts and
Baby Sprouts; and new to the world vegetable Kalette®.
Cooking times vary by item
5 minutes
5 minutes 5 minutes 3 minutes 3 minutes
Ocean Mist Farms received the Joe Nucci Award for Product Innovation by
Produce Business magazine for its “Season & Steam” packaging and the
Produce Marketing Association Impact Award for Excellence in Produce
Packaging twice.
OCEANMIST.COM
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Ocean Mist Organic
Ocean Mist Farms has been growing organic vegetables since 2000 when we
set aside organic acreage to produce premium organic artichokes. Since then,
we have expanded our organic offerings to include a variety of vegetables.
In 2015, Ocean Mist Farms created the Ocean Mist Organic label to service its
customers nationwide. The line organically-grown produce includes, beets,
broccoli, cauliflower, celery, cilantro, fennel, iceberg lettuce, kale, leeks, parsley,
red leaf, green leaf, romaine and spinach. The items are available year-round,
nationwide.
OCEANMIST.COM
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ALL ABOUT ARTICHOKES
What’s not to love about artichokes? Delicious, nutritious and fun to eat―artichokes remain a
consumer favorite all year round. Ocean Mist Farms is the leading grower of artichokes and the
only one to offer a super simple artichoke preparation and cooking method - washed, trimmed
and ready to steam in a bag. Consider us the artichoke experts, and a valuable resource for
nutrition information, recipes and tips.
HAND
HARVESTED
JUST 60
CALORIES
SIDE DISH,
APPETIZER,
INGREDIENT
HIGH IN
FLAVOR
PACKS 4g
OF PROTEIN
CONTAINS
INULIN
4 BIG
BENEFITS
1
FIBER
One medium artichoke
has a whopping 6
grams of dietary fiber
– that’s a quarter of
the recommended
daily amount – and
more than the amount
of fiber in one whole
cup of prunes! Yet an
artichoke has only 60
calories.
2
P ROT EI N
Artichokes contain 4
grams of protein – a
significant amount
for a vegetable.
3
P R E B I O TI C S
Artichokes contain a
unique form of fiber
know as inulin. Inulin
is one of the most
available and the more
promising prebiotics
in the food supply; it’s
also the preferred
form of prebiotic used
in animal and human
research studies.1
Following is a summary of the researched health benefits of artichokes; more research is needed to confirm benefits. For more information go to: http://www.oceanmist.com/artichokes/nutrition-health/ (See other side)
1 Brown-Riggs, C. The Gut Microbiota. Today’s Dietitian. November 2014:22-25.
2 J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Dec 27;54(26):9966-77.
LET US SHOW
YOU MORE!
• See helpful tips, recipes, nutrition facts and
preparation videos on our website,
AllAboutArtichokes.com
• Encourage shoppers to join The Artichoke Club
• Contact us for more info, merchandising tips
and promotional tools
A N T IO XI D A N T S
4
Artichokes rank
number one over all
vegetables in terms of
antioxidant count,
according to research
conducted by the US
Department of
Agriculture.2
ALL ABOUT ARTICHOKES
A Healthy Addition to Any Diet
Enjoying nutrient-rich artichokes supports areas of health that are top of
mind with today’s shoppers:
Gut
Health
• Gut health has become one of the most wide-sweeping ‘Health and Wellness’
interests. One reason is that it resonates with consumers of almost every age from
expectant mothers and moms of young children to young adults and baby boomers.
• The International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics defines a prebiotic as “a
selectively fermented ingredient that results in specific changes in the composition and/or activity of
the gastrointestinal microbiota, thus conferring benefits upon host health.”
• Studies have shown that prebiotics such as inulin can increase the proportion of Bifidobacteria.
This probiotic is associated with improved health by inhibiting the growth of pathogenic bacteria,
strengthening the immune system and restoring the gut microbiota.3
Improves
Symptoms
of IBS
• Artichokes have long been used as a digestive aid to reduce bloating, abdominal
pain and cramps, as well as reducing both diarrhea and constipation through
normalization of GI motility.4
• Extracts from artichoke leaves have also been used to reduce IBS symptoms and evaluated in at
least two clinical studies.5,6 Both trials reported significant improvement in IBS symptoms,
specifically in normalizing GI motility and reducing bloating as well as relieving distension and
abdominal pain and cramps.7
Healthy Body
Weight
• People who incorporate more fiber into their meals generally report feeling more
satiated and eat less. However, the prebiotic inulin appears to have additional
benefits in terms of healthier body weight.
• Researchers found that when daily prebiotic consumption occurred, benefits included reduced
appetite, lowered body weight/fat mass, and improved glucose tolerance.8
Healthy Blood
Sugar
• Often referred to as “good bacteria” probiotics are similar to the
bacteria found naturally in the body; prebiotics such as the inulin in artichokes
stimulate the growth and health of these beneficial bacteria.
• In a recent review study, researchers concluded that probiotics (such as yogurt) can help reduce
inflammation, increase insulin sensitivity and reduce autoimmune response.
• Specifically, in a double-blinded clinical study, people with type 2 diabetes
experienced reduced fasting glucose and HBA1c levels after consuming one yogurt daily for six
weeks.
• Scientists believe that healthy gut bacteria may play a role in reducing the risk of insulin
resistance, which leads to type 2 diabetes.
3 Kolida S, Gibson GR. Prebiotic capacity of inulin-type fructans. J Nutrition. 2007:137(11):2503S2506S.
4 World J Gastroenterol. 2014 Jan 14; 20(2): 346–362. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i2.346 Epub Complementary and alternative medicines in irritable bowel syndrome: An integrative view Oliver Grundmann and Saunjoo L Yoon
5 Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2003 Dec;18(11-12):1099-105.
Efficacy of artichoke leaf extract in the treatment of patients with functional dyspepsia: a six-week placebo-controlled, double-blind, multicentre trial.
Holtmann G1, Adam B, Haag S, Collet W, Grünewald E, Windeck T.
The Artichoke Leaf Extract preparation tested was significantly better than the placebo in alleviating symptoms and improving the disease-specific quality of life in patients with functional dyspepsia.
6 J Altern Complement Med. 2004 Aug;10(4):667-9. Artichoke leaf extract reduces symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and improves quality of life in otherwise healthy volunteers suffering from concomitant dyspepsia: a subset analysis. Bundy R1, Walker AF, Middleton RW, Marakis G, Booth JC.
7 World J Gastroenterol. 2014 Jan 14; 20(2): 346–362. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i2.346 Epub Complementary and alternative medicines in irritable bowel syndrome: An integrative view Oliver Grundmann and Saunjoo L Yoon
8 Binns N. International Life Sciences Institute. Probiotics, Prebiotics and the Gut Microbiota. http://www.ilsi.org/Europe/Publications/Prebiotics-Probiotics.pdf. Accessed September 18, 2015. Published 2013.
9 Gomes AC, et al. Gut microbiota, probiotics and diabetes. Nutrition Journal. 2014:13:60.
10 Gomes AC, et al. Gut microbiota, probiotics and diabetes. Nutrition Journal. 2014:13:60.
11 Brown-Riggs, C. The Gut Microbiota. Today’s Dietitian. November 2014:22-25.
AllAboutArtichokes.com
Castroville Headquarters
Coachella Office
10855 Ocean Mist Parkway 52-300 Enterprise Way
Castroville, CA 95012
Coachella, CA 92236
OceanMist.com
BRUSSELS SPROUTS
NUTRIENT
SUPER STARS
Named one of the Top 10 Food Trends of 2015 by Food & Wine Magazine1, Brussels sprouts are
seeing a surge in restaurants and at home. More versatile than meets the eye, this nutrient-rich
veggie benefits from consumer education and recipe inspiration.
OVER
75 mg OF
VITAMIN C
ON-TREND
WITH
CONSUMERS
< 130% DAILY
RECOMMENDED
AMOUNT OF
VITAMIN K
HEALTHY
VEGGIES
IN MINUTES
4 SPROUTS =
3+ GRAMS
OF PROTEIN
GROWN ON
OCEAN MIST
FAMILY FARMS
New
ENJOYING BRUSSELS SPROUTS
IS EASIER THAN EVER!
• Ready to eat or steam, no prep
• Open, season, seal, steam right in the package
• Fresh and nutritious veggies are meal-ready
in minutes
1 Sterling, J. 8 Food and Drink Trends to Try in 2015. FoodandWine.com. Accessed Sept. 18, 2015. Published January 2015.
LET US SHOW
YOU MORE!
• See helpful tips, recipes and preparation videos
on our website, OceanMist.com
• Look for the NEW Season & Steam line
• Contact us for more info, merchandising tips
and promotional tools
BRUSSELS SPROUTS
NUTRIENT
SUPER STARS
One Veggie, Many Healthy Benefits
Shoppers should know that the strong flavors they taste are the disease-fighting
phytonutrients in the plants. These phenols, flavonoids and glucosinolates appear to
lower the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. It’s these plant ‘toxins’ that help
protect the plant from disease and thus are some of the most potent compounds to
help protect people from diseases, especially cancer.3
Brain
Health
• Brussels sprouts deliver folate, which works with vitamin B12―found in fish, poultry,
meat and dairy―to help prevent cognitive impairment.
• In research from Tufts University, older adults with healthy levels of folate and B12
performed better on a test of response speed and mental flexibility.4
Eye
Health
Bone
Health
• The phytonutrients lutein and zeaxanthin are found in Brussels sprouts. These may
help protect from cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.
• Potassium, magnesium and vitamin K are essential to bone health and are all found in
Brussels sprouts.
• A 1-cup serving contains more than 130% of the daily value of vitamin K, 342 mg
potassium and 20 mg magnesium. Sprouts even contain 37 mg of calcium.
Heart
Health
• Sulforaphane, a phytochemical present in Brussels sprouts and other cruciferous
vegetables, has received wide attention for its potential to improve vascular function.
Researchers have found that it can inhibit adhesion of substances responsible for
blocking blood flow in atherosclerosis.5
• Quercetin, another well-studied type of flavonol in Brussels sprouts may also help reduce the risk of
coronary heart disease. Research reviews have examined a variety of mechanisms by which several
polyphenols in Brussels sprouts – such as hydroxycinnamic acids – may contribute to endothelial
protection and decrease oxidative stress in the cardiovascular system.6,7
• The amount of research on the cancer-preventive components found in Brussels
sprouts and other cruciferous vegetables is astounding. The phytonutrient class
isothiocyanates (of which sulforaphane is one) appears to inhibit carcinogens in three
ways: 1) Prevent carcinogens from becoming active; 2) Counter the poisonous effects
of carcinogens that have been activated; and 3) speed up their removal from the body.8
Cancer
Prevention
• Researchers have found in the lab that isothiocyanates are so powerful they can even block late stages
of the cancer process much like certain drugs do. Beyond the lab, an inverse association between
dietary intake of cruciferous vegetables and cancer risk has been observed in population-based
case-control studies; scientists have partly attributed this to the phytochemical isothiocyanates.9 It is
becoming increasingly apparent that the incorporation of a diet rich in cruciferous vegetables such as
Brussels sprouts may in fact be key to chemoprevention.10
2 Drewnowski A, Gomez-Carneros C. Bitter taste, phytonutrients, and the consumer. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;72:1424-1435.
3 Curr Pharmacol Rep. 2015 Feb 1;1(1):46-51.The Epigenetic Impact of Cruciferous Vegetables on Cancer Prevention. Royston KJ, Tollefsbol TO
4 Rosenberg I. Effects of folate and vitamin B12 on cognitive function in adults and the elderly. Food Nutr Bull, 2008 Jun, 29(2 Suppl):S132-42.
5 J Nutr Biochem. 2014 Aug;25(8):824-33. doi: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2014.03.011. Epub 2014 Apr 4. Sulforaphane reduces vascular inflammation in mice and prevents TNF-α-induced monocyte adhesion to primary endothelial cells through interfering with the NF-κB pathway. Nallasamy P, et al.
6 Vascul Pharmacol. 2014 Dec;63(3):155-61. doi: 10.1016/j.vph.2014.10.006. Epub 2014 Nov 13. Mechanisms of endothelial cell protection by hydroxycinnamic acids. Fuentes E, Palomo I
7 Cardiovasc Hematol Disord Drug Targets. 2013 Dec;13(3):208-30. A review of dietary influences on cardiovascular health: part 1: the role of dietary nutrients. Stradling C, et al.
8 Carcinogenesis. 2012 Jan;33(1):2-9. doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgr255. Epub 2011 Nov 10.The molecular basis that unifies the metabolism, cellular uptake and chemopreventive activities of dietary isothiocyanates.Zhang Y1.
9 Carcinogenesis. 2012 Oct;33(10):1833-42. doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgs216. Epub 2012 Jun 27. Cancer chemoprevention with dietary isothiocyanates mature for clinical translational research. Singh SV1, Singh K.
10 Curr Pharmacol Rep. 2015 Feb 1;1(1):46-51.The Epigenetic Impact of Cruciferous Vegetables on Cancer Prevention. Royston KJ, Tollefsbol TO
Castroville Headquarters
Coachella Office
10855 Ocean Mist Parkway 52-300 Enterprise Way
Castroville, CA 95012
Coachella, CA 92236
OceanMist.com