Landec has announced that the entire portfolio of its Eat Smart branded products now contains only 100% clean ingredients, including all salad dressings, toppings, sauces and dips. With the completion of this Eat Smart initiative, all products in the Landec Natural Foods (LNF) branded portfolio contain only 100% clean ingredients, including Eat Smart fresh packaged vegetables and salads, O Olive Oil and Vinegar premium artisan products, Now Planting pure-plant meal solutions, and Yucatan and Cabo Fresh guacamole and avocado products.

This announcement comes on the heels of the recent acquisition of Yucatan Foods, a producer of guacamole and avocado products in North America, and is said to be a critical milestone in the transformation of Landec Natural Foods from a packaged, fresh vegetable business to a branded, natural foods business focused on plant-based foods with 100% clean ingredients.

Having 100% clean ingredients means there are no artificial dyes, flavours, preservatives, sweeteners or high fructose corn syrup. Currently, many non-organic salad kits, salad dressings and dips do not contain clean ingredients, despite the fact that clean ingredient labels are important to a growing number of consumers. A reported 65% of people look for the shortest list of ingredients when shopping for food, while 58% look for ingredients they can recognize according to a recent Hartman Group study. Moreover, two in five people agree that “no artificial ingredients” is important when buying food and beverages (Mintel 2017).

“People deserve to buy fresh foods without worrying about whether or not the ingredients are all natural. Consumers can now purchase products within the LNF brand portfolio without needing to study the label. They can trust that our branded products contain only 100% clean ingredients,” said Molly Hemmeter, CEO and President of Landec Corporation.

Understanding the consumer need for clean, simple ingredient labeling, the company says it began searching for options two years ago and committed to producing only 100% clean products under its Eat Smart brand by the end of calendar year 2018. When suitable ingredient alternatives did not exist from third parties, LNF took on the challenge of developing its own solutions. The company prioritized reformulating its products utilizing internal R&D as well as in partnership with vendors to develop new solutions and to meet its commitment.

With its refrigerated supply chain, including manufacturing facilities and direct distribution network, Landec Natural Foods says it is able to provide 100% clean products because it has the capability to deliver fresh, short shelf-life foods fast, without the need for artificial preservatives that other companies use to enable them to hold reserve inventories throughout their supply chain.

“We have the recipes, supply chain and food safety practices in place to deliver delicious, fresh foods with ingredients that people recognize, can pronounce, and feel good about eating,” said Hemmeter. “Landec Natural Food’s mission is to provide access to delicious, plant-based foods made from clean ingredients to as many people as possible.”

Landec Natural Foods products are sold in all club stores and 73% of all retail stores throughout North America.