OFFERING NEW TASTES
Capital Roots adds more products
TROY, N.Y. » Capital Roots is expanding its offerings to better serve consumers in two different ways.
The Troy-based nonprofit has added some new products as part of its mission for every person to have access to fresh, affordable, healthy food.
Pre-cut fruits and vegetables as well as culturally-appropriate produce items have recently been introduced to Capital Roots programs, in an effort to provide what the people want and need.
From carrot sticks to koosa (a squash used in lebanese cuisine), Capital Roots new products aim to better address consumers’ lifestyles and requirements.
“We’re working to increase availability of variety for our constituent base,” said Capital Roots CEO Amy Klein.
One of the ways these new products will make it to customers’ kitchens is on the
Veggie Mobile, a mobile produce market that travels to inner- city neighborhoods throughout Albany, Rensselaer and Schenectady counties.
When this program started 10 years ago, Klein said, small processed foods were part of the vision of the Veggie Mobile. “We just never had the capacity and the facility to be able to provide that,” she explained.
Today, the growing organization is headquartered at a large, new Urban Grow Center on River Street, with a second phase planned to add a commercial on- site kitchen.
So, Capital Roots has started chopping up celery, melons, pineapple and peppers for consumer convenience, and distributing this produce in biodegradable plastic containers.
Like the pre- cut products available to supermarket shoppers, these items are now available to those who get fresh food fromthe Veggie Mobile and other Capital Roots programs like its convenience store partnerships, institutional clients and the Virtual Veggie Mobile online marketplace.
In addition to convenience, the pre- cut product line was also designed to better serve Capital Roots many senior constituents, who can’t cut these items themselves due to arthritis, or those who don’t need an entire item, such as watermelon, but would still like to enjoy some.
These new pre- cut products also address a need within the increasing number of local childcare facilities that Capital Roots serves.
Once Capital Roots has its new kitchen, which is expected to open in 2019, the organization can do more small processing such as making applesauce and soups with the local produce it receives.
For now, the cut fruits and veggies are going over well. “Reactions have been incredibly positive,” Klein said. “People are really appreciating it and giving us great feedback.”
Some of the top sellers of cut fruit and vegetables were right in Troy, at Can Stop Redemption onWashington Street and Midtown Market on Congress Street, while the largest institutional consumption was at the Commission on Economic Opportunity in Troy and theMechanicville Community Center.
The second area of expansion that Capital Roots has recently further explored is culturally- appropriate produce.
While there has always been certain items available through Capital Roots, “We’re just taking it up a notch,” Klein said, calling it a reinvigorated effort.
“We’re always looking for how we can offer our constituents items that are of specific interest to their backgrounds and cultures,” Klein said.
In the past few months, foods like jicama and taro root have been added to the list of other culturespecific foods Capital Roots carries including plantains and quenepa fruit.
The idea to add these items came fromconsumer requests, gathered through surveying and man- on- thestreet research. Therefore, these items have been a hit so far. “All of those items aremoving reallywell, people are responding well to them,” Klein said.
“We really try to stay on top of what people are looking for,” Klein said. ““We’re really trying to be responsive to what people are interested in.”
In the future, Klein hopes to improve upon and expand both of these efforts evenmore, while being responsive and keeping prices affordable for constituents.
“We’re always looking to see what people are interested in and are happy to provide,” she said.
Formore information on Capital Roots and its programs, visit www. capitalroots. org.