LOS ALAMITOS, CA – Frieda’s Specialty Produce did something extra to support the 2^nd annual Southland Credit Union Sugar Beet Festival in its hometown of Los Alamitos, CA.  Aside from the company’s usual booth space featuring its specialty fruits and vegetables, Frieda’s also sponsored a new edible obstacle on the Sugartown Challenge 5K-ish Fun Run.

“We took our ‘Eat One Fruit A Day That Scares You’ message to a different level and made our obstacle an edible one,” said Karen Caplan, President and CEO of Frieda’s. “You have to eat a piece of scary fruit before you continue on your race! And our scary fruit of choice for the challenge was Starfruit.”

The station was managed by Jackie Caplan Wiggins, Vice President and COO of Frieda’s, who made sure the runners took at least one bite.

Frieda’s booth also featured “The Greatest Exotic Fruit & Vegetable Petting Zoo on Earth,” where everyone could learn about and get their hands on specialty items like Rambutan, Color Cauliflower, Purple Snow Peas and many more, according to a press release.

“There were about 300 participants in the challenge, and most came back to our booth after they completed the challenge to ask us about the fruit they just ate,” said Wiggins. “About half of the participants were children and teens, and they were very interested to check out our fruit and vegetable ‘petting zoo’ and see what other ‘weird’ things we had available.”

The Southland Credit Union Sugar Beet Festival is a celebration of Los Alamitos’ founding and ties to sugar beet farming and production.

Frieda's