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Category Archive: News

1. Simple Ways To Enjoy Your Favorite #FreshStaples

   May 11, 2020 4:33 pm

   Having a well-stocked kitchen goes beyond just your pantry staples, make sure you lean on your #FreshStaples to keep you going! We’ve partnered with our friends at Driscoll’s and Mission Avocados to share three simple ways to make a refreshing + healthy + delicious meal. From the earth to your table, all of the goodness and none of the nonsense in a time when we most need it – nurturing, delicious  and easy! 

   

   Sweet Kale Raspberry Avocado Salad
   Ingredients:
   1 Taylor Farms Sweet Kale Chopped Kit
   1/2 cup Driscoll’s Raspberries
   1 Mission Avocado, sliced

   Directions:
   Add Sweet Kale Chopped Salad Kit to a bowl or plate, top with raspberries and avocado. Drizzle with Poppyseed Dressing from salad kit. Enjoy!

    

    

   

   Mediterranean Raspberry Avocado Grain Bowl
   Ingredients:
   1 Taylor Farms Mediterranean Crunch Chopped Kit
   1/2 cup Driscoll’s Raspberries
   1 Mission Avocado, sliced
   1/2 cup quinoa, cooked

   Directions:
   Add 1/2 cup of Mediterranean Crunch Chopped Salad to a bowl, top with raspberries, avocado, and quinoa. Drizzle with Basil Balsamic Vinaigrette from the kit. Enjoy!

    

    

   

   Tropical Green Smoothie Bowl

   Smoothie Bowl Ingredients:
   3/4 cup coconut milk or almond milk (use 1/2 to 1 cup to reach desired thickness)
   2 cups Taylor Farms Spinach
   1/2 Mission Avocado
   1 ripe banana peeled, sliced and frozen
   1 cup frozen pineapple

   Smoothie Bowl Topping Options
   1/2 cup granola
   1 tbsp toasted coconut chips
   1/2 cup Driscoll’s Raspberries

   Directions:
   1. Add the Smoothie Bowl ingredients to a blender, and add only 1/2 cup liquid to start. Start on low speed, scraping down the bowl as needed and adding more liquid if it gets stuck. Once thick and creamy, set the mixer to high speed until it reaches sorbet-like consistency.

   2. Divide smoothie mixture between 2 bowls and garnish with smoothie bowl topping options (granola, coconut chips, fresh berries, etc).

    

   Tips on making your #FreshStaples last:
   
   

   🍓 BERRIES 101:

   • The fridge is the best place to store your berries! 
   • Don’t wash your berries before refrigerating them, it will ensure that they last longer! We also recommend that you pat them dry after rinsing them. Dry Berries= Happy Berries!
   • Want to freeze your berries? Gently rinse them, let them dry and then pack them up and freeze for future use – perfect for smoothies!
     To learn more about how to care for your favorite berries visit https://www.driscolls.com/berries.

   🥑 AVOCADOS 101: 

   • Refrigerate avocados only after they are ripe, where they will stay fresh and ready to serve at the peak of ripeness for several days
   • Color is not always an indicator of ripeness. The best way to judge ripeness is to feel for uniform softness!
   • If your avocados feel mushy or very soft to the touch, it may be ripe or overripe — a perfect candidate for guacamole, smoothies or baby food!
   • YES! You can freeze your avocados! Slice the avocado and brush lightly with lemon juice. Wrap tightly in a cling wrap, don’t leave any room for air. Place the wrapped avocado in a freezer safe zip tight bag. Press out all of the air and place in a freezer. Remove and thaw when ready to eat!
   • Even though avocados have an outside skin to act as a barrier to the fruit, washing the fruit can help protect yourself from germs of previous shoppers who may have also picked up the fruit. 

   🥗 SALADS 101:
   

   • Make sure to refrigerate your favorite salad kits until ready to use for the best salad experience! 
   • Our salad bags are breathable to ensure that the veggies and greens stay fresh! Don’t want to eat the whole salad in one sitting? Roll it up gently to remove the air from the bag, then close tightly with a clip and store back in the fridge for up to 2 days!
   • Truthfully, the most important tip we could share is our store locator, so you can dig into the flavor of fresh right away with our convenient, pre-chopped, ready-to-eat, delicious salad kits. We’ve taken the guesswork out of good salad making, so sit back, relax and get your fresh on. They’re incredibly versatile and you can enjoy them straight out of the bag, topped with your favorite proteins, as fillings for tacos, sandwiches or even sauteed for a warm and comforting meal!

    

   Follow #FreshStaples on Instagram for the latest fresh produce inspiration! Be sure to tag us to be featured on our feed!

2. Leading a Healthy Business

   4:25 pm

   Our continued commitment to be a force for good in the world is carried out through every aspect of our company. Everyday we are building trust in the quality and authenticity of our products, processes, and our people. Our mission to provide safe, high-quality fresh foods depends on the health of our business; and that includes both financial and social investments.

   

   Leading by example through consumer health and wellbeing is a top priority at Taylor Farms. The responsibility of feeding families across North America is matched with our teams’ unparalleled commitment to producing the safest highest quality product possible from field to fork. Furthermore, we have restructured our sourcing model and developed new growing regions to reduce food miles and increase freshness.

    

   

    

   In 2019 we worked closely with the Leafy Green Marketing Agreement (LGMA) to take our own research to industry practice by establishing new irrigation water standards, a preventive step to mitigate risks of pathogens and food safety outbreaks. Pre-harvest testing has been part of our Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) program for over a decade. Innovation has been one of our main focuses within the past 25 years, and we are continuously working to improve our work environment.

    

   

   We pride ourselves in maintaining an innovative culture, challenging ourselves to improve upon today’s practices in the field and within processing operations, logistics, and consumer experience. Our goal and focus in adopting automation throughout our business is to create a more desirable work environment for our employees and to increase productivity. Utilizing automation to remedy repetitive and labor intensive roles, provides an opportunity to transition our employees towards higher skilled and higher paid positions. Our team is most proud of changes made to the romaine harvest, switching from totes to bin-bulk which not only increases productivity but creates a more desirable and ergonomic work environment for our employees.

   

   Taylor Farms has one of the largest and most diverse raw material sourcing programs in the world with over 125,000 acres harvested annually. One of the new technologies we’re excited about is the new Global Forecasting Tool, which helps to bring powerful information to our fingertips. Taylor Farms is one of the first agriculture companies to prioritize the implementation of automation and robotic initiatives throughout our operations. In 2018, Taylor Farms opened two state-of-the-art training facilities focused on employee learning and development through engagement and hands-on experience with highly technical and sophisticated machinery.

    

   

   We are looking for solutions across all our segments for Taylor Farms branded items to reduce our plastic footprint. Taylor Farms is researching and trialing various solutions such as biodegradable, compostable, bio-based and recyclable packaging solutions. We have begun lightweighting our trays, using 21% less plastic compared to competitors and eliminating non-essentials packaging components such as party tray lids. We understand that recycling can be confusing, it depends on the packaging material, and sometimes where you live. We have begun implementing the How2Recycle label on our packaging, helping to take the guessing game out of recycling.

    

   

    

   Our Taylor Farms team has made great improvements for our business and the industry through these six projects in the past 25 years.  Learn more about our commitment to a Healthy Business in the video below and be sure to stay tuned on social as we celebrate the people and the processes that are helping us leave this place a better world, one salad at a time.

3. How To Throw Your Own Cinco De Mayo Fiesta

   3:54 pm

   It’s almost Cinco de Mayo, which means it’s time to celebrate with a Mexican-inspired cuisine for those you are sheltering in place with! From Taco Salads, to Sheet Pan Nachos, and Chimichurri Chicken Salad, here are some easy recipes and decor tips from Nashville Wifestyles to bring the flavor of fresh to your at-home fiesta!

    

   

   Let’s first decide which of our Chopped Kits is going to help make this at home fiesta a complete hit… Avocado Ranch, Salsa Ranch, or Southwest. 

   GO BIG with sheet pan nachos using our Avocado Ranch Chopped Kit – super easy and a huge hit!

   

   Or beef up your Salsa Ranch Chopped Kit with an easy Taco Salad by Nashville Housewives – super yummy and perfect for a twist on Taco Tuesdays. Here’s what you need:

   ground beef (can substitute with chicken, veggies, etc.)
   shredded cheese
   chopped scallions
   sour cream
   chopped jalapeños
   limes/lime juice
   Taylor Farms Salsa Ranch Chopped Kit
   Mix all ingredients in a bowl and serve!

    

   

   Spice up your Southwest Chopped Kit by making a Mexican Chimichurri Chicken Salad– the fresh greens and veggies from our kit will pair perfectly with chimichurri chicken. 

   

   Happy Cinco de Mayo! We look forward to seeing how you celebrate by tagging @yourtaylorfarms and #TheFlavorOfFresh .

4. Equipping Students for School Year Success

   3:46 pm

   Here at Taylor Farms one of our key community focuses is supporting local youth in their educational development and academic success, making back to school month an extra special time of the year! We believe the little things in life can make a big difference, which is why we take time to make going back to school a little more special for children in our local communities.

   This is our eighth year partnering with Golden State Foods Foundation to provide brand new backpacks filled with school supplies to first graders – and this year’s is bigger than ever, supporting more than 1,000 students in our local communities and children of our employees in Salinas, CA; Gonzales, CA; Dallas, TX; and Tracy, CA.

   

   Team Taylor Farms Texas assembling brand new backpacks filled with supplies.

   “When school begins each year, your annual donation of backpacks greatly benefits our students’ learning,” said Elizabeth Armenta, Principal, Alisal Community Elementary School. “Every year it’s a joy to see our students’ happy faces and hear their excitement. These efforts have truly made a difference and have touched so many lives.”

   

   Team Taylor Farms distributing backpacks at La Gloria Elementary School in Gonzales, CA.

   

   Joe Villareal and Jose Perez of Taylor Farms hand out backpacks to first grade students.

   Taylor Farms Tennessee also wanted to help make their community’s return to school a little easier. The team presented a check for $25,000 to John Colemon Elementary, a K-5 Rutherford County School that’s 1.5 miles away from our Tennessee based facility. The donation will support the school in its needs for updated technology, reading programs, additional school supplies, interactive fields trips, and much more.

   

   “The principal [of John Colemon Elementary] gave us a tour and introduced us to a few classes and many of the kids said things like, ‘I know Taylor Farms’ or ‘my Uncle works there,’” says Amy Smalley of Taylor Farms Tennessee. “We are also planning weekly support for the school by donating Taylor Farms snack packs to the students to ensure they have fresh and healthy snacks each day.”

   

   Healthy minds and healthy communities are of the utmost importance to us. Providing communities with fresh, nutritious produce and children with a strong start through education is essential to improving the quality of life in our local communities, and we look forward to helping in any way we can for years to come.

    

5. Cultivating a Healthy Environment

   3:31 pm

   One of the most important things we strive to make, is a difference. Our continued commitment to be a force for good in the world is carried out through every aspect of our company, from the way we grow, produce and package our fresh foods, to making our own renewable energy, and protecting the land that feeds us. Our teams are working harder than ever to ensure shelves can be stocked with fresh food and even during these trying times, we are still operating with the Earth in mind. This Earth Month, we want to showcase our commitment to you and the planet. Each week we will be highlighting the pillars that support our commitment to sustainability: Healthy Environment, Healthy Business and Healthy Community. 

   

   This year we hit a sustainability milestone, with three of our California facilities becoming TRUE Platinum Zero Waste Certified. With this achievement, we reduced GHG emissions equivalent to 37,000 cars off of the road annually and we have diverted 174,224 tons of material from landfills. The journey to becoming Zero Waste certified is unique to each facility and Green Team. Each facility conducts a recycling and waste stream audit in partnership with their local waste and recycling agencies, redesign waste flow streams and receptacles in the facilities, re-evaluate all incoming and outgoing packaging and conduct employee trainings.

   

   In 2019 we also launched an on-farm metrics and management pilot program to assess various resource use efficiency metrics to identify which metrics are best to support conservation practices and added a vertical integration component to help us drive innovation faster from seed to final packaging with our 280+ growing partners around North America. We are able to design a multi-season pilot where we plan to discover: potential leverage points for data sharing, methods and measures that drive on-farm management efficiencies while delivering positive environmental impact.

   

   We took on a significant project, building a state-of-the-art retail salad processing facility in Baja, Mexico. Efficiency is the name of the game; with innovative processing equipment, upgraded refrigeration design, a unique facility layout to improve production flow and capacity, improved wash lines to reduce both water and energy consumption. We want clean, reliable and affordable energy to power our operations across North America. Taylor Farms has made great strides towards our goal in the last two years with fuel cell upgrades and new installations and a new solar array in Mexico, in addition to our eight previous projects.

   

   We are committed to preserving a healthy world for future generations through resource conservation and responsible business practices. Stay tuned as we dive into our next two pillars, Healthy Business and Healthy Community, as well as a special project we will be releasing on Earth Day, April 22nd.  Learn more about our commitment to a Healthy Environment in the video below and be sure to stay tuned on social as we celebrate the people and the processes that are helping us leave this place a better world, one salad at a time.