The votes are in for Refrigerated & Frozen Foods’ 2018 Best New Retail Products contest. Congratulations to B&G Foods, Inc., Green Giant brand, Parsippany, N.J., for taking fifth place for its Green Giant Veggie Spirals. 

Marina Mayer, editor-in-chief of Refrigerated & Frozen Foods and the creator of the Best New Retail Products contest, talked exclusively with Jordan Greenberg, vice president and general manager, to discuss the “winning” product and what’s in store for the future.

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods: First off, congratulations on placing FIFTH in Refrigerated & Frozen Foods’ 2018 Best New Retail Products contest. What does this recognition mean to you, your company, your products and your consumers?

Jordan Greenberg: We’re very excited for Green Giant Veggie Spirals to be recognized by Refrigerated & Frozen Foods’ 2018 Best New Retail Products. Our Veggie Swap-Ins line was incredibly successful in 2017, so we were thrilled kick off 2018 with the introduction of Green Giant Veggie Spirals, frozen spiralized vegetables available in zucchini, carrots, butternut squash and beets.

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods: Your new retail product—Green Giant Veggie Spirals—was nominated by Refrigerated & Frozen Foods’ editor-in-chief, Marina Mayer. What unique and innovative features does this new product hold that would allow it to even be nominated?

Greenberg: Green Giant Veggie Spirals have been met with an unprecedented amount of consumer excitement and interest, as this product saves consumers the time and effort that goes into spiralizing on their own or the expense of buying fresh spiralized vegetables.

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods: These spiralized vegetables are said to be an ideal alternative to pasta. What does this say about the future of pasta and frozen vegetables?

Greenberg: Consumers are constantly looking for “better for you” alternatives, and the way consumers have embraced our Green Giant Riced Veggies indicates that Green Giant Veggie Spirals are a product they are excited to introduce into their diets. Consumers today are demanding clean food, without sauces or seasonings that they can eat as a stand-alone side dish or season and incorporate into a recipe. There’s also a demand for convenience, and that’s a big reason why the Green Giant Veggie Swap-Ins line has been such a hit for us

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods: Why create this new product?

Greenberg: Our main goal is to help consumers eat more veggies by continually introducing new products that allow them to add an additional serving of veggies. This is why new consumers are seeking us out. Green Giant Veggie Spirals are 100% vegetables with no sauces or seasonings. They are gluten-free, Paleo-friendly, low in carbs and low calorie. Veggie Spirals have been an incredible hit with consumers, as they offer convenience. We’ve eliminated the prep work, clean up and waste that goes into spiralizing veggies on your own

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods: Any unique features to the product’s packaging?

Greenberg: The proprietary PrimaPak packaging [produced by Clear Lam, Elk Grove Village, Ill.] used for our Green Giant Veggie Spirals is designed to replace older forms of packaging such as bag in box, stand-up pouches, pillow bags, chipboards or rigid trays. The patented technology produces a rectangular, flexible, stackable package that provides six crisp panels for maximum graphics coverage. The PrimaPak packaging is convenient and can be used as a single-use bowl or a multi-serving dish with an intuitive peel/reseal opening, allowing for easy ingredient blending and quick microwave heating.

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods: What is on the horizon for your company come 2018 into 2019?

Greenberg: We expect veggie swapping will continue to become an even bigger part of mainstream American diets, and we’ll be ready to provide an easy, convenient way to make this swap with our current products and exciting new options that will roll out this fall.

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods: Anything else to add to the conversation of new product development? Anything you’d like to share with our readers that hasn’t been discussed?

Greenberg: Today’s consumers are time starved, and we are committed to creating new products that make meal prep easier while helping consumers increase the amount of veggies in their diets.