US (CA): Growers find innovative ways for us to eat our veggies

In the Salinas Valley, often referred to as the "salad bowl of the world," fresh vegetables abound and provide Mann Packing with the ingredients and inspiration for ever-changing ways to nourish their customers. The company was founded in the 1930s by H.W. Mann, a young Stanford grad who came to Salinas looking for opportunity. He found it—growing broccoli, of all things! Mann saw potential for the then-relatively unknown vegetable and began shipping it to America's heartland. His business has since grown to become the largest shipper of broccoli in the world, but always with an eye to the future.

In the early 1990s, the folks at Mann's began to notice a shift with consumers. To meet the needs of a fast-paced lifestyle, they started shipping fresh cut, washed and ready-to-eat vegetables. Mann's was a pioneer in the party tray and snack pack categories, both of which led them to discover the popularity of another item: stringless sugar snap peas. Today, Mann's has more than 2,000 acres in Salinas devoted to growing these prized peas, which enjoy cool days and the strong soil that the salad bowl of the world offers.