Carrots, The New Junk Food

     Carrots have been around for years but have you ever considered a baby carrot as a junk food? The CEO of Bolthouse Farms,Jeff Dunn, believes that the baby carrot is the junk food for vegetables.
     Bolthouse Farms had been around for a century. The compony boomed in  the 1990s with a great new product. A man named Mike Yurosek thought of an idea to cut the carrots into small pieces and then selling them in bags. He cut the carrots into 1-inch pieces and peeled them into a round shape. These were known as "bunny balls". Some of the carrots were 2-inches and were called baby carrots. The baby carrorts became extremly popular while bunny ballls never made it. With the invention of baby carrots the amount of carrots consumed by Americans doubled.
      Jeff Dunn put together several focus groups and surveys. He found some interesting information. He discovered that Americans buying baby carrots weren't taking the time to wash and cut regular carrots but regular carrots stay longer. Therefore, Americans bought regular carrots and would not eat them and then would not purchase any until they had spoiled or were eaten.
      To increase the sales of many carrots, Jeff Dunn decided to create advertisements and new packaging. Dunn flew to Boulder, Colorando to meet with Crispin. Crisipin made Dunn realize that he wanted baby carrots to appeal as a junk food. Crispin came up with a campaign 'Eat 'Em Like Junk Food'. Bolthouse Farms started to wrap the carrots with that saying on them and then put them in vending machines at high schools.
      The branding and packaging of the product is very important. The packing has to be appealing to the consumers eye so it will make them want to eat it. Attractive packaging is crucial because many consumers judge a product by how it looks. Branding also is a major part becasue a company must create a brand that a consumer has brought previously and remembered that they were satisfied with it. Therefore, comsumers would most likely buy that product agian.
      I find the new niche in the carrot industry very interesting. Bolthouse Farms had a great idea to make carrots the new 'junk food'. This allowed many people to buy the product and it is better for their health. Instead of grapping a bag of chips to snack on, Americans can eat a bag of baby carrots.