Tales of old made new is a magic to strive for with every keystroke and pen-scratch. To recreate the gravity that pulls a story to the heights of myth can polish a shining fossil of words that does not just give us a view of what was, but what can be. If we take care enough, we can even see some of ourselves within its reflection.
One of the oldest of trades is to farm, and while some methods have been reshaped, the act of putting seed to soil is one that hands across time have practiced. As ancient treasures find a contemporary polish in today’s desire to reconnect to the past, modern mythology has hit the produce industry.
“Despite a long eating history, dates have not been considered sexy in modern times, so we are making them sexy,” Robert Dobrzanski shares as we dig into how his company, Atlas Produce, first sought to make the ancient fruit sleek and sought-after. “We are seeing a two-fold success: The date category is growing as it becomes more and more familiar, while our brand continues to capture increasing attention. The Fresh Energy™ approach is bold, eye-catching, and gaining momentum as we ride that rising wave of consumers seeking to be healthy.”
Like Neil Gaiman’s American Gods or Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles, Fresh Energy by Atlas Produce shines a new light on products that have withstood the test of time but might have otherwise been a little dusted in their public perception.
“We are establishing a brand retailers can create a destination around in the store, targeting anyone looking for an alternative to a processed power bar,” Robert tells me as we settle in.
His initial foray into dates, and the inspiration for the rising Fresh Energy brand, was to turn the category on its head. Now, doing so successfully has laid the groundwork for Robert and his team to double down on the bets they’ve made with an organic counterpart, upping the count of the Fresh Energy Dates line two-fold.
"The Fresh Energy™ approach is bold, eye-catching, and gaining momentum as we ride that rising wave of consumers seeking to be healthy."
Robert Dobrzanski, Founder, Atlas Produce
“We’ve had such strong growth in organics. We saw that we had the resources and the demand to expand on the Date Rolls, Chopped Dates, Deglets, and the rest of our date products to provide more opportunities and offerings to our customers,” Robert says. “So now, our entire conventional line is mirrored with an organic line.”
I won’t say that Fresh Energy conventional dates, like Narcissus, will obsessively gaze at their organic reflections. It’s far more likely consumers will be the ones doing the staring, drawn to the bright colors of Fresh Energy—brilliant turquoise, deep purple, and the like—hooked by the one final piece of the puzzle: organic.
And if seeing a 50 percent increase to its SKUs isn’t enough, Fresh Energy is taking on an all-new category to further demonstrate its Midas-handed brand’s power.
“Atlas Produce has always helped to provide figs of all kinds—dried figs, California White figs, and Black figs. Now, we are taking the expertise we gathered and have adapted that to our brand to bring a whole new category to the line consumers recognize and have come to trust,” Robert tells me.
Newly revealed, Fresh Energy Figs offer Golden, Black Mission, diced Mission, organic Mission, and organic California figs, with total marketplace customization to the retailer. The new frontier for Fresh Energy is yet another fruit whose long history is worth dusting off. This, I think, is a company that shares my fascination with ensuring history is not only remembered, but valued.
Instead of tattered stories, though, Robert’s passion lies with turning produce underdogs into the modern gods (read: superfoods) of today.
"We are establishing a brand retailers can create a destination around in the store, targeting anyone looking for an alternative to a processed power bar."
“I think retailers realize that these offerings are strong, shelf-stable options that are easy to handle,” Robert comments when I make my observations. “By encouraging larger displays and ensuring strategic product placement in the store, they are making important moves to set the category up for success. I also think the consumers are becoming more aware of the health benefits of dates, figs, and other ‘exotic’ categories.”
Ensuring those strengths are known in an aesthetically pleasing and convenient way, Robert explains, is key in seeing this success continue year over year.
“Our labeling calls out a lot of information to reach the consumer, communicating all that they are looking for without being too busy. In turn, placing these products next to those with similar benefits is a huge contributor,” Robert tells me. “Placing dates next to bananas, for example, is perfect because people seeking bananas are looking for potassium. They can then see how to get that potassium while adding more variety to their diet.”
It doesn’t hurt, either, that Atlas ensures its line reaches both longtime date lovers and those who don’t know they love them yet, offering classic conventional and organic Medjools for the former and rolling some offerings in tasty additions like coconut or nuts for the latter.
Will the figs get this same tasty treatment? Robert says we are in for quite a few surprises when it comes to the Fresh Energy line, including, but not limited to, its newest official addition.
“There’s still so much in the works, both product-wise and with packaging. We are experimenting with a few more additions that will roll out soon, but not before we are absolutely positive that they will deliver in the way both buyers and consumers have come to expect from our brand,” Robert shares.
"...We are taking the expertise we gathered and have adapted that to our brand to bring a whole new category to the line consumers recognize and have come to trust."
For the most part, he plays this close to the vest, giving me just one small hint of what is going on in research and development within the depths of Atlas Produce.
“As growers and farmers, we've always been sustainable because if we aren't, then we can't continue to grow. Likewise, we've changed some of our packaging to more sustainable and recycled materials for the actual clamshell. Soon, our dates will be in 100 percent recyclable packaging. That is just the tip of the iceberg for what we have under our hat at the moment,” Robert teases. “We're just looking at ways to use less materials, yet still provide eye-catching packaging. And there will be much more soon enough, I can assure you.”
Ancient ways have gripped the modern world—a fresh spin dusts off our ancestors’ wisdom, making it glisten. No marketplace does this more than the good-for-you corner, which celebrates the ways of old as the secret to health and wellness.
Dates and figs have been around longer than most of our methodologies, and indeed all of our marketing approaches, yet they are seeing new life that does more than make them attractive to the modern consumer—an enchantment they once held in times when stories were the certitude of the world around us and everyday items held magic within them. 
