As it turns out, it takes so much more than lemons to make lemonade. For one standout operation, it took 25 years of growing, packing, shipping, innovating, researching, starting over, and becoming.
Looking back on a milestone year, what was Trinity Fruit Company has now confidently evolved into Trinity Company, with fruit being a powerful aspect but no longer all there is to the grower, packer, shipper, and beverage provider. This was driven home by the summer 2024 launch of a lemonade line that has seen the company solidify its position around the perimeter of the grocery store.
“We are very proud of our new lemonades, but truthfully, they are the result of a string of innovation going back to launching our Squeezed Juices in 2021,” Angela Hernandez, Director of Marketing, reflects. “Further back than that, Trinity has been a grower, packer, and shipper of fresh fruit for 25 years now. Over the years, as we have grown our commodities and our offerings, we’ve realized with this comes food waste and aimed to distribute as much as we could through a variety of different sustainability strategies.”
Seeds of this—specifically pomegranate seeds and arils, which are still a staple of Trinity—can be found across the company’s portfolio, along with conventional, organic, frozen, and dried fruit, a direct-to-consumer project, and a singular sustainable beverage program. From distributing excess materials through third parties to feeding animals, the road to the right avenue of upcycling has expanded and diversified Trinity’s offerings and the experience of its team.
Taking challenges of 2020—from social distancing to shutdowns—in stride, the company launched a direct-to-consumer box program, The Fruitful Market, to offer comfort and fresh fruit to those still unsure of going out. To this day, it continues to create and serve loyal shoppers.
“We hand-pick each piece of fruit specially. We only ship the best products from our farms and facilities right to consumers’ doorsteps, so they can taste and fall in love with our fruit,” Angela explains.
However, there was another step in sustainability that Founder David White had been yearning to take. With the introspection and business restructuring that came amid the shutdowns of that same year, he saw an opportunity to finally make the leap. Or, in this case, the splash.
“David really wanted to do a juice, and 2020 gave us a chance to dig in and make it happen,” Angela shared. “It was important to all of us to continue to find ways to repurpose all of the parts of our harvest and to still do something different from what was out there. We wanted to be sure what we were offering was real fruit, healthy, and not from concentrate.”
From the right mix to the right bottle, it was a labor of love that launched a resounding success in the form of Squeezed Juice.
“I’m very proud of our team and how everyone has worked together to bring an idea to fruition, all while keeping our zero-waste initiative at the forefront,” David himself reflected on the process and all the team has accomplished, from thought to vision and execution.
It’s much more than a portfolio extension, as Angela pointed out.
“Learning the space of juice has been completely new—it is nothing like our history of being only fresh produce. It has been a time of new navigation, new commodities, and new contacts and deadlines in the year,” Angela clarifies. “It’s been a team effort and a fun team-building aspect, taking us outside of our comfort zone to really dig into R&D in a new way. Mixologist meetings and tastings have been just as great for us as a team as it has been for our company strategically!”
“It was important to all of us to continue to find ways to repurpose all of the parts of our harvest and to still do something different from what was out there. We wanted to be sure what we were offering was real fruit, healthy, and not from concentrate.”
Angela Hernandez, Director of Marketing, Trinity Company
Following a combination of what the company was best known for and what consumer demand dictated, Pomegranate and Mandarin Squeezed Juice led Trinity into a new space that would see it reshape itself from Trinity Fruit to Trinity Company—a multi-faceted fresh provider.
“After initial success, we saw the continued demand to stay healthy—since COVID, even more so than before—inspiring us to launch Immunity, Power Greens, and Focus juices,” Angela recalls. “A lot of functional juices on the market use apple juice or pineapple juice bases, adding a lot of sugar. We were able to use pomegranate to cut a lot of sugar but still give great flavor, as well as a foundation for much more innovation.”
This brings us full circle to 2024. The milestone 25th anniversary for Trinity Company was also the unveiling of its latest exciting offering: a fresh lemonade line.
“David once again saw an opportunity, this time to do something more with our lemons! It is definitely that clichéd ‘How do you turn lemons into lemonade?’ strategy, but on a grander scale and without the spoonfuls of sugar,” Angela jokes.
With either a pomegranate or spinach base, depending on the lemonade flavor, Trinity’s line does the same for this new segment as it did for juice in upcycling fresh items while swapping out added sugars.
“We call it a disruptor to the lemonade category for the accomplishment of no sugar and no water added across three initial flavors. We’ve launched the lemonade line in Classic, Pink, and Green,” she shares.
Green especially stands out in the trio—a unique offering amid the typical yellow- and pink-hued lemonade ilk.
“Our products have been built alongside consumer needs, ensuring that they are what everyone is looking for. At the same time, it’s been so fun to find great ways to utilize and upcycle what would have otherwise just been wasted,” Angela observes.
Amid discussions of innovation and business strategy, sustainability commitments, and meeting demands, it is not lost on me that Angela always finds a way to seamlessly weave in the team that creates all of this and how they continue to have fun while doing so.
“We call it a disruptor to the lemonade category for the accomplishment of no sugar and no water added across three initial flavors. We’ve launched the lemonade line in Classic, Pink, and Green.”
Angela Hernandez
“We have always prided ourselves on building a team that reflects our family-owned values as a company, and our culture is the sum of amazing people all working together to deliver quality product all over the world. Not only are we proud, we have enjoyed doing it!” she reflects.
This, I imagine, began at the top with David himself, who stands out as a leader.
“David is very inspiring, and his mind runs non-stop, which is why I believe he has always been so successful. He had humble beginnings and, even in his successes, has retained that humility,” Angela shared with The Snack in 2023 when she was named a Mentor in the Making. “That in itself is inspiring. David has been very supportive of my growth, and his ‘chess player’ mentality taught me something essential: You always have to be three steps ahead of him because you know he already has every solution thought out. Those are always the fun challenges!”
What makes up the bounty of Trinity? Its high-quality products. Its holistic innovation. Its people. Squeeze in a few lemons, pomegranates, and Mandarins, and let them simmer in the heat of the frying pan that is the produce industry. Then let cool with the creativity of those who thrive under pressure.
Garnish with passion and enjoy. 
