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Fruit is where it all began and fruit is what
we do today at Frosty Fresh. For the past 85 years,
the Gangi family has sought to provide the North
East with the freshest products and best service.
In 1918, Guiseppe Gangi, an immigrant from Sicily
began wholesaling bananas at his small grocery
store in Lawrence, Massachusetts. With his philosophy
of "quality and service", his wholesaling
business grew over the next 20 years. The business's
focus was its pioneering role in the flexible film
(cellophane) packaging of tomatoes, celery, spinach
and carrots.
Flavor Fresh cellophane-wrapped vegetables continued
to flourish through the 1940's and took on renewed
vigor in the 1950's and 1960's under the leadership
of Guiseppe's sons Charles and Phillip.
In 1963, Charlie and Phil began to concentrate on a revolutionary new product,
Precut, Prepackaged Fruit Salad in Syrup. Packaged in one-gallon glass jars
in a lightly sweetened syrup, the fruit salad became a staple at restaurants,
schools and military bases through the North East.
In the late 1960's Joe, David and Robert Gangi,
Charlie's three sons, became involved in the business.
Under the guidance of their father and uncle Phil,
the new generation opened up The Frosty Melon in
Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. Their main attraction
for beachgoers was the Gangi family's famous Flavor
Fresh fruit salad.
For the next 30 years, the Gangi family gained valuable experience in the fruit
salad market. They mastered the art of choosing the freshest fruit possible
and perfected their method of retaining that freshness all the way to the customer's
table.
The 1970's and 80's brought the Gangi family to
newer and wider markets. In addition to the food
service distributors that had always been the Gangis
biggest customers, local supermarket chains began
knocking at the door. Fruit Salad was on the table
at homes across the New England.
Continuing their position at the forefront of the industry, the Gangi brothers
pioneered the next innovation in fruit salad in 1996, the fresh cut fruit cup.
This new Frosty Fresh brand was totally different from the Flavor Fresh brand
fruit salad that preceded it. Now, families could purchase, at the supermarket,
already cut fruit with no additives and no preservatives.
And here we are today, Frosty Fresh and the Gangi
family continue to lead the industry in "quality
and service" nearly 90 years after it all
began in a storefront in Lawrence, MA. Guiseppe
would be proud.
-Charles J. Gangi, Fourth Generation
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