User:Friedakiwi/Frieda caplan

Frieda Rapoport Caplan Founder & Chairman of the Board, Frieda’s, Inc.

Frieda Caplan, a native of Los Angeles and a UCLA graduate, is recognized as one of the nation’s most successful female entrepreneurs. In 1962, as the owner of a tiny new produce company, she needed an entrance sign in a hurry. The painter had only one color of paint – purple. However, Caplan embraced the challenge and used the distinctive color to identify Frieda’s Finest/Produce Specialties, Inc. as the source for specialty produce across the country. Purple has since become the company’s signature color, instantly recognized along with its familiar heart-shaped logo. The company’s name was later simplified in 1990 to Frieda’s, Inc.

In April 2010, Frieda’s Inc. celebrated 48 fruitful years in business as the first woman-owned and operated wholesale produce company in the United States – some say … in the world. (Caplan’s daughters Karen and Jackie bought the company in 1990.)

Caplan began her produce career in 1956 as a bookkeeper in a produce business managed by her husband’s aunt and uncle. She soon worked her way “downstairs” and tried her hand at pushing California brown mushrooms – a specialty item at that time. She was an instant success! Inspired by the excitement of selling, Caplan opened her own company in 1962 with mushrooms as the premier item.

Caplan’s marketing abilities were recognized worldwide after her success in introducing and promoting the Kiwifruit, earning her the title, “Queen of Kiwi.” It all began when a retailer asked Caplan if she knew of Chinese Gooseberries. Her interest was piqued, and she promised to investigate. Two months later she discovered the fruit in New Zealand, and at the suggestion of a customs agent, renamed it after the country’s famous fuzzy bird, the Kiwi. By the early 1970s, New Zealand Kiwifruit was catching on. Caplan soon convinced California growers to plant the fruit, and a new global economy was born. Soon California had more than 700 Kiwifruit growers.

Caplan’s influence extends beyond brown mushrooms and Kiwifruit, though. In 1972, Frieda was credited with being “the biggest influence in the produce industry over the last 25 years,” by Marvin Cross, then Vice President of The National Tea Company of Chicago. Caplan is also remembered by many from her 1975 role as ABC-TV’s Green Grocer on Chanel 7 Eyewitness News in Los Angeles.

Today the “little” company that Caplan began distributes more than 600 unusual produce and specialty gourmet items to grocery stores and foodservice distributors throughout North America. An ability to create consumer demand for unusual foods helped Caplan and her daughters make success stories out of items like Kiwifruit, Spaghetti Squash, Alfalfa Sprouts, Jicama, Shallots, Sugar Snap Peas™, Hothouse Cucumbers, Donut® Peaches, Habanero Chiles and even Kiwanos®.

Considered by many as a pioneer in the male-dominated produce industry, Caplan has received numerous awards and honors for her achievements. In 1986, Caplan was the first recipient of the Harriet Alger Award from Working Woman magazine for being a remarkable entrepreneurial role model for women. The January 1, 1990 edition of The Los Angeles Times named Caplan one of 12 Southern California business personalities who shaped the course of American business in the 1980s (also included were Michael Eisner and Jane Fonda).

In 1986, Caplan, who daily works side-by-side with her two daughters, elected to become Chairman of the Board, while her eldest daughter, Karen Caplan, was promoted to President and CEO. Caplan’s younger daughter, Jackie Caplan Wiggins, who joined Frieda’s in 1983, serves as Vice President and Business Development Manager. In 1996, the Caplan family, including daughters Karen and Jackie, received the BUDDY (Bringing Up Daughters Differently) Award from the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund.

In 2001, the Caplan family established the Frieda Rapoport Caplan Family Business Scholarship Program. The scholarship is awarded annually to four employees of family-run companies, providing financial support so they can attend the United Fresh Produce Association’s Washington Public Policy Conference.

When not talking on the phone about what’s hot and what’s new in produce, Caplan is involved in a variety of community organizations. She and her late husband Al were founding members of the Temple Beth David of Orange County. Caplan was also a member on the Board of Trustees of the Westerly School in Long Beach, which her four grandchildren attended.

Caplan has been an active member of the Los Angeles chapter of the International Women’s Forum, the University of California-Riverside Agriculture Advisory Board, and serves on the Board of Directors of Women Against Gun Violence. Caplan also served a 6-year term on the University of California’s Presidential Advisory Commission on Agriculture and Natural Resources.

A much sought-after speaker, Caplan has addressed numerous industry and business events, including the 1992 International Conference of New Crops at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. In 1995, she was the keynote speaker at the Third National Symposium on New Crops sponsored by Purdue University.

In 2005, Caplan was “stunned” to receive the CEO/Business Owner of the Year Award from the Los Angeles Business Journal. This was a surprise because the company had moved to Orange County in 1994, and Caplan was no longer CEO!

Of all the media attention Caplan and her company have received over the years, Inc. Magazine may have captured Frieda’s best when Erik Larsen wrote in 1989: “[Caplan] listened one day when a Safeway produce buyer paid her a visit. That moment changed American cuisine.”

Caplan celebrates her 87th birthday in August 2010, and continues to work Monday through Friday -- and sometimes Saturdays -- at the company's Los Alamitos, Calif. headquarters, while her daughters run the business and daily operations.

Frieda Rapoport Caplan Awards, Appointments, Citations

1962	FOUNDED THE FIRST WOMAN-OWNED AND OPERATED 	WHOLESALE PRODUCE BUSINESS IN THE UNITED STATES

1971	PRODUCE “MAN” OF THE YEAR (Now known as “Produce Marketer of the Year”)-- Fresh Produce Council, 	Los Angeles

1972	VICE PRESIDENT OF THE PRODUCE MARKETING ASSOCIATION (PMA)

1972 	“THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE IN THE PRODUCE INDUSTRY IN THE LAST 25 YEARS” -- Marvin Cross, Vice President of National Tea Co.

1974	GREEN GROCER -- The Produce Lady, ABC TV Eyewitness News, Channel 7.

1979	PRODUCE MARKETER OF THE YEAR -- First woman to receive this honor from The Packer, a national produce industry trade publication.

1982	FOUNDING MEMBER OF COMMITTEE OF 200 -- A preeminent professional organization for women entrepreneurs.

1985	YWCA SILVER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR LEADERSHIP

1985	NAMED “WHO’S WHO OF FOOD & BEVERAGE IN AMERICA” BY THE JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION

1985	HONORED BY THE NATIONAL ROUNDTABLE FOR WOMEN IN FOOD

1986	HARRIET ALGER AWARD FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP -- Working Women Magazine/AT&T.

1987	OUTSTANDING CALIFORNIA WOMAN IN BUSINESS -- Named by former California Governor Deukmejian.

1987	CHAIR OF YWCA LEADER LUNCHEON

1989	UCLA PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

1990	LOS ANGELES TIMES -- January 1 issue, Caplan is credited as one of 12 Southern California business personalities who shaped the course of American business in the 1980s.

1990	AGRICULTURAL ADVISORY BOARD, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-RIVERSIDE -- Appointed to advise the Chancellor on development and implementation of the agricultural program.

1992	CHANCELLOR’S AGRICULTURAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE -- University of California, Riverside.

1996  NOW LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATION FUND - “THE BUDDY AWARD” (Bringing up Daughters Differently) awarded to entire family.

1996	SILVER SPOON AWARD -- Food Arts Magazine.

1997	PIONEER AGRICULTURIST AWARD -- Small Farm Program at the University of California, in recognition of vision and dedication in developing new approaches to market specialty crops.

1997	OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP AWARD -- Fresh Produce & Floral Council, Los Angeles.

1999	AWARD OF EXCELLENCE -- Women in Produce, for contributions and overall dedication to the produce industry.

2000	WOMEN AGAINST GUN VIOLENCE – Recognition for outstanding leadership.

2001	FRIEDA RAPOPORT CAPLAN FAMILY BUSINESS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM ESTABLISHED -- The scholarship is awarded annually to four employees of family-run companies, providing financial support so they can attend the United Fresh Produce Association’s Washington Public Policy Conference.

2002	WOMEN’S PHILANTRHOPY FUND – Founding member of this Orange County United Way program.

2005	LOS ANGELES BUSINESS JOURNAL -- CEO/Business Owner of the Year Award.

2008	COMPASS AWARD – Women’s Leadership Exchange West Coast Business Summit honors Frieda for shifting the paradigm of how women are perceived as leaders in the business world.

2008 	CIVIL RIGHTS AWARD – Anti-Defamation League, Long Beach/Orange County.

2009	COMMUNITY PARTNER AWARD – Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County awarded company the first-ever award of this kind.

2009	ORANGE COUNTY FAMILY BUSINESS AWARD – Award for mid-size business from the Orange County Business Journal.