Where's the Green in Salads?

When Chiquita Brands International announced last week that it is purchasing Fresh Express, the biggest seller of bagged salads, for $855 million, it turned a new spotlight on prepared salads.

Food companies nationwide are making money on salads, USA Today reports. According to data from ACNielsen, fresh-cut lettuce will become a $3 billion industry this year, up from just $900 million in 1995. "I call it a renaissance in salads," said James Gorny, vice president at the International Fresh-cut Produce Association.

So far, c-stores have been slow to jump on the bandwagon. These are the channels that USA Today sees cashing in on the trend:

? Fruit and vegetable companies. At Chiquita, profit margins for bagged lettuce will be twice that of the fresh fruit Chiquita sells, said Fernando Aguirre, CEO of Chiquita Brands. When the deal closes, lettuce instantly will be 23 percent of Chiquita sales. Fresh Express has 40 percent of the bagged salad market.

Chiquita is following rivals Dole and Del Monte, which moved strongly into bagged lettuce.

? Fast food. McDonald's, the largest seller of fast-food salads, sold 300 million from 2003 through 2004, said spokeswoman Lisa Howard.

To make all those salads, it purchased 150 million pounds of specialty salad blend, she said.

Saladworks, a fast-casual chain, projects that 2005 will be its best year, with sales growth of 53 percent and same-store sales growth of 10 percent, said CEO John Scardapane.

The 67-unit chain - which specializes in made-to-order salads - will open 22 more units this year, mostly on the East Coast.

? Casual dining. At Applebee's, the top-selling menu item "by a wide margin" is the Oriental Chicken Salad, said spokeswoman Laurie Ellison. The Santa Fe Salad also ranks among its top 10 items.

? Grocers. The typical Whole Foods store sells 20 kinds of bagged lettuce, said spokeswoman Kate Lowery. More than 70 different mixes of bagged lettuce are sold among all its stores. The chain keeps adding space for lettuce.

But not all nutritionists go gaga for typical fast-food salads. "Any green is better than no green," said Sharron Dalton, a professor of nutrition at New York University, "but most salads are mainly water and dressing - not a very good, concentrated source of vitamins and minerals."