LOS ANGELES — Joolies, a new organic medjool date company is celebrating its official launch at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California this March. The brand is a partnership between Venice Brands and the Kohl Family Farm. Joolies will be co-exhibiting in the North Hall, Booth N2330 with The Osso Good Company, another Venice Brands company.
One of the largest organic medjool date growers, Kohl Family Farm has been in the date-ing business for over 17 years, with 25,000 medjool date palm trees flourishing on its 500-acre ranch in Coachella Valley, California. The medjool dates from the Kohl Family Farm have not been sold directly to the consumer – that is until now.
The decision to launch the Joolies brand was motivated by a desire to control the journey of each medjool date, from the farm to consumers’ homes and kitchens in order to truly ensure and deliver the highest quality fruit. David Kohl of Kohl Family Farm hoped to move away from the date industry status quo to allow for higher efficiency and product innovation.
“Our medjool dates are the best quality dates out there, and we want to introduce Joolies as the organic difference consumers can trust. We invest in our people and technology to continually innovate. Each date is hand-picked to ensure that it’s harvested at its peak,” said Joolies co-founder, David Kohl, whose grandfather started the farm in 1979.
The farm committed early on to organic and sustainable agricultural practices because of a belief that it was the right way to treat the earth and the way they wanted to feed their own families. Coachella Valley has a naturally perfect environment to grow high-quality dates – abundant sunshine, the right soil, and pristine water from the Colorado River.
“Medjool dates are also known as ‘the king of dates.’ We’re excited to shift consumer perception of dates as primarily ingredients or a special-occasion treat because they’re actually perfect for snacking. Being a fresh fruit and never dried, Joolies dates are a great source of natural energy and fiber, they taste delicious with no need for added sugar or processing and don’t spike your blood sugar,” said Mark Masten, CEO of Joolies.
Mark brings years of experience growing brands in the intersection of produce and consumer brands, having previously led sales and marketing at food titan, The Wonderful Company for POM and Wonderful Pistachios as well as at consumer snacking brand PopChips.
“We take pride in owning our farm, guaranteeing Joolies organic fruit and that the future pipeline of product offerings come from a single source. Dates are incredibly versatile and we see Joolies as a household brand,” said Greg Willsey. Co-founder of Joolies and owner of Venice Brands, Willsey also brings past experience from The Wonderful Company, POM Wonderful and Monogram Capital.
Joolies is on a mission to bring the misunderstood medjool date to the forefront of consumers’ minds, from its palm trees to snackers’ palms. Today medjool dates are viewed behind the scenes as an ingredient in recipes and popular healthy snacks. Joolies wants to celebrate the California Superfruit in its fresh whole-food form, dubbing it “California Palm Tree Candy.”
The Joolies team knew building a brand around a commoditized, yet loved by all, fruit would be an exciting challenge. But knew this could be achieved with modern and vibrant packaging to stand out from the antiquated date set currently in produce. That’s why partnering with branding agency Hatch Design was a perfect fit. Hatch Design has a proven track record for building brands that breakthrough and redefine their categories, such as KRAVE beef jerky, Smashmallow snackable marshmallows and Simple Mills baking mixes, to name a few.
Bright colors pop on shelf and communicate the California grown, hand-harvested, always fresh (never dried) nature of the medjool date. Joolies vibrant look wakes up the sleepy category in an eco-friendly box that can easily be held in your hand, displayed on your counter, packed conveniently in your work bag and of course, proudly snapped on Instagram– a vast dichotomy from the clamshell analog.
Joolies is debuting the brand at Expo West, showcasing consumer packs of 15oz Organic Whole Fruit, 12oz Organic Pitted Fruit and an 18.5oz 100% Organic Medjool Date Syrup. These products will be available for retail distribution this spring. Joolies organic medjool dates will be available in bulk sizes to wholesale customers domestically and internationally immediately.
About Joolies
Joolies brings delicious, organic medjool dates from our palms to yours as a delicious, healthy on-the-go option for snackers everywhere. Medjool dates, also known as the king of dates, are a great source of energy, have a low glycemic index, and are full of beneficial nutrients. Best of all, handpicked from the tree and carefully packed at peak ripeness. A joint partnership between the Kohl Family Farm and Venice Brands, Joolies is on a mission to share the nutritious goodness of organic medjool dates grown in the sunny Coachella Valley of Southern California. The newly formed team also includes Kara Connor who brings a wealth of knowledge from the date industry at La Quinta Date growers and The Kohl Family Farm, Amanda Sains, formerly of B’more, Emily Lee of Venice Brands and Bare Snacks, Caitlin Gezon of Budweiser and the Doehler Group Operations, Samantha Carsey of fashion brand, Mink Pink. Learn more at www.joolies.com.
About Venice Brands
Based in Southern California, Venice Brands seeks to build category leaders in the consumer goods space, primarily food, beverage, pet and wellness. With an experienced team of leaders, investors and functional experts who have spent years building successful consumer brands, Venice Brands works closely with its brands to help them scale by providing very hands-on strategic, operating, and financial resources. Learn more atwww.VeniceBrands.com.
