Frieda Rapoport Caplan ’45

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Having started in 1956 as a part-time accountant in a small produce house, Frieda Caplan launched her own produce business in 1962. She promoted unusual items that had never before been seen in any supermarket, such as kiwifruit, spaghetti squash, jicama, tomatillos, sunchokes and enoki mushrooms. Her distinctive purple and white packaging, complete with chatty recipes, helped build Frieda’s Finest/Produce Specialties into the $13 million a year business it is today. She has become known as the nation’s leading developer and merchandiser of exotic fruits and vegetables and is credited with founding whole industries, such as the Kiwi Growers of California. With an exuberance and natural flair for merchandising, she has revolutionized a tradition-bound industry and put formerly exotic foods into supermarkets across the country. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors for her innovative entrepreneurship, as well as for humanitarian community activities. She is most proud of the fact that her two daughters have joined her in the business. If there is a secret to Caplan’s success, it is that she view obstacles as opportunities, turns accidents to her advantage and moves fast in a perishable and ever-changing market.