Frieda Caplan was the “Kiwi Queen,” the founder and owner of Frieda’s Inc., the specialty produce company that introduced exotic fruits and vegetables including the kiwifruit, sugar snap peas, and mango to the U.S. Other unusual produce introduced or popularized by Caplan: alfalfa sprouts, habanero peppers, blood oranges, starfruit, turmeric, and hundreds more. Caplan was the first woman in the U.S. to own and operate a produce company. She wasn’t intimidated by the gender imbalance she experienced in her early days in the business: When she won an industry award for “Produce Man of the Year,” she refused to accept it until it was renamed “Produce Marketer of the Year.”
