California-headquartered Apio, Inc. has donated 28,000 Eat Smart-branded salads to victims of Hurricane Irma, in partnership with the SOS Foundation and the South Florida Red Cross to distribute to those in need. 

The company's delivery of the equivalent of 114,000 salad servings from its Bowling Green, Ohio facility is expected to arrive in Homestead, Florida on Monday, Sept. 25.

Regions of Florida and the Caribbean were hard hit by Hurricane Irma, which reached land Sunday, September 10 as a Category 4 hurricane with winds up to 130 miles per hour. Irma deposited record amounts of rainfall, causing loss of life, massive flooding and infrastructure damage.

"The hearts and minds of all of our employees are with those affected by this disaster,” said Molly Hemmeter, president and CEO of Landec, Apio’s parent company.

"Apio operates a facility in Vero Beach, Florida. Our facility was shut down temporarily during the power outage, but we are once again operational. Most importantly, we are grateful that our employees and their families were unharmed.

"We want to thank the SOS Foundation and the South Florida Red Cross for partnering with us to distribute fresh vegetable salads to those in need during this difficult time.”

Hurricane Irma began on August 30, and reached wind speeds of 185 miles per hour.  Damage of over US$62 billion is estimated and over 16 million people were without power.

In the span of two weeks, two Category 4 hurricanes — Harvey and Irma — struck the continental United States, the first time this has happened in one hurricane season. Several weeks ago, Eat Smart partnered with the Houston Food Bank to donate 24,000 salads to the victims of Hurricane Harvey.

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