Kids' characters pop up on produce labels

LOS ANGELES -- Mickey Mouse, SpongeBob SquarePants and the Tasmanian Devil are coming to a produce aisle near you.\nThe cartoon characters are popping up on fruit and vegetable packaging across the country as growers strike licensing deals with entertainment companies hungry to cultivate positive images among health-conscious parents and kids.\nWalt Disney Co., with its overwhelming cartoon capital and cultural clout, is the most significant entry in the produce business.\nThe entertainment giant is licensing characters to Indianapolis-based produce distributor Imagination Farms LLC, which has deals with 15 large growers across the country to provide fruits and vegetables for the Disney Garden brand.\n"We're doing it predominantly because it is the right thing to do, but secondarily because it is the right business to be in," said Harry Dollman, head of food products licensing for Disney.\n"Concerns about the right nutrition for kids is not a fad; it's not something that will be overtaken by another trend," he said.\nNeither Disney nor Imagination Farms would discuss terms of the deal.\nImagination Farms started shipping the produce in May and currently has more than 30 different Disney Garden items in Albertsons and other supermarket chains, said Matthew Caito, who heads the distributor.\nCaito plans to have 100 different produce items on supermarket shelves by January and another 100 by the end of 2007.