The produce aisle's quiet disruptor - selling fruit cups made without shortcuts to a country that barely knew it needed them.
There is a grapefruit cup in the refrigerated section of thousands of grocery stores across the United States that should not exist by the rules of mass-market food production. It contains no preservatives. It has not been pasteurized. It delivers the actual flavor of a grapefruit, not the memory of one. That cup - the Sundia True Fruit Ruby Red Grapefruit Cup - was made possible because Dan Hoskins spent a decade figuring out how to move fresh fruit at scale without compromising what made it worth eating in the first place.
Hoskins is the President and CEO of Sundia Corporation, operating under the parent umbrella of GT Brands. He has held the role since 2011, though his history with the company runs back to 2004, when he joined as Chief Operating Officer and General Manager. The business he stepped into was unusual in the most literal sense: a company that branded whole watermelons with stickers and somehow captured 35% of the U.S. watermelon market in the process.
That origin story mattered. Sundia's founder, Brad Oberwager, had spotted something that mass-market produce overlooked: consumers respond to brand recognition even when the product is a watermelon. Hoskins arrived with the operational fluency to turn that instinct into a scalable enterprise. He had spent the 1990s at Odwalla, Inc., where he led the sales and distribution organization that turned a regional California juice brand into a preeminent national fresh juice company before Coca-Cola acquired it in 2001. He knew how fresh product moved through channels. He knew what broke along the way.
Between Odwalla and Sundia came a deliberate detour into e-commerce. From 2001 to 2004, Hoskins served as Director and General Manager of the E-commerce Division at Hello Direct, Inc. - a headset and telecommunications equipment retailer. It was an unusual step for a food executive, but the operational discipline of managing logistics and consumer behavior in a direct-to-consumer context made him a sharper operator when he returned to grocery.
Before Hoskins ever managed a fruit cup, he was managing distribution routes. At Odwalla in the 1990s, the job was simple in its ambition and punishing in its execution: build a cold-chain network from California outward, get fresh juice onto shelves before it turned, and convince buyers in markets where "fresh juice" meant Tropicana that a small Bay Area brand deserved shelf space. The company went national. Hoskins was part of why.
Under his leadership, Sundia pivoted from whole-fruit branding into the refrigerated fruit cup category - a move that required rethinking manufacturing, packaging, and positioning simultaneously. The company developed True Fruit, a line of single-serve refrigerated cups featuring varieties like Ruby Red Grapefruit, Mandarin Orange, and Coco Pina. The technological breakthrough was the application of high-pressure processing (HPP) - a method used in premium cold-pressed juices - to preserve flavor and nutrients without heat pasteurization or artificial preservatives. It was a first for the category.
The result was product on shelves at more than 6,000 grocery and convenience stores across the United States and Canada, with over 25 million cups sold. Inc. magazine recognized Sundia on its 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the United States for six consecutive years, from 2010 through 2015, with a peak ranking of #130 in 2010. The company raised $23.6 million in venture funding, with the most recent round closed in May 2012.
Hoskins lives in Orinda, California - the same East Bay city where Sundia Corporation is headquartered at 3 Altarinda Road. Before the food business, before the sales routes and refrigerated logistics, he was at UC Berkeley studying English Literature and competing on the Men's Varsity Swim and Crew teams. The combination - humanistic curiosity, physical discipline, operational execution - threads through everything he has built since.
Sundia pioneered the first preservative-free, non-pasteurized grapefruit fruit cup in the United States - using HPP technology to keep flavor and nutrients intact without compromising for shelf life.
Category First — Sundia True Fruit
Lower rank = faster growth. Six consecutive years on the list reflects sustained category-building under Hoskins's operational leadership.
* Bar width = inverse of rank (higher = better). Source: Inc. magazine.
Sundia appeared on Inc. magazine's list of fastest-growing private US companies every year from 2010 to 2015, peaking at #130. A near-unbroken streak for a fresh-produce brand.
Built a cold-chain distribution network for refrigerated fruit cups across US and Canadian grocery and convenience retail - a logistically demanding category others have struggled to crack.
Developed the first preservative-free, non-pasteurized grapefruit cup in the US using high-pressure processing - applying premium juice-industry technology to mass-market snacking.
Sundia has sold over 25 million fruit cups in the US and Canada under the True Fruit brand - building genuine consumer loyalty in a competitive refrigerated snack category.
Helped attract $23.6 million in venture capital to support manufacturing scale-up, distribution expansion, and product development for Sundia's plant-based snacking portfolio.
Part of the Odwalla team that built the California fresh juice brand into a preeminent national presence before Coca-Cola acquired it - one of the defining fresh-brand exits of the 1990s.
Two brands. One mission: make genuinely nutritious food as convenient as anything else in the grab-and-go aisle.
Refrigerated fruit cups — no shortcuts
Single-serve refrigerated cups in varieties including Ruby Red Grapefruit, Mandarin Orange, Coco Pina, and more. Made without preservatives or artificial colors using HPP technology. Sold in more than 6,000 grocery and convenience stores in the US and Canada. The product that put Sundia on the Inc. 5000 six years running.
Chia seeds in coconut milk — nutrient-dense
A line of nutritious chia seeds in decadent coconut milk for guilt-free snacking. Part of Sundia's broader plant-based portfolio, bridging the gap between health food and accessible convenience snacking. Designed for consumers who want nutrients without the complexity of preparation.
Studied English Literature at UC Berkeley while competing on the Men's Varsity Swim and Crew teams. An unusual academic foundation for a manufacturing and distribution executive.
Started his career at PepsiCo selling sodas. Ended up making fruit cups with no preservatives. Full circle in consumer goods - just in the opposite direction of processed.
Sundia began by putting stickers on watermelons. That simple branding play captured roughly 35% of the US watermelon market - before the company ever made a fruit cup.
The HPP technology used to make Sundia's True Fruit grapefruit cups is the same process used in premium cold-pressed juices. Hoskins brought high-end beverage tech to mass-market grocery snacking.
Sundia Corporation's HQ address is 3 Altarinda Road, Orinda, CA - a small city tucked in the East Bay hills. Quiet zip code. National reach.
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