About

Sun Sugar Farms markets the revolutionary CRESBI crates grocery shopping systems and is a reseller of other reusable items that help reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills.  We are one of the few commercial edamame growers in the U.S.A.

How did I come up with the idea of shopping with crates?

I’ve never been a fan of reusable bags because they seem unsanitary, unreliable, and there’s no place to recycle them once they fall apart.  One day when I was going into the grocery I saw a woman and her child walking out with both plastic and reusable bags in their hands.  The girl’s bag ripped, a container of berries fell to the ground, and as the mom went to save what was left, a jar fell out of her bags and shattered.  The mom was super angry and I felt so bad for both of them that I thought there HAD to be a better way to carry groceries!  Why should we women, who do most of the grocery shopping, have to bear any more hassle in our lives because of substandard products?

When I got into the store, I was also on a mision to figure out how to deliver my edamame in bulk. The produce guys were using big, collapsible, stackable bins for vegetables and I  thought how great it would be to grocery shop with something sturdy like that – if only they were lighter and smaller.  The next day I sketched out my design and called the company who made the bins.  When I shared my idea and the dimensions I thought would work, they told me if I wasn’t Kroger and I didn’t have $200,000 to make a new mold, I wasn’t worth their time.  When I met with a local injection molding plastics expert he took over three weeks to finally tell me he wasn’t interested, saying “what’s wrong with just using plastic bags”?

I’m not someone who gives up easily, so after these rejections I stayed up all night researching companies that might be able to make my dream come true. At 3:00 in the morning I found alibaba.com.  I started an online conversation with a company that made crates that were almost exactly what I was looking for! We worked together via email and skype to create a system perfect for American shoppers. I also knew that the crates themselves would have to fit into every style of shopping cart unlike the bigger, flimsier collapsible crates that have been on the market through Amazon, Lowes, Staples, and other chain stores for years.   I put my savings on the line to pay for the design changes and to buy a container load of these new crates. I called them “CRESBI” crates for Collapsible Reusable Environmentally-friendly Stackable Box Idea.  I found a U.S. company who could make the coolers, a local Kentucky seamstress who could sew the straps and bags, and, with the help of friends and family, put my advertising skills to work creating a website, videos, and other materials to market my new products.

The editor of SimpleOrganizedLiving.com issued a weekend review/giveaway in January of two of my CRESBI crate systems.  Some giveaways don’t generate 250 entrants total, mine generated 250 entrants in the first hour.  Average giveaways get around 200-400 entrants for the 4 day period and bigger giveaways like Target gift cards, Martha Stewart Organizers, or other "hot" organizing products get 600-900 entrants. Mine generated over 800 entries and resulted in several orders for my company. Funny thing is, initially the editor wasn’t even interested in reviewing them.  

You can see videos of the different crate systems at www.cresbi.com.  You can read testimonials from some of the satisfied customers who love their new CRESBI crates (http://www.sunsugarfarms.com/pages/testimonials).  I've also sold them to businesses across the United States to save time, products, and the environment: ESPN Sports Channel's Video Library at its headquarters in Connecticut, the Tennessee Valley Authority's biology department, and Meals on Wheels volunteers in Silicon Valley are all utilizing the packing power and convenience of the CRESBI crate!

At Sun Sugar Farms we hate to see anything wasted, whether it’s every day products, people’s futures, the environment, or even time.  With the products and services we offer we want to help others live smarter and healthier, save time and resources, and be able to enjoy the earth we’ve been given.  We support charities through with our talent, time and tithe like Big Brothers Big Big Sisters, the Neuterville Express, National Public Radio, Crisis Pregnancy Centers, Focus on the Family, various church ministries, several food banks in our local area, and more. We strive to create a culture of mutual acceptance and respect regardless of race, age, sex or religion with our customers, associates, employees, and suppliers, while fostering within our company successful teamwork, out of the box creativity and a passionate commitment to excellence.

Linda Fritz, Owner Sun Sugar Farms, Creator of the CRESBI crates
Toll-free 888-883-7259