Nick Enters Produce Market

Nickelodeon wants kids to take a bite out of SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer.

The network said Wednesday that it has licensed several of its most popular TV characters to fresh-produce distributors, which will begin introducing fruit and vegetable packages featuring the characters in supermarkets next month.

Grimmway Farms Inc will produce 1.6-ounce single-serving to five-pound bags of baby-cut and peeled carrots in packages featuring SpongeBob, Dora and Sportacus and Stephanie from Nick Jr. series LazyTown this fall.

Boskovich Farms will feature SpongeBob on its bags of spinach.

And LGS Specialty Sales will feature SpongeBob, Dora, Blue’s Clues and The Backyardigans characters on its bags of fruit.

“Nickelodeon recognizes the importance of health and wellness for kids, and it is proud of the efforts the network is making to encourage kids to eat right and make healthy food choices,” Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products vice president Sherice Torres said in a prepared statement. “We’re thrilled to be able to add to the fun of eating fruits and vegetables.”