Los Alamitos, CA -- You may not recognize Frieda Rapoport Caplan's name, but, without her, you wouldn't be eating kiwifruit -- you'd be eating Chinese Gooseberries.

Caplan is the founder of the California-based Frieda's specialty produce company and is credited with giving the kiwi its name when the fruit first came to America from New Zealand exactly 40 years ago.

At the time, the fruit was called a "Chinese Gooseberry," but Caplan convinced produce growers to call it "kiwifruit" because the fuzzy ovals resembled the native New Zealand bird.

She also brought the first shipment of kiwifruit to America -- 2400 pounds that took a whopping four months to sell.

Kiwifruit didn't really catch on until celebrity chefs like Wolfgang Puck started using it in the early 1980s, but Caplan is proud to call the fruit her "18-year overnight sensation."

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