Cold Foods Industry NewsProduct Development & Manufacturing

Fruits & Veggies in Rare Form

It’s hard to find a way to consume enough fruits and vegetables every day. So, let the professionals take care of that for you. Discover how refrigerated and frozen fruits and vegetables can helps today’s consumers meet their recommended daily intake.

Now you CAN eat enough vegetables
New Green Giant Veggie Blend-Ins from Minneapolis-based General Mills are 100% vegetable purées—no additives or preservatives—making it easy to blend vegetables into almost any meal, smoothie or baked good. They come in Carrot, Spinach and Butternut Squash varieties.

Frozen fruit snacks
Miami-based Quirch Foods launched a licensing agreement with Chiquita Brands, Charlotte, N.C., to sell Chiquita frozen fruit snacks, including Maduros (ripe plantains), Tostones (green plantains), Yuca (cassava) and fruit pulp (for juice and smoothies). These frozen snacks are made with 100% natural ingredients and contain no artificial flavors or preservatives.

Beyond single-serve salads
Ready Pac Foods Inc., Irwindale, Calif., took the fresh single-serve segment to the next level with Bistro Bowl Wrap Kits, three new chopped salad bowl recipes with a new packaging redesign. Each wrap kit features fresh produce, artisan tortillas, protein-packed sauces and a delightful crunch. And, since the ingredients are separate, the wrap is built fresh by the consumer, making “soggy wrap syndrome” a thing of the past. The line includes Thai Peanut Crunch, Garlic & Herb Caesar, Turkey Avocado Ranch, Buffalo Style Chicken, Chicken Bacon Ranch and Chicken Caesar.

Small snacks in a big way
Ready Pac Foods also optimized its Ready Snax line by including an improved packaging presentation. Vertically-oriented packaging improves shelf space efficiencies while fresh new labels provide expanded nutrition information. Ready Pac also introduced Ready Snax Snack Bags that contain sliced apples and baby carrots.

Seasoning packets spice up
Baloian Farms, Fresno, Calif., introduced what is said to be the first of its kind—value-added yellow and green squash. Each individually wrapped tray includes three fresh whole squash (a mix of yellow and green) and a seasoning blend packet, available in Parmesan and Herb and Garlic and Red Pepper flavors. When preparing the product, consumers simply rinse and slice the squash, toss with oil and the enclosed seasonings and sauté over heat for five minutes.

More than just a side dish
UK-based Aunt Bessie’s Ltd. expanded its vegetable range to include Large Breaded Mushrooms, Roasting Carrots, Button Sprouts and Special Vegetable Mash.

To learn more about these and other new retail fruits and vegetables, go to http://bit.ly/19VCNBi.

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Marina Mayer was formerly Editor-in-Chief of Refrigerated & Frozen Foods. Previously, she spent four years as managing editor and executive editor of Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery and Dairy Foods, both sister publications. In this role, Mayer was responsible for reporting on market trends, ingredient R&D, production technology and new products within the dairy, snack food and wholesale bakery markets. Prior to joining BNP Media, she served a five-year tenure as editor of quality control for Manufacturers' News, Inc., where she was named “Manager of the Year” in 2006. Previously, she worked as an editorial assistant for Insider Magazine and worked as a contributing features writer for her college newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student. Mayer was a recipient of a Young Leader Scholar award, presented from American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE), which is given annually to only five U.S. journalists, 30 years of age and under. She is a graduate of Indiana University with a bachelor’s in journalism.