Enrico Casadei fresh-cut and pre-cooked manager at Canova
It's the latest introduction by Canova, part of Gruppo Aprofruit and licencee of the Almaverde Bio brand. "The trays have been available for a few weeks and feedback is already excellent," explains fresh-cut and pre-cooked manager, Enrico Casadei.
"The trick is to intercept new trends, to predict what consumers want and/or expect. There are an increasing number of customers looking for products that are less industrial. This range is perfect, as we take organic produce and process it by hand. No machine can put so much care into what it does."
And, even if it could, it would not have the same message of a 'dish' prepared by hand. All "Le Artigianali" salads are perfect for lunch breaks. Maybe not so much for builders or farmers who need 2000 calories a day, but they are ideal for those working in front of a PC or looking for something light yet nutritious.
These are the salad mixes available: Cherry tomato-Carrot salad with radicchio, curly endive, cherry tomatoes, carrots, red onion and rocket; Onion-Walnut salad with endive, radicchio, walnuts and onions; Leaves-Fruit salad with radicchio, endive, pomegranate, orange, rocket; Corn-Carrot salad with cherry tomatoes, radicchio, endive and carrots. All trays weigh 175 grams and are made using exclusively organic produce. Their price in supermarkets varies between €2.80 and €3.20.
"There are also the new hand-made burgers with 60% fresh vegetables. They are 200 gram burgers available in three versions: Orange (carrots, peppers, chickpea flour, potato flakes); Purple (red krauts, radicchio, chickpea flour, potato flakes); Green (Savoy cabbage, spinach, chickpea flour, potato flakes). Once mixed, all patties are made by hand and placed into a mould to obtain uniform shapes."
A vegetable burger. Organic and not pre-cooked.
"We are starting to embrace artisanal processes more and more, yet we are still a fresh-cut facility with all the guarantees, certifications and precautions required. We are growing a lot and are confident consumers will require these types of products more and more in the future."