Salinas, Ca.-based GreenGate Fresh LLC, via its sales team, Fresh Avenue, is launching its first fresh-cut coleslaw kit for foodservice. “The coleslaw kit was really the first in a series of fresh-cut kits I helped pioneer back almost 20 years ago now,” says Mark Vaughan of Fresh Avenue. The kits, containing vegetables, dressing and other ingredients, is being marketed to foodservice, deli and salad bar and other foodservice outlets.
Uniformity is key
The appeal of the kit is consistency and quality, says Vaughan. “It’s a very basic kit but it solves a quality and consistency issue particularly for delis, but also for restaurants around the country in that companies struggle with having consistency in every location,” he says. “With human input, the execution of recipes can begin to change a little bit. So the kit concept is designed for consistency—the human input is just emptying the pouches and thoroughly mixing the ingredients as directed. And it gave a fresh product that tasted great because it was fresh and tasted consistent. The supply chain is simplified because everything needed is consolidated in one place.”
The need for fresh
It also is appealing to foodservice clients looking for fresher product. “Generally pre-made coleslaws have high preservative components and these are very harsh and impact the flavor of that product,” says Jamie Shipley of Fresh Avenue. “The kit does away with all of that; the product is truly fresh.”
When it comes to flavour, the formulation took some work to get a product that would appeal across several demographics and regions. “We wanted a product that was not so region-specific but had some broad appeal,” says Vaughan. “So the coleslaw is sweet and tangy and not overpowering.”
The kit, which has been available for about three months to select retail deli operations, is rolling out nationally this week. Fresh ingredients for the kit are largely sourced fromthe West Coast and processed by GreenGate Fresh, who has a long history in agriculture. “Cabbage and carrots, which are in the coleslaw, are some of the more stable commodities so from a fresh vegetable supply standpoint, the supply is strong,” says Vaughan.
For more information:
Mark Vaughan
Fresh Avenue
Tel: + 1-888-FRESH40
mark.vaughan@freshavenue.com
www.freshavenue.com