Dutch company in British Sandwich Industry awards
NL: Rijk Zwaan’s open heart Cos nominated for award
Open Heart cos is an open, green lettuce with solid ribs and long leaves of equal width. This new lettuce type offers significant advantages for all parties in the chain. Growers can harvest the leaves mechanically thanks to its open habit, and the product can be processed very efficiently. For retailers and consumers, meanwhile, the product’s solid veins result in a very sweet taste and a long shelf life. Sandwich manufacturer Greencore first learned about all of these benefits in the Rijk Zwaan demo field. Soon afterwards Greencore, Rijk Zwaan, growing company Valefresco and processing company Hazeldere entered into a successful chain cooperation. This resulted in Open Heart cos becoming a fundamental ingredient in many of Greencore’s sandwiches – which are sold by Marks & Spencer – and ultimately in the nomination for one of the Sammies awards.
Tasty and healthy sandwiches
Rijk Zwaan UK’s Country Manager Gerard van der Hut expresses his sense of pride at the nomination: "The unique thing about Open Heart cos is that so many product benefits come together in one single product. However, this success would never have been possible without the chain cooperation between the four motivated partners: we have shown that, by working together and sharing information, we can contribute to producing tasty and healthy sandwiches that perfectly match the wishes of both retailers and consumers. Our nomination confirms to us that we should continue to work in this way."
The Sammies awards are an initiative of the British Sandwich Association (BSA). The BSA Technical Excellence Award is designed to recognise the work being done by technologists to advance systems and working practices across the sandwich industry.
More information
Ton van Leeuwen
Rijk Zwaan
Tel: +31 (0) 174 532 487
t.van.leeuwen@rijkzwaan.nl