Vegetable-cutting company GreenS & SaladS in Meppel, together with sauce producer Degens, part of the Solina Group, is introducing a new modular meal concept for fresh food specialists: the "1-2-3 oven concept". Using four elements, butchers, caterers, specialty shops, and foodservice operators can assemble vegetable-rich oven meals that meet the growing demand for fresh, ready meals.
© GreenS & SaladS
The concept consists of a series of elements that can be combined like Lego bricks. Entrepreneurs can choose from five vegetable mixes and five sauces, combined with a protein component such as chicken, beef, pork, fish, or a vegetarian meat substitute, rounded out with a starch option: rice, pasta, mashed potato, or parsnip puree. By mixing and matching all these options, hundreds of variations are possible.
According to Rob, the strength of the concept lies in its flexibility. "We try to encourage specialty shops to combine creatively and, above all, to develop further themselves. If they want to add a topping, like roasted tomatoes, nuts, or whatever they prefer, they should. That way, they really make it their own product."
From raw vegetables to oven meals
The "1-2-3 oven concept" builds on a development that GreenS & SaladS began earlier with modular salads. "A year ago, we created a raw food concept with Bonfait," Rob says. "Four mixes that allow a butcher or specialty shop to quickly put together a fresh raw vegetable salad. I wanted to extend that idea to hot dishes."
According to Rob, this concept responds to the labour market situation. "Even at butcher shops and specialty retailers, they have fewer and fewer hands," he explains. "By breaking up the preparation into four simple steps, you are ready in no time. It makes the process manageable for staff, but the end result is no less delicious."
A set of building blocks
© GreenS & SaladS
GreenS & SaladS therefore does not deliver a ready-made meal, but a set of building blocks. The vegetable mixes are supplied in gastro trays and matched to the amount of sauce required per recipe. One batch produces a total of 34 meals of 450 grams. Entrepreneurs can decide whether to serve the dishes hot, place them chilled in the display case, or package them as takeaway meals. According to Rob, that is the whole point: the convenience of a developed concept with the look and feel of a shop's own product. "You can weigh it, finish it, and present it yourself. That way, it becomes a little more your own."
The collaboration with Degens and parent company Solina started at a trade fair. There, Rob spoke with Pieter de Ruijter, responsible for spices and sauces within the specialty store channel, and they quickly decided to develop recipes together. "We said: let's set aside some time to brainstorm about cooperation and concepts."
Still plenty of room for expansion
Degens supplies the sauces and flavour profiles, GreenS & SaladS selects the vegetable mixes. The result is a framework that Rob says still has ample room for expansion. "People want variety. They don't want the same thing every week. This is just the beginning; we keep adding new options all the time."
The launch fits within the broader strategy of GreenS & SaladS, which is positioning itself as a bespoke vegetable workshop. The company sees strong and growing demand for fresh convenience products, especially in the central and western parts of the Netherlands, where many busy consumers and relatively many one- and two-person households increasingly opt for complete meals. "There are a lot of young people and dual-income households there who do not often cook for themselves but still want to put something tasty on the table," says Rob. "But we want to market it as freely as possible, because there are also entrepreneurs in Friesland and Limburg who can make great use of this."
Through wholesalers, the concept reaches a wide target group, from butchers and caterers to foodservice operators and retailers who prepare their own meals in-store. As an example, he mentions Spar Foodclub. "We already supply cut vegetables there. Spar entrepreneurs use these to make their own products. These oven meals fit perfectly into that same format."
Richer than supermarket meals
With the "1-2-3 oven concept", Rob wants to help entrepreneurs grow alongside the rising demand for both convenience and quality, despite staff shortages. "Ready-made meals are becoming better, tastier and, above all, richer than supermarket meals," he says. "Butchers and caterers are responding strongly to this. We are trying to support them and take some of the work off their hands."
Rob has high expectations for the concept, though he remains undecided about a rollout outside the Netherlands. "We have big ambitions with this," he says. "But first we will build it in the Netherlands, and then we will look further."
For more information:
GreenS & SaladS
Pieter Mastebroekweg 12
7942 JZ Meppel
Tel: +31 (0) 52 2244397
[email protected]
www.greensandsalads.eu
