New market needs
The chicory sector supplies important efforts to expand the sales market for 'white gold' together with LAVA auctions Coöbra and Veling REO. Chicory auctions such as Coöbra and REO Veiling shift borders, looking for new products which play into the trend of easy use. With this convenience product REO Veiling wants to play into the increasing market demand for pre-cut, mixed salads and small packages for small families.Ready to use chicory salads
The REO Veiling, a leading chicory auction within LAVA, responds to the increasing demand for pre-cut salads with 'Les Crudettes'. The chicory salads are prepared with daily fresh Flandria chicory and sold in two variations: chicory-lettuce and chicory-radicchio in ready to use bags. The suppliers of the product are kept to strict demands. The product meets the highest quality standards: cooled right after harvest, similar weight and environmentally friendly cultivation. A shelf life of one week is guaranteed, as long as the cold chain is respected.'Steamy' modern convenience vegetable
Veiling Coöbra, a LAVA auction organisation of Belgian chicory growers, also marketed an innovative product last year. In the vegetable rayon the consumer can find 'Steamy', freshly packaged Flandria chicory in ready to use steaming bags for the microwave. Steamy stands for tasty, easily cooked chicory. The product can be found where it belongs: with the fresh vegetables.Flandria-red chicory: unique colour and taste
Flandria-red chicory, a mix between radicchio (lettuce) and classic chicory, has conquered a good place on the Belgian market. Flandria-red chicory slightly differs in taste and structure from classic chicory. The fresh, red colour covers a large part of the crop. The same strict Flandria quality standards count for red chicory. "We have a unique trump card up our sleeves with red chicory, with which a profit can be realised for the growers", according to Jo Lambrecht of Veiling Coöbra."There is regular demand and enough volume. It's a good product, which some warehouses can work with very well. We also realise nice business in the export with Flandria-red chicory. Coöbra is certainly open to commercial discussion with interested buyers. On demand we supply the desired packaging." Play with the attractive colour of the Flandria-red chicory and give it prominent place in the vegetable rayon. This beautiful niche product is perfectly suited to modern preparation and festive setting and is good for presenting salads due to the unique colour.
Second edition 'Chicory is cheating'
Chicory has been a vandal carrier of the typical Belgian kitchen for decades, but in 2011 the promotion campaign 'Chicory is cheating' encouraged the consumer to be creative with this vegetable. The campaign in close collaboration with the retail and various shop chains was a huge success. The popularity of the chicory has clearly gone up, among younger user too. Original recipes which are easy to prepare inspire the numerous visitors to www.witloofgaatvreemd.be. In March there will be a second edition with promotional action with loose chicory, and in April with packaged chicory.Information: www.witloofgaatvreemd.be