For several years now, old vegetables have been appearing more and more often in the catering trade and on the supermarket shelves. It was for a reason that the rutabaga was recently voted 'vegetable of the year'. In line with this trend, easy-to-use convenience products are increasingly in demand in the wholesale and retail trade. The Uhrbach company from Winsen has managed to bring together both elements in the Gemüsinis product brand. And the success of this brand is astonishing, says managing director Alexandra Uhrbach.
Hokkaido is a hit
The Gemüsinis brand was launched in 2012 and at the time consisted of two home-grown convenience products. 'Due to the fact that salsify is difficult to prepare in the kitchen, we started with salsify and turnip in sliced form. We produce the winter vegetables mostly in our own fields and for some years we have noticed that the forgotten vegetables are more and more on the rise. In addition, there is definitely an demand for fresh fruit and vegetables, that you no longer have to peel yourself,'' says Frau Uhrbach.
The main season on the northern vegetable fields will start around this time of year and it will run until March-April, after which the winter vegetables will disappear from the trade and the management goes into the summer break. From October onwards -when the first lots come on the market- salsify is a product that consistently sells well.
Uhrbach: ''In addition to this, in the autumn, the Hokkaido squash is a hit at the moment. We have been offering this product for two years now and it was very well received from the start.''
The company stand at the Edeka Nord Messe in Neumünster this week
Online trade
New products are already planned, but the development process takes a long time, as the farm will only cultivate and market untreated products. ''That means we do not use any additives, and that the products are neither heated nor pasteurized. The period of the best before date is therefore crucial and we have to test how long the vegetables can be stored and so on."
Meanwhile, the company's products are marketed to the retail trade via trading partner Premium Fresh Network. The wholesale area is directly covered by the company. ''For example, we are supplying online retailers HelloFresh and Koch Sauber. In any case, we are enthusiastic about how well our products are accepted in various areas,'' Mrs Uhrbach concludes.
Left: The newest product in the portfolio, the vegetables and chips mix
Right: The Hokkaido squash is now the autumn hit
All from one hand
Uhrbach Gemüsinis is a brand of agricultural company Uhrbach Gemüsebau, which is being run by the Uhrbach family for three generations now. Ready to cook, high-quality vegetables from their own fields or from regional cultivation, with a quality equivalent to fresh vegetables from the market -this is the claim to the Uhrbach company makes. The entire value chain -from plant seeds to the ready-to-cook product- is controlled stringently.
For more information:
Uhrbach Gemüsinis
Alexandra Uhrbach
Boschstr. 24
D-21423 Winsen (Luhe)
[email protected]
www.uhrbach-gemuesinis.de
www.gemuese-box.de
