GUADALUPE, CA — Stir frying, a time-honored Chinese cooking technique brought to America years ago, is a quick, easy, and healthy way to prepare vegetables—and now it’s quicker, easier, and healthier than ever. Apio, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Landec Corporation (LNDC) and a leading national producer of fresh-cut vegetable products, is announcing the release of its two newest superfoods products—the Eat Smart® Shanghai Blend Stir Fry Kit and the Eat Smart® Kale & Red Chard Stir Fry Kit.
“Consumers are looking for nutritious and convenient new ways to spice up the dinner table, and these new stir fry kits answer the call,” said Cali Tanguay, Apio’s Director of Marketing. “These products represent the next generation of stir fry, by offering a gourmet stir fry sauce, specifically formulated by Apio’s culinary team to enhance and complement a unique blend of on-trend and traditional vegetables. In addition, these delicious and versatile vegetable and sauce combinations can be easily combined with a protein and served as a main course. Both kits allow any cook to prepare a delicious, hot and nutritious dish in a matter of minutes. These stir fry kits are packed with nutrient-dense superfoods and are available for order now.
The Shanghai Blend includes a great tasting combination of five superfoods — Brussels sprouts, bok choy, kale, snow peas, and carrots—as well as a -proprietary hoisin sauce. Cooking directions are on the back, and the package includes a recipe for using the vegetables as the basis for a heartier main dish with soba noodles and pork.
The superfoods featured in the Kale & Red Chard Stir Fry Kit include red chard, kale, broccoli florets, snow peas, and carrots, along with a proprietary garlic-flavored soy sauce. Stir-frying at high heat helps the snow peas and carrots maintain their crunch while allowing the included gourmet sauce to infuse the dish with its delectable flavor. A recipe on the back of the package describes how to enhance the vegetables with chicken, and rice if desired.
“Superfoods” are nutrient-rich foods that are valuable as a part of a healthy balanced diet. Superfood cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, chard, and kale—all of which appear in one or both of the new stir fry kits—have been acclaimed for their nutritional value for centuries. Carrots are high in Vitamin A, as are snow peas, along with being a good source of fiber and vitamins C and K.
“The Kale & Red Chard and Shanghai Blend Stir Fry Kits allow even novice home cooks to create a satisfying Asian-style vegetable dish because everything they need, with pre-washed, pre-chopped vegetables and a cooking sauce is right in the package,” said Cali Tanguay, Apio’s Director of Marketing. “With either a hot skillet, a wok, or a microwave, they can use the recipes on the back of the bag to prepare a distinctive and appealing side dish or main meal in just minutes that is sure to be a favorite for families year round.’
Stir-fry cooking is all about the ingredients and the flavor, and not about the fat, because very little oil is needed. The high temperature required for stir-frying sears food quickly and preserves the natural juices. It takes only a few minutes, so vegetables stay bright and crisp, and the food tastes vibrant and fresh, characterized by concentrated, harmonious flavors1. Some experts say that Asian flavors will be the top new taste trend this year.2 In addition, Bell Flavors and Fragrances placed Asian Cooking Sauces as number six on its list of top trends and flavors for 20143, making the timing of the new stir fry kit’s introduction ideal.
In addition to being hailed by nutritionists, the superfoods in the new kits are increasingly popular at dining tables inside and outside of the home. In the National Restaurant Association’s “What’s Hot 2013 Chef Survey,” 28% of chef participants selected Brussels sprouts; 42% identified snow peas, and 51% indicated that dark greens, such as kale, belong on the list. Kale has been described in numerous articles and blogs as trendy, beyond trendy, mainstream, hot, and cool—and statistics back up the compliments. Dieticians cite kale as one of the top 14 diet trends for 2014,4 and its appearance on restaurant menus has grown by nearly 400% over the last five years.5
Consumers are on the fresh vegetables bandwagon, too. Two recent Technomic reports6 note broccoli as being eaten by more than half of consumers once a week, carrots by 62% each week, and Brussels sprouts by 30% multiple times per month. The combined appeal of these vegetables, along with consumers’ growing interest in Asian flavors, bodes well for the kits as being popular items in shopping carts and the dinner table.
The Kale & Red Chard Stir Fry Kit and the Shanghai Blend Stir Fry Kits complement Apio’s growing family of nutritious, ready-to-use vegetable blends and salads that feature superfoods. Both are available in a 12-ounce and 32-ounce bag at selected club stores and retailers nationwide.
About Apio, Inc.
Apio, Inc., was founded in 1979 by five growers of celery in the Santa Maria Valley on the central coast of California, and named “Apio” for “celery” in Spanish. Today the company is the leader in processing and marketing fresh-cut specialty vegetables in the United States. Headquartered in Guadalupe, California, Apio sells its specialty vegetables and party tray products under its Eat Smart® and GreenLine® brands. Apio’s fresh-cut vegetables are unique in that most of its products utilize the Landec Corporation BreatheWay® proprietary breathable packaging technology to extend the shelf life of specific produce. Landec Corporation (NYSE: LNDC), a polymer science and specialty materials company based in Menlo Park, California, acquired Apio in 1999. For more information about the company, visit Apio’s website at www.apioinc.com.
Sources:
1. http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/techniques/cooking-class-stir-frying-00400000026219/
2. “Eight Trends to Watch for in Fast Food for 2014,” International Business Times, January 14, 2014.
3. www.ift.org, January 9, 2014
4. “14 Top Diet Trends for 2014,” PR Newswire, Dec 26, 2013.
5. http://www.preparedfoods.com/articles/113282-veggies-on-the-menu, Oct. 9, 2013.
6. “Redefining Fresh” Report, Technomic, September 2013 and December 2013.
Source: Apio, Inc.
