Vegetable breeding company Rijk Zwaan has highlighted the growth of the global out-of-home market as it looks to boost sales of its lettuce range to the foodservice sector.
Rijk Zwaan quoted the Foodservice 2019 - Global Outlook report when emphasising the growth of the sector, with the strongest growers in Europe being new fast-food chgins focused on fresh and natural food.
These chains include Leon Naturally Fast Food in the UK (growth of 70 per cent year-on-year), French chain Pitaya (up 60 per cent) and German chain dean&david (up 27 per cent), the report outlined.
And the group is looking to take advantage of the health trend in on-the-go-snacking by pushing its lettuce range.
“Lettuce adds freshness, colour and a satisfying bite to any sandwich,' said Bauke van Lenteren, manager convenience at Rijk Zwaan. 'The challenge is to retain that satisfying bite, even in combination with acidic dressings or warm fillings. With our Sandwich Range, we offer the perfect lettuce leaf for every kind of sandwich.”
Rijk Zwaan has recommended robust lettuce types such as Crystal Lettuce, Crunchy Lettuce or the curly leaves of Salanova Batavia for burgers, Open Heart Cos and Salanova Crispy for sandwiches, while the vegetable breeding company has also selected lettuce leaves for baguettes, flatbreads, kaiser rolls and wraps.
Meanwhile Wrap Lettuce, which recently won an innovation award in Spain, eliminates the need for bread completely because the crunchy lettuce leaf itself acts as the wrap, according to van Lenteren: “Combined with a tasty filling, this fresh, gluten-free snack is the ideal ‘on the go’ solution.”
Many of these lettuce types are Salanova varieties, she continued.
“This is a one-cut-ready lettuce that is ideal for convenience and foodservice applications because it takes just one slice of the knife to remove all the small, uniformly sized leaves from the head,' van Lenteren explained. 'Plus all the leaves are usable, which helps to prevent food waste.”
