While “Christmas in July” promotions are behind us and winter holiday festivities are still well into the future, Central Foods has chosen the hot days of August to launch its new Menuserve Mediterranean Vegetable Tart as an ideal vegan option for any Christmas menu. Distribution is in units of 1 x 12 packs, with each tart weighing in at approximately 260 grams.
“Visually exciting with lots of color and different tempting textures, this product will appeal not only to vegans but will also go down well with those diners who are looking for a tasty alternative to meat,” said Gordon Lauder, managing director of the Collingtree, Northampton, England-based frozen food distributor.
He added: “One in eight people in the UK is now either vegetarian or vegan, with between one in five and one in three identifying as a meat reducer or flexitarian, and this offering will ensure foodservice outlets have mouth-watering Christmas menu options for those who have such dietary requirements. Increasingly, free-from menu items are appealing more generally too, as growing numbers of people opt for a flexitarian or meat-reducing approach to their diets.”
The Menuserve Mediterranean Vegetable Tart is a ready-to-bake, crisp basil pastry case filled with a slow roasted tomato sauce topped with grilled courgettes, red and yellow peppers, red onions and cherry tomatoes, all finished with a crunchy basil and pumpkin seed crumb.
“It’s always useful to have frozen products available to suit various dietary requirements, as not only does it help to cater for unexpected demand but also helps if allocating designated free-from prep areas of the kitchen is an issue,” said Lauder.
Central Foods ranks as one of Britain’s leading frozen food distributors, supplying more than 400 different lines into foodservice channels, ranging from vegetarian and free-from items to meat products, bakery items and canapés through to buffet products, desserts and puddings. It currently sells to more than 240 independent wholesalers, as well as larger national and regional wholesalers, and foodservice caterers.
