JUST COOK NEW VEGETABLE DISHES FROM WILLOWBROOK

A new range of ready-to-cook vegetable dishes has been developed by Northern Ireland based Willowbrook Foods, the farm-based grower and supplier of prepared salad, potato and vegetable products. The vegetable dishes are marinaded and dressed for convenience meals. In addition to the vegetable dishes, Willowbrook is also launching stir-fry products complete with a tasty Taiwanese sauce. Four dishes ??" a wet salad, three rice salad, pesto-pasta and a Mexican bean salad have also been developed by the company for Aldi, a leading customer in Great Britain. The new ranges are the latest to be created by the company's extensive new product development team at its base at Killinchy in the heart of rural County Down. Most of the ingredients used in all the new products are grown and cooked on the company's 100-acre farm, near the picturesque Strangford Lough. In addition to its pre-prepared vegetable meals, the company offers an established range of mashed potato dishes and a carrot and parsnip mashed product. It has developed a gourmet range of Sweet Potato Mash, Sweet Chilli Mash and an Italian Mash with bacon, peppers and red onion. Willowbrook Foods, which has recently launched a new and bolder corporate branding, was also the first food processing company in Ireland to apply the FSA traffic light system to its products. The company is BRC accredited and currently supplies leading customers in both retail and foodservice sectors throughout the British Isles. Managing director of Willowbrook Foods, John McCann, says the new ranges have been developed to meet market opportunities the company has identified in the UK and Ireland for quality products that meet the demand for pre-prepared vegetable dishes that can be popped into the oven or microwave ???They are based on extensive market research and consultations with customers and our consumer groups. These will be available to the retail and food services sectors and will compliment our extensive range of ready-to-use salad and vegetable bags in all our markets. ???Our strategic focus is in offering companies in these sectors a complete one-stop shop for fresh and prepared vegetable dishes. They look to us to come up with fresh ideas that meet ever-changing consumer tastes and market trends,??? he says. Willowbrook's success demonstrates the values embedded in the recently launched ???Northern Ireland Good Food Is In Our Nature??? campaign.