Convenience food in the professional kitchen? This doesn’t have to be a contradiction. In the turbulent daily kitchen routine, convenience products are often indispensable and make the work of many restaurateurs easier.
Processing stages play a fundamental role in convenience food. In addition to highly processed foods such as frozen desserts by METRO Chef that only need to be defrosted, Mozzarella Sticks or Onion Rings, METRO also offers a variety of minimally processed foods such as pre-cut salad or METRO Chef Avocado Pulp.
Product quality and food safety is also METRO's top priority for convenience food. For example, only high-quality ingredients such as six different herbs including red onion, parsley, and basil are used for METRO Chef Italian mix. Then, under strict hygiene conditions the product is packed in reclosable bags.
METRO Chef Camembert Bites
METRO Chef Italian Mix
METRO Chef Mozzarella Sticks
METRO Chef Onion Rings
👉🏼 90 percent of professional kitchens already regularly use convenience products. (Source: Deloitte study, 2020)
👉🏼 22 percent of well-known nutrition professionals see convenience food among the top 10 future nutrition trends (source: Federal Centre for Nutrition, 2022)
👉🏼 1.973 million tonnes of frozen convenience food were sold in the catering industry in 2022. In the previous year, the figure was 1.684 million tonnes. The frozen goods groups of baked goods, pizza and snacks are particularly popular with high double-digit growth rates (Source: Deutsches Tiefkühlinstitut, 2022)
👉🏼 1,500 own brand products will be offered METRO wide with less sugar, salt and saturated fat and free of additives, including organic certified products or alternative protein sources by the end of December 2023
Convenience products are fast, but also healthy? METRO customers care about both. That is why METRO has committed to using significantly less salt, fat, sugar and additives in ultra-processed foods such as METRO Chef Croissants, Gyros mix spices, Frozen Spicy wedges or Aro Double Cookies by 2023. Already 978 convenience products have been improved by less sugar, salt, saturated fatty acids or the absence of additives since 2018.
There is often a lot of time pressure in the kitchens of restaurateurs, so any support is welcome. For example, with METRO Chef Potato Slices, the first work steps such as time-consuming potato peeling and even slicing are omitted. This gives valuable time - for creativity and sophistication of the menu.
Good planning is the be-all and end-all in the restaurant business. With convenience products, METRO gives customers more planning reliabilty right at the point of purchase. For example, every gram of 2kg ready-to-cook cauliflower florets can be used and reliably portioned - without additional food waste.
