IV and V range: the consumer asks for quality and comfort

In recent years, food innovations in the fruit and vegetable sector have been in demand by consumers, who have opted for new IV and V range products. The range of these products is increasingly wide, allowing safe, top quality foodstuffs with an adequate shelf life to be obtained.

Bárbara Aguayo Martínez, agri-food journalist (@BarbaraAguayoM3)

The changes in consumption patterns that our society has undergone in recent years have given rise to a growing demand on the part of consumers for pre-prepared and pre-cooked convenience food products.

If we focus on pre-prepared convenience food, we are talking about fresh fruit and vegetables without heat treatment, prepared, washed and cut. On a higher scale, however, is the V Range with pre-cooked products. These latter products have all the characteristics demanded by today’s consumers, more elaborated products of a high nutritional quality, similar to home-made products, but with a longer shelf life and with all the safety guarantees.

What are consumers looking for?

The IV and V Range has allowed innovation in different aspects, from the work process to optimise wastage, to the development of new types of slicing, as well as new technologies. This is a market that is growing rapidly and revolutionising the whole of the Spanish market.

The end consumer is looking for products that are easy to use and don’t take up a lot of time in the kitchen because they don’t have time or want to spend it on other activities; but at the same time, they demand quality products from an organoleptic point of view, that are tasty and tasty. He is not satisfied with just a product that is easy to use, he is becoming more and more demanding.

At the same time, the professional client of the Horeca channel, although looking for the same thing, stresses his need to find solutions for the kitchen that serve as an “assembly” for his dishes, with finished or almost finished products, without detriment to the original quality.

In this sense, the company Vicente Peris is working with pre-prepared convenience food with the production in Sala Blanca of fruit cut into tubs with formats aimed at consumers sold in supermarkets and the Horeca channel. “Consumers are asking for convenience and the opportunity to enjoy cut fruit at its best at any time of the day. Fruit is a healthy and nutritious alternative to traditional snacks based on flour and sugars, so when you want to watch what you eat there is always a good fruit to satisfy your hunger”, comments Christian Palacios, Marketing Manager at Peris.

Product evolution

In 2021, IV and V range convenience food sector demonstrated its undeniable strength by returning to growth with rising figures in a very difficult context of restrictions.

The healthy and wholesome lifestyle is also reflected in companies with a clear commitment to IV an V range products.

In this sense, companies such as Udapa and under the brand name Paturpat have continued working to develop more evolved products in the sense of offering finished recipes with the incorporation of new vegetable ingredients, oil, spices, where an investment in technology is sought for a quality end product. “Our aim is to give the user and the end consumer a plus in terms of convenience by incorporating new products such as the potato wedges that we will soon have on the market in 1 kg format”, comments Koldo López de Robles, the manager of Paturpat.

The need to lead a healthy and wholesome life is also reflected in the companies that are committed to IV and V range products. La Gergaleña joins this trend, where they are aware of the current pace of life and the need to lead a healthy life, which is why they are committed to a range of products that facilitate the consumption of fruit and vegetables using quality raw materials. “Our products have adapted to the needs of the moment and have been evolving towards less processed and more natural products to reach a consumer who is becoming more and more demanding every day”, comments Manuel Alarcón, Manager of La Gergaleña.

This evolution of pre-prepared and ready-to-eat products, convenience solutions with high sensory quality standards are being sought without forgetting the health-related aspects of these foods.

Quality products

•  Vicente Peris; Pineapple, mango, melon, watermelon, coconut, pomegranate, carrot, pumpkin, are the main protagonists of the shelf maintaining its confidence in the Pineapple with cooked ham as a novelty together with the Melon with ham.
• Anecoop; They work with an interesting line of avocado-based spreads, with three types of guacamole: classic, organic and spicy, and avocado hummus. This line is completed with chickpea hummus and Mexican sauce.
•  La Gergaleña; A clear commitment to natural tomato (94%) with extra virgin olive oil (4%), salt and garlic under the name of Tumaca.
•  Udapa; Their product line to be launched on the market includes complete salad preparations including other vegetables, garnish preparations based on baked potato with oil dressing, onion and other ingredients.

 Packaging innovation

Plastic has been and continues to be one of the main protagonists in the packaging of our products. More and more companies are investing in the development of innovative packaging to preserve the quality of fruit and vegetables.

As far as the use of packaging for marketing these products is concerned, Anecoop is working on a process to look for possibilities to replace plastic. “It is complicated because the packaging requirements for pre-prepared convenience food and the modification of packaging atmospheres require barrier materials for which there are no alternatives at the moment”, comments Alberto Cáncer, Anecoop´s manager of IV and V Range.

There is no doubt that all the innovations in the packaging of our products help to avoid fruit and vegetable wastage by reducing environmental impact, which was one of the main objectives of the FAO in 2021 coinciding with the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables.