The Nunes Co., a long time leader in the California fresh vegetable industry, is touting a new product, BroccoLeaf, as the next kale.

Matt Seeley, vice president of marketing for the Salinas, CA-based firm, told The Produce News that the company has been marketing the item on a nationwide scale for about a month with great results from both retailers and consumers.

BroccoLeaf, which has a sweet flavor and pleasant taste."We started working on it earlier this summer and did our due diligence before we launched it nationwide," he said. "We discovered it has great flavor with a sweet taste and an excellent nutritional profile. Chefs love it because it is very versatile. You can juice it, sauté it, bake it, use it in smoothies, and of course as a salad item. It has numerous applications."

Seeley said its discovery as a potential commercial product was brought to the attention of the company by one of its longtime growers, who prefers to remain in the background.

Earlier this year, Nunes and its well-known "Foxy" brand of produce launched a juicing campaign as a great and nutritious way to use whole vegetables. The campaign included social media outreach and the development of numerous recipes, including some smoothie options using kale.

"While we were developing that campaign one of our growers told us about young broccoli leaves," said Seeley. "He said he uses them for juicing and smoothies because they work better than kale, which can clog up the machine."

Nunes decided the idea deserved further exploration, and so it sent some broccoli leaves for a nutritional analysis. The company also worked with some chefs and a registered dietitian to see how broccoli leaves could be utilized in the kitchen — both at home and in restaurants.

The results were surprisingly positive.

"It has a very sweet flavor and pleasant taste," said Seeley. "It doesn't have that bitter taste that is sometimes associated with other greens."

He explained that the broccoli leaves Nunes is now selling under the trademark-pending name of BroccoLeaf are the young leaves that surround a head of broccoli typically in the center of the plant. They are hand-harvested prior to the harvesting of the broccoli itself. And they are packed in the field just like other greens such as kale, chard and collard greens. They are also sold in a similar fashion.

"There are 10 leaves to a bunch and we are selling them in 12-count and 24-count cartons," said the Nunes executive.

He added that the product is being sold as part of The Nunes Co.'s organic lineup of greens. At this point, it is not offered as a conventional item as the greens category is trending toward the organic sector.

Seeley said Nunes did not launch the BroccoLeaf product until it had sufficient supplies to fill demand. "We are now offering it on a 24/7, 365 days of the year basis."

As far as a price point, it is being priced similarly to the other greens. Typically, the greens category has a fairly stable pricing structure though there can be times of short supply, high demand and a higher f.o.b. price.

In examining the nutritional content of this new vegetable item, Nunes worked with registered dietitian Ashley Koff, who is editorial director of The AKA List, a personal shopping tool to help consumers make healthier choices.

"I was not sure what to make of it when I received it," said Koff. "I sautéed it with coconut oil and loved it, then I added it to my smoothie and also made Greensadillas replacing the tortilla with organic BroccoLeaf so it was a naturally gluten-free quesadilla. Overall it surprised me that it didn't have raw broccoli's taste. I felt it tasted more like a sugar snap pea."

Koff said it is an extremely versatile vegetable. "I think it will be used in several ways -- certainly as a salad base, definitely in smoothies and juices, and likely in egg omelets and stir-frys."

Koff believes it has great utilization potential in the foodservice arena. "It has a lower price point than other 'super greens' and it could be added to a salad bar or pasta sauce or egg scramble."

Seeley said its nutritional profile show that it is an excellent source of antioxidants, calcium and vitamins A, K and C, as well as being a good source of folate.

In a company press release, Tom Nunes V, vice president of operations at The Nunes Co., said, "We are big advocates of full produce consumption, which is why we started experimenting with broccoli leaves. But, the health findings and taste even took us by surprise. We know how fantastic broccoli leaves are for the soil, but nobody considered it a viable produce item. Everyone in our industry's been trying to find the next kale, and BroccoLeaf has been staring all of us in the face for decades."

Typically, after broccoli is harvested, the nutritious leaves are tilled back into the ground as a way to replenish the soil.

In celebration of the new product launch, Foxy is debuting a number of original BroccoLeaf recipes with the help of BroccoLeaf spokesperson Koff to educate the public about the many ways it can be prepared and enjoyed. All recipes can be found on Foxy's website and on its social media channels.

Foxy will also launch a companion social media campaign encouraging the public to make and share their original BroccoLeaf creations on their personal social platforms as well as Nunes' social media pages. The best recipes will then be personally selected and incorporated into a forthcoming cookbook.

"It's incredibly rare, in this day and age, to be able to introduce a new non-GMO organic vegetable into the market," said Seeley. "We believe the potential for BroccoLeaf is massive and are very excited about consumers' and retailers' responses."