Fresh-cut produce goes back to school for Wegmans
Fresh-cut produce goes back to school for Wegmans
Noting an increase in consumers' snacking habits, Wegmans Food Markets has introduced its healthy line of “Fresh Cut Snacks” in all Wegmans stores for the back-to-school season.
“Our people and our customers often tell us that healthy eating is important, but they struggle with finding the time to plan and prepare fresh, healthy choices,” Tom Colopietro, category merchant at Wegmans, said in a press release. “We’re learning that for many customers, ready in a few minutes isn’t fast enough. What they’re really looking for is something that’s healthy, tastes good and is ready to eat right away."
Every day the culinary team at each store will together healthy snacks, including freshly washed and cut fruits and vegetables to help busy families find healthier choices when time is short.
The “Fresh Cut Snacks” are now available at checkout lanes near the Market Café in combinations like these:
- Raw veggies (like carrot, Bell pepper and jicama sticks and snap peas) plus roasted red pepper hummus dip
- Carrot and celery sticks and hummus dip
- Apple slices and celery sticks, with organic peanut butter and whole grain rice cakes
- Mixed fresh fruit cup — berries, pineapple, cantaloupe and honeydew melon
- Blueberry Greek Yogurt Parfait
- Mixed dried fruit and nut cups
- Cut carrots and hummus dip, with organic turkey strips and whole-grain crackers
A Wegmans culinary team led by Eric Wendorff, corporate operations executive chef, started working up combos in the test kitchen. The company also tweeted customers to find out about their favorite snack ideas, then took the ideas to the nutrition team, which adjusted recipes to boost the nutritional values.
"Since 'Fresh Cut Snacks' were introduced at the Pittsford store a few months ago," said Wendorff, "customers have been snapping them up. When school opens again in the fall, the pace for many families will quicken. The rush to get everybody where they need to go sometimes leaves too little time for a sit-down meal, and not much time for washing and cutting up vegetables, either. So we’ve done the planning and prep with these new fresh snacks — they’re grab-and-go easy.”
