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If
you believe that the humble onion is barely worth a mention, then
you would be wise to keep your thoughts to yourself if you visit
Bedfordshire-based Parripak Foods.
In
a single week, the UK's leading fresh vegetable preparation
specialists have put through 251 tonnes of finished onions, which,
based on 8 whole onions per finished kg, equals just over two million
onions - all orientated by hand!
Parripak's
Marketing Manager, Dom Pleasance commented: "This has been a
busy Winter and on all vegetables we are looking to go through 1000
tonne of finished product per week."
Onions
contain Quercetin, a powerful compound which is recognised as being
a more potent antioxidant than Vitamin E and experts believe that two
to three onions a week can have a positive impact on health.
Pleasance
added: "We are expecting an extremely busy year with some
exciting new launches and healthy eating based promotions, which have
had a great deal of development work put behind them. There has also
been an increase in demand from the ready meals market and
particularly in the soup sector. Volumes are such that we have had to
put on a twilight shift to service the orders."
Parripak
have invested in specialised storage facilities to cover the whole
year, and uses the latest technologies such as controlled atmosphere
storage. They also have surrounding farm areas at their
Bedfordshire-based premises, which focus on growing allium-based
crops including brown and red onions, echallions, shallots and
Supasweet™ onions.
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