Import and Bonduelle fees : when plants take their place in the kitchen

Frais Import has represented Bonduelle Food Service for over 20 years, the French specialist in frozen vegetables, with CHR professionals. Last month, at the Christian Antou hotel school, an audience of chefs attended, to a culinary demonstration focused on vegetables using the brand's products. A revelation for many. In the kitchen, Frédéric Jaunault, master chef of fruits and vegetables, best worker in France in the “Fruitier-Primeur” category, was unanimous.

With Bonduelle, the wholesale distributor of food products promotes “eating well” through vegetables. Frédéric Jaunault, brilliantly accompanied by two students from the hotel high school, prepared four recipes based on the brand's frozen vegetables. For the chefs present, this way of cooking vegetables, no longer as a garnish but as a dish in its own right, drawing inspiration from culinary traditions and including local products, made an impression. At the end of the presentation, the sales manager for the overseas territories of Bonduelle Export, Ophélie Tetart, asked one of them : “Are you convinced ? » “Doubly”, replied the chef of a community, summarizing the general impression. The chefs were not only sensitive to the sincerity of the words and the originality of the dishes they were able to taste. They were surprised by their speed of execution, source of cost optimization. This speed is the result of a patented freezing technology unique in the world, invented by Bonduelle to make life easier for professional chefs without compromising on quality. This is what Frédéric Jaunault explained : produced by thousands of farmers in France, vegetables are frozen within four hours of harvest. This speed ensures that they have a nutritional quality equal to or even superior to that of most fresh vegetables.. The other major advantage is that this Bonduelle technology allows you to cook frozen vegetables instantly., without waiting to defrost them. These “Minute vegetables” are pre-cut, the time saving is considerable.

Passion for vegetables
Outstanding teacher, Frédéric Jaunault had, before this demonstration, led an awareness workshop on plant-based cooking for students. “I have been traveling the planet for 30 years to promote cutting techniques, preparing and cooking vegetables », says the founder of the Fruit Academy & vegetables, an information portal. “I consider myself a transmitter of tradition around the use of vegetables in cooking around the world. I pass them on to chefs to enable them to establish their own creativity on solid foundations. » The best worker in France salutes the Bonduelle brand : “she has developed very high quality frozen food technology which defends our regions and our French know-how. » With Bonduelle frozen vegetables, he invites chefs to compose “creative recipes, inspired by local flavors and local consumption habits”.

Products “created for chefs by chefs”
Family business founded in 1853, Bonduelle finds itself today, by his exceptional experience with vegetables, at the forefront of the food transition ! The brand created Greenology, a special service whose mission is to explore the field of possibilities in plant-based cuisine, notably by revisiting the know-how of the ancients. “We want to give ideas to chefs by showing them the practicality and quality of Bonduelle frozen vegetables, and that we can make very good dishes with our products by mixing frozen and fresh”, explains Ophélie Tetart. Hence the keen interest shown in plant-based cuisine by community chefs. The EGalim law requiring school canteens to offer at least one vegetarian menu per week, making children love vegetables is becoming a real challenge for communities. For Aurélie Lefèvre, responsible for developing the brand's export sales, “food service in Reunion has strong potential. We want to continue to develop it with our partner Frais Import. Ensemble, we don't just share products and support services, but values ​​of respect and responsibility in all its forms. These are also the values ​​that we want to share with our customers”, she emphasizes.

(The four dishes made from Bonduelle Food Service products (from left to right) : Butternut risotto, Pumpkin and citrus hummus, Provençal cauliflower minute, Salsify carbonara and duck rösti.)