Chef Middle East’s continuous commitment to provide the regional foodservice industry with the highest quality products shows in their portfolio of brands, always striving to source the best ingredients the world has to offer.
When it comes to providing you with fresh-frozen vegetables, Ardo is your best partner!
Ardo is a family owned business from Belgium who started their corporate production of vegetables in 1960 on the family farm in Ardooie. In 1977, the company Ardovries was founded to process and freeze the vegetables grown on the surrounding fields. The company expanded and further growth was ensured by acquisition of factories throughout Europe. The company name changed to Ardo in 2000 and became a large and important frozen vegetable producer in Europe.
Why should you choose Ardo Fresh-Frozen vegetables?
- Already cleaned, washed and cut
- Ready to cook
- 100% yield guarantee (no waste)
- 100% convenience
- Stable price
- Available all year round
- Long shelf life: 18 to 30 months
- Maximum conservation of vitamins and nutritional values
- 1kg fresh-frozen vegetables = 1kg on your plate
At Ardo, everything revolves around fresh-frozen vegetables, fruit and herbs. Ardo products are completely natural and retain most of their nutritional value because they are frozen very quickly after harvesting. That makes their colour, texture and taste richer than those of fresh vegetables, and they also contain more vitamins.
For instance, the difference in vitamin C between frozen and fresh vegetables after harvesting would clearly explain the benefit of using the Fresh-Frozen ones:
Quantity of vitamin C (mg/100g) – [source Deutsches Tiefkuhlinstitut]
- Peas
Freshly picked peas 22.1
Fresh peas after 2 days 14.1
Deep Frozen peas 20.2
- Spinach
Freshly picked spinach 17
Fresh spinach after 2 days 4.1
Deep Frozen spinach 14.6
- French Beans
Freshly picked French beans 22.1
Fresh French beans after 2 days 14.1
Deep Frozen French beans 20.2
The nutritional value of all fruit and vegetables declines from the moment of harvest. As such, the vitamin content of fresh produce imported from other continents may have reduced significantly by the time it is purchased. This is especially true of seasonal fresh fruit and vegetables, such as beans imported fresh from Kenya, for example. The long transport time over water, land and air, as well as the storage time before consumption, cause much of the nutritional value to be lost before the product reaches the end user.
In contrast, freshly-frozen fruit and vegetables are frozen directly after harvest in the factories close to the fields in the country of origin. Freezing ensures maximum preservation of the nutritional content, and enables consumers to purchase top-quality seasonal products at any time of the year.
In the UAE, the challenge is even bigger as the market relies on the vegetables import due to the regional climatic conditions, and thus the time to consumption after harvesting is longer. In a research posted on Dubai Chamber website, it was stated that “as climatic conditions of the UAE are not agricultural friendly, it has resulted in a high dependency on fruits and vegetables imports. Traders face several administrative and trade barriers in fruits and vegetables trade due to high number of trade procedures and country of origin issues.”
As a matter of fact, the fresh vegetables will result to a higher rate of wastage in the kitchen, in addition it will affect the quality of the food, which is the fundamental component to satisfy your customers’ palates.
Ardo’s fresh-frozen vegetables, fruit and herbs have consistent high quality and they save a lot of costs, time and energy in the kitchen. They are pre-washed and pre-cut, so they only need to be defrosted, heated up or prepared. What’s more? They are easily portionable – just prepare what you need, and put the rest back in the freezer. The perfect way to avoid food waste!
