We will not tell you anything by writing that these last months have been marked by record inflation of food prices, but perhaps you did not know that fruits and vegetables have experienced this increase for ten years: + 40%, according to the Price Observatory of Rural Families, with a much more expensive organic offer. While fruit and vegetable sales have declined overall, consumers are also paying much more attention to where and how good what they buy. In fact, turning to frozen products is a good solution to continue eating fruits and vegetables – and especially to offer organic. At Picard, the offers have diversified over the past three years with more frozen uncooked vegetables offered organically (+14% in the last three years).
Consumers are also looking for more responsible offers, often cheaper than organic. We are therefore seeing the emergence of new ranges such as the "without pesticide residue" one that is growing sharply (17% of the supply of raw vegetables) at the leader in frozen food in France. The brand also offers "vegetables in conversion to organic farming" and an offer of "organic, local and fair trade vegetables" from the south-west or south-east of France. Canned vegetables, meanwhile, saw their sales increase slightly (3% in volume) due to their more affordable prices, but the supply of organic is still very limited (4% of the supply, according to the Kantar Institute).
Fresh, frozen or canned
Each format has its advantages and disadvantages, and harvesting and processing methods affect the nutritional quality of food. For example, the level of antioxidants is 20% higher in fresh organic products than their conventional counterparts, says Manon Clavier, dietician nutritionist and speaker. Another advantage of organic, it contains less heavy metals and four times less pesticides, but be careful though, it is better to opt for a local and seasonal non-organic product rather than organic from the other side of the planet. "If fresh is still popular, we will make sure to use fruits and vegetables within two days of purchase so that they retain their nutritional qualities, and to preserve the skin when they are organic," recommends the dietician. But it is still necessary to make sure that they have just been harvested and put on sale because the longer the shelf life and the fewer vitamins, including vitamin C. The holy grail would be to have a farmers' market near your home but also to have time to go there every two days. Not easy!
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Frozen foods are therefore excellent solutions to eat fruits and vegetables to your taste, whatever the season. Intended to be frozen, they are harvested at maturity and minimally processed, which allows them to retain a good part of the vitamins and minerals they contain, not to mention fiber. "The ideal is to choose uncooked vegetables, so without added salt, and cook them still frozen directly in the pan with a bottom of water or steamed," says Manon Clavier. So we forget the big pot of boiling water to cook his green beans! In terms of taste, frozen foods are closer to fresh products, especially with regard to fruit. For vegetables, cooking remains very important if you do not want to have a preparation too watery.
Finally, with regard to canned food, they are chosen for their practicality of storage and their long preservation. Tomatoes are preferred but also legumes (chickpeas, white beans, lentils ...) in their uncooked presentation. Be careful, however, with the compositions because canned goods often contain salt, sugar and sometimes additives. Be sure to read the labels and choose those without added salt or low salt and no added sugar.
The important thing is to consume 400 g of fruits and vegetables per day, it is easy to compose your shopping basket by mixing frozen, canned and fresh seasonal products, conventional or organic, while paying attention to your wallet!