Sous Vide Sales Soar as Social Distance Regulations Impact Kitchens
It’s the pristine, natural environment of New Zealand that gives Alliance Group NZ’s Pure South lamb and venison its unique taste and flavour. Surrounded by ocean, sustainable natural resources and a temperate climate, New Zealand is the perfect place to raise premium livestock, which is why it sells so well, but now social distance regulations are providing a new reason.
Alliance Group NZ, a NZ$1.53 billion global food business and New Zealand’s largest farming co-operative reports a 50% spike in demand for its prepared Pure South venison rack and lamb products cooked in the sous vide method. It believes this is partly due to new social distance regulations.
Since sharing availability about its sous vide range, Alliance has seen enquires up 50% from June to July compared with last year with interest received in the UK and from Europe, as a result of chefs discovering how easy the product can be prepared with reduced kitchen brigades. As a socially distanced ready product, the Pure South sous vide range reduces labour requirements, helping operators to meet new social distancing regulations easily and without any reduction in the quality of meal they can produce.
Sous vide is a superb method to control and deliver precision cooking. The technique results in uniformly excellent food which is protected from shrinkage. Chefs can finish the meat to precise customer taste, which includes offering a range of finishes such as medium rare or well done. Prepared sous vide is the ultimate convenient chef solution.
The prepared range has been slow cooked in a sealed pouch within a water bath for between four to eight hours and monitored to ensure professional consistency every time. The naturally slow cooking process also locks in moisture for an enhanced flavour profile.
All products are fully cooked and ready to heat and finalise in the kitchen, as products are individually portioned this also helps reduce waste. The result is a flavoursome, fork-tender meat, making it easy to see why it has won so many awards.
Donna Smith, Regional General Manager UK and Europe for Alliance comments; “The challenge for pubs and restaurants is far from over, but they still want the ability to provide their guests with a high-quality food experience. Our pre-prepared sous vide range has taken a large amount of time out of the cooking process, which means it needs less chefs to prepare it ready for service. As an individually packaged product, there is also less wastage as chefs only use what they need and can be assured of longevity should any future closures be on the horizon.”
In total there are nine flavoursome sous vide lamb and venison products in the Pure South range, with cuts including lamb henry, loin, shoulder rack, lamb fore and hind shank, lamb ribs, pulled lamb, lamb rump and venison rack.
All products are lightly seasoned in salt and black pepper, while the lamb fore shank is additionally pre-seasoned in garlic, black pepper and rosemary before being cooked sous vide.
The lamb ribs, rump and loin are lightly seasoned and naturally oak smoked before being cooked sous vide for a delicious flavour. And the pulled lamb is seasoned with paprika, cayenne, coriander, cumin and crushed chillies before being slow cooked. All of the products can be made bespoke, with alternative seasonings added.
Alliance’s lamb and venison is grass-fed, free range and GMO-free. None of the lamb or venison in the prepared sous vide range uses any preservatives to extend shelf life and has undergone minimal processing.
The sous vide range is available immediately in the UK and is delivered frozen.
