4 Ways IQF Fruits and Vegetables Can Save Your Restaurant Money
January 27, 2021
Fresh vs. Frozen Produce: A Simple Guide to the Benefits of IQF Foods
February 8, 2021
It’s sad to think that there are so many starving people in the world while most of us eat well each day and have food to spare. But the worst part is knowing that most of our “spare” food doesn’t get eaten at all.
Specifically, 40% of all food in America goes right in the trash as food waste. That’s enough to feed a whole other country!
Fortunately, there’s an easy solution that will drastically reduce this waste: IQF (individually quick-frozen) produce. By consuming IQF produce, you’ll be doing your part to eliminate food waste, help our economy, and save money yourself. Learn more about the benefits of using frozen produce by reading this guide.
1. Longer Shelf Life
Consider, for a moment, how long fresh produce lasts once you bring it home. Most produce doesn’t last longer than one or two weeks. Because of this, you’re sometimes unable to finish it before it goes bad, right?
Well, fresh produce doesn’t fare any better when it sits on store shelves. In fact, stores discard produce even sooner than the shoppers would.
Most fresh produce on store shelves is replaced every day with a new batch. After all, no one’s going to buy bananas that are already overripe.
Thus, a single store might compost hundreds of pounds of fresh produce every day. Compost is good and all, but it’s not worth all the money and fuel spent to harvest and transport those crops.
But IQF produce lasts up to an entire year before expiring. Therefore, it reduces both commercial and household food waste.
2. You Don’t Need That Much Kale
Another problem is the reason people buy produce. Often, we purchase certain produce items as ingredients for recipes. Even more often, these ingredients are only available in quantities that are not accommodating for this purpose.
For example, perhaps you need 1 cup of fresh kale for a casserole you’re cooking. But your grocery store only sells it in 2-pound bags, far more than you need. Then, the excess ends up in the trash a week later.
None of this is an issue if you buy IQF ingredients. Use what you need, keep the rest in the freezer until next week. This benefit applies to both households and businesses.
3. “Ugly Duckling” Produce
“That tomato has a soft spot. Ew, this apple is scratched.”
Even if you don’t say it out loud, you know you’re thinking it. A small blemish on an otherwise perfect produce item is all it takes to repel every shopper who examines it.
Then, by the end of the day, there’s not just one but 100 “ugly” apples leftover in the produce department. And they all become compost. For that reason, many farmers don’t even bother harvesting ugly crops.
Fortunately, those who package IQF fruits and veggies aren’t nearly so picky. Besides, your reasons for not buying blemished produce don’t apply to IQF produce.
It’s smart not to take a scratched apple or squishy tomato home. These are likely to go bad more quickly in your fridge.
But that’s not the case for frozen produce. They’ll stay perfectly fine for a whole year.
Do Your Part to Reduce Food Waste with IQF Produce
Reduce food waste, save money, support the agricultural industry. What’s the downside? There aren’t any!
So, next time you shop for groceries, remember these benefits. And start using more IQF produce to do your part for your planet and yourself.
Want to learn more about the benefits of IQF produce? Check out these five reasons to use organic frozen fruit and vegetables for restaurants.
