Giuseppe Micucci, Sab Ortofrutta
With the recent launch of ‘Fast & Fresco’ brand, Sab Ortofrutta has initiated a differentiation process that firmly aims at controlling convenience assortment, with a series of fresh proposals in the ready-made soup segment. Sab Ortofrutta is a well-established family-owned company that works in the domain of ready-to-use products (as a national and international copacker, too). It aims at acquiring a significant market share in the domain of ready-to-eat products. That’s why major efforts in terms of investment and development involve the new brand itself.
Currently, ‘Fast & Fresco’ assortment offers a range of 15 references divided into three lines: Classiche, Benessere, Premium (Classic, Well-being, Premium). Giuseppe Micucci, Delegate Advisor and Project Manager for Sab, says: ‘Fast & Fresco is a brand that wants to communicate freshness and ease of consumption at the same time. Raw materials are processed in ways and times that maximise the nutritional and organoleptic characteristics of our products. Thanks to our exclusive technology, the industrial process reproduces results comparable to what is done in home preparation’. In fact, the recipes are designed to offer consumption experiences typical of good and refined Italian cuisine, according to natural combinations.
In the pursuit of brand positioning strategy, the 15 references (in two portion white bowls) are designed to provide taste-experience rich in flavours, freshness, and traditional but distinctive combinations. Classical references include Vegetable Soup, Vegetable Puree, Legume Soup, Spinach Soup, Legume and Cereal Soup, Garden Soup, Pumpkin and Carrot Cream, Cream with Peas, Legume Cream and Puree. The Well-being range includes Delicate Vegetable Soup, Delicate Vegetable Puree and Puree with Courgettes, Leeks and Fennels. For the Premium line, Sab Ortofrutta proposes Soup with Lentils and Pumpkin with Curry, Pureed Soup with Pumpkin and Porcini Mushrooms, and Pureed Soup with Spinach, Ricotta and Ginger.
Many new products will enrich the range. The Classic line will include three side dishes: Purée with Courgettes and Basil, Peperonata with olives and courgettes seasoned with tomato and basil (in two portion white bowls). In the Premium line, Bulgur with vegetables and spices, a ready-made dish designed for individual consumption, to reward oneself with taste, even when one do not have time.
Finally, Fast & Fresco presents the new delightful single-portion Pureed Soups with innovative packaging. As a matter of fact, the packing band can be re-used horizontally to wrap the glass, put the product in the microwave oven and taste it without getting burnt. The recipes, which can be consumed even at room temperature or lukewarm, are Pureed Soup with fennels, beet and apple, and Pureed Soup with icebergs, courgettes and mint.
To conclude, among the medium-term goals that Sab Ortofrutta pursues, there is the one to expand the foreign horizons through partnerships already in place with international players, in different European Countries. ‘The company is already present abroad, both with ready-to-use products for the international large-scale retail trade, and with fresh products in Germany, Austria, Poland, and other Eastern European Countries. Export has reached a remarkable share in recent years, reaching 24% of total turnover in 2016’.
