Fresh or frozen? Keeping ahead

THERE'S NO doubt that that the reputation of frozen food has been through the mill a bit since the days when Captain Birdseye used to take boatloads of children out onto the high seas - a pretty rum sort of arrangement on a number of levels - to bring back the fish fingers.

From being a breakthrough which made wholesome, nutritious food available to the masses, frozen food has become something of a poor relation. Supermarkets proudly display acres of fresh fruit and veg and stock their chilled cabinets with ready meals representing the world's cuisines, while an endless procession of TV chefs extol the virtues of fresh, local food.

In fact, given that vitamin C content decreases with time after harvest, with little left even after two or three days, most urban households are probably better off with frozen veg than with the 'fresh' variety. The same is true of unfrozen fish and meat, given the way microbes and food bugs multiply.

Take a look in households up and down the country and you'll still find plenty of frozen produce - burgers, fish, chips, pizzas, peas, ice-cream and a dozen other freezer staples.

For most pubs there is a similar need to have a good selection of menu items available in the freezer. Unpredictable levels of customer demand, variable kitchen skills and customer expectations of quick service all mean that the pub trade and the frozen food industry will be partners for the foreseeable future.

The question is, does this automatically mean that pubs are trading convenience for quality? Brakes, as might be inevitable for the leading supplier to the UK catering industry, has become something of an Aunt Sally for critics of the freezer-to-plate school of pub grub.

Leaving aside the complexity of Brakes' businesses - among its specialist units are fresh fish specialist M&J Seafood and fresh produce supplier Pauleys - the company would argue that there is no shortage of quality to be found at the heart of its frozen food operation.

The frozen food sector is a hive of activity when it comes to innovation, says Stuart Davey, product development manager for desserts and bakery at Brakes.

"There is a common misconception that frozen food is of inferior quality, especially when compared with fresh or chilled," he says.

"But the fact is that it's just as good and, more importantly, most publicans need frozen foods to stay in business. Frozen food minimises waste, it helps control and reduce costs and, what's more, without frozen food, a lot of the produce on today's menus just wouldn't be available.

"Because of this vital role frozen food plays, the sector is always innovating and at a much quicker pace than other sectors. For us it's at the forefront of our business. Our team of dedicated product development managers are continually researching and developing new products, based on what consumers and caterers demand."

The man charged which leading much of this development is Andrew Underwood, commercial director of Creative Foods. This specialist division of Brakes develops and produces frozen products for the company.

Creativity doesn't, of course, take place in a vacuum. "We benefit from the insight and resource of Brakes' central marketing," says Andrew. This is in addition to data from Menurama, the ongoing survey of menus in managed outlets. "The sales force also picks up on trends and feedback."

Keeping abreast of trends and changing consumer demands are just as important to the food business as they are to fashion, and Brakes' ownership of Wild Harvest, the upmarket business which supplies ingredients such as mushrooms, truffles, and foie gras to London's top chefs, gives the frozen food market an insight into the drivers of taste.

Supermarket ready-meal shelves are also regularly monitored. "We're very aware that customers have choices," says Andrew. "During the week they graze where they can, at weekends they might decide on a meal in a pub, or may decide on a bottle of wine and a Tesco's Finest meal at home. So we review and benchmark our products against the best supermarket meals."

Creative Foods has two frozen food manufacturing facilities. The larger, at Flint in North Wales, specialises in savoury ready meals, sauces and soups, while the second plant at Torquay, Devon, is devoted to Brakes' dessert business.

Both sites are accredited to BRC Global Food standard, Grade A - developed to evaluate manufacturers of own-brand food products. In deciding whether to produce in-house or to outsource to other specialists, "we tend to ask 'what are we good at and what could we be good at?' That helps to focus the business," says Andrew.

Key to the process of ensuring that the right product will be delivered is the customer. "We look at the skills and equipment that are available in-house, all of which influence the product. The packaging is very important and increasingly it will be dual format - for example, a bag which can be simmered in warm water, or pierced and microwaved."

As an example of this product process, one of Brakes' latest developments is a range of frozen pies which can be microwaved, yet still retain their crispness, something not usually associated with pastry products. Available in steak, mushroom & Irish stout and chicken, leek & Wiltshire ham varieties, the pies require defrosting, microwaving for four minutes and then finishing in the oven for two minutes.

Stuart Davey says: "A pie is the epitome of British fare, eaten all year round and available in both sweet and savoury flavours. Recently there has been a demand within foodservice for pies that are more wholesome and traditional in their ingredients and have that homemade look.

"Yet publicans still want something that meets their demands for speed of service, which we averaged at about six minutes. Most pies on the market at the time were taking over 30 minutes to cook."

Every component of each pie was looked at in detail. The meat is prepared in the traditional way, so the chicken is braised and roasted on the bone with the skin, and all the vegetables are fresh. Each pie is wrapped in hand-finished, butter-enriched pastry and then tin-baked to give smooth sides rather than the wrinkled edges associated with foil-baked pies.

Stuart says: "We know how to make pies and we also understand what the publican and consumer want and, in this instance, we knew immediately it was achievable if we put our minds to it."

This move toward more 'natural' frozen products is a key trend, according to Andrew. "Many frozen products are going the 'clear ingredient' route.

"There has been quite a bit of noise about removing transfats and so on, and with frozen food is much easier to deliver than with chilled because many of the ingredients people are concerned about are associated with preserving food," he says.