A BIT of outside-the-box thinking from a group of Queensland farmers' wives has seen the launch new carrot products with a twist.
Jane Miles, Gen Windley, Tracey Rieck, Alice Gorman and Vicki Hinrichsen combined to form Just Veg, a range featuring carrots grown by their families in the Scenic Rim, south-west of Brisbane.
The products feature 300g microwaveable bags of carrot shred, carrot coins and carrot sticks and a 60g snack pack of carrot sticks.
The Just Veg range is available from 240 selected Woolworths Stores in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria and has been designed with time-poor, health conscious customers in mind.
“The team behind Just Veg. are all mums and we’re all married to farmers,” co-creator Alice Gorman said.
“We live the daily grind of preparing school lunches and healthy dinners and we knew we weren’t alone.
“For the past year we’ve been pestering our husbands to develop a range of healthy pre-prepared vegetables and snacking products.
"They thought it was a good idea but said we should drive the project. So we did.
“By day we work in marketing, education, banking, local government and journalism and by night and on weekends we’ve overseen the product development, branding and packaging for the Just Veg range.
"We know that everyone’s lives are getting busier and the pressure on parents to provide healthy meals is enormous.
“That’s why we settled on the slogan – Healthy Made Easy. Now instead of throwing a packet of chips into the lunchbox, parents can grab a bag of carrot sticks out of the fridge.
"We know elderly people often struggle to cut up carrots, so this range is great for them too. It’s a quick and easy meal and salad solution that means no more grating, washing and slicing. They’re ready to eat.”
Family-owned carrot farming company Kalfresh Vegetables processes the products.
Jane Miles said the Just Veg point of difference is that Kalfresh controls every point of the carrot journey – from paddock right through to cutting and bagging.
“The carrots are grown in paddocks right next to the carrot washing, cutting and packing factory,” Ms Miles said.
“The carrots are in the bags within hours of harvest and that speed means they taste much better than anything else on the market and they’ll stay fresher for longer in your fridge.
Tracey Rieck said because the carrots used in Just Veg are cut, shredded and chopped it means even the wonky carrots can still be eaten and make a return for the farmer, instead of being fed to the cows.
“Food waste is a major issue in Australia, where $8 billion of edible food is thrown out each year," she said.
"As farmers we hate to see vegetables that are otherwise nutritious, healthy and tasty rejected because they don’t look great. That’s why products like Just Veg. are so important to us.”
Vicki Hinrichsen said the team decided to highlight their farming credentials on the packaging.
“With the recent fresh food scares we wanted to communicate to our customers that this is a product that’s grown safely by Australian farmers,” Ms Hinrichsen said.
“Our families have been involved in carrot farming for generations and it’s what we know and love.
"We’re really proud of Just Veg and believe customers will love the freshness, the flavour and the convenience of these new products.”
