<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rochester, NY-</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By ANUK Staff<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">12.28.12</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Wegmans reflected on the year's appetites and found that on wegmans.com, the recipes that customers reviewed most often in 2012 were in the food category of vegetables. Mark Makovec, a Wegmans' Executive Chef noted that this trend is probably no fluke and actually predicts that veggie dishes will be even bigger 2013, according to a press release.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/hl_wegmans_dec_2012_BANNER.jpg" alt="122812images" /><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Coming in at the top of the list for veggie recipes were concontions that included Roasted Cauliflower Popcorn, Honey-Roasted Root Vegetables and Pan-Steamed Broccoli. Other popular recipes include Mushroom Soup, Roasted Asparagus with Parmigiano-Reggiano, Root Vegetable Soup with Pancetta & Truffle Oil, and Vanilla-Orange Glazed Carrots.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Chef Mark, states, “Most people know that vegetables are good for them. But we all want food that’s delicious and easy to make as well as healthy.” In response to the positive feedback from consumers, Chef Mark and his colleagues on the Meal Development Team at Wegmans feel like they’re headed in the right direction. “We began a special effort about two years ago to see if we could boost the appeal of vegetables,” he continues, “As a company, we want people to eat more vegetables because they’re good for you and we want customers to enjoy their best health.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The Team went to work creating new ideas for vegetable dishes that had great flavor, and offered healthy, do-able options for shoppers. For the team, recipes have to pass all three requisites before they appear in Wegmans Menu Magazine.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> <img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/wegmans_produce00.jpg" alt="122812images" /><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Based on 2012, Chef Mark has thoughts about what 2013 will bring. He ventured five predictions, according to the press release:<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Prediction #1: Even more veggies on the plate.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“Maybe great-grandma thought the only way to cook vegetables was to boil them, but customers now know that other cooking techniques can bring out incredible flavors and textures. When veggies are more tempting, people eat more of them. Look at what’s happened with one vegetable that many people didn’t used to like – Brussels Sprouts. Today, Roasted Brussels Sprouts are a top seller at hot food bars in our stores. People love the mellow flavors and the crispy-crunchy outer leaves.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Prediction #2: Move over, spinach – watch out for baby kale!<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“Spinach isn’t the only leafy green in the produce case, and customers are starting to show more interest in kale, baby kale, Swiss chard, escarole, and collard, turnip, and mustard greens. We think this trend will grow in 2013. Buying these leafy greens in cleaned-and-cut packages means they go right into the pan with no extra prep. If you like, stir in some of our Spicy Thai Red Curry Sauce or another sauce just before serving, and everybody will want seconds.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Prediction #3: More ethnic flavors come home.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“When people eat out, they try lots of flavors - Chinese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Caribbean or Mexican – and then they want that taste at home. We help by making it easy to execute those flavors without extra shopping and cooking time. Sometimes, it’s with a whole line of products like Wegmans’ Asian Classics, with stir-fry sauces, different kinds of Asian noodles, and pot stickers. Sometimes, it’s something simpler, like ready-to-cook chicken marinated with jerk seasoning or lime/cilantro flavor. We think the growth trend for ethnic and international flavors hasn’t peaked yet.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Prediction #4: More interest in the story behind the food.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“We’ll see more foods and brands appealing to people’s sense of values. Customers are often quite knowledgeable about sustainability issues, like how and where their food is grown or how many miles it traveled from farm to store. Organic foods are one of the fastest-growing categories across the store. Customers love our locally grown produce, where nearby grower partners bring their daily harvest right to our store. It supports nearby communities, and the produce couldn’t be fresher.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Prediction #5: More help for those with special dietary needs.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“We’ve come a long way in the last decade toward making shopping and eating easier for vegetarians and those with certain health conditions or food sensitivities. This trend will continue. Wellness Keys on Wegmans products help shoppers find at a glance what they need to know before they buy. Also, items for those with special dietary needs have improved remarkably. Wegmans now makes gluten-free pasta and baking mixes for cookies, cakes and brownies that taste so good that everybody in the family likes them. And in our food bar areas, labeling the dishes that have no gluten ingredients makes it easier for those living gluten-free to choose the right selections.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&langId=-1&identifier=CATEGORY_515" target="_new"> Wegmans </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
