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Knorr’s vivid new product concept: colourful is healthy September 2008. The more colourful the foods you eat, the more varied and thus the more nutritious your diet is: with the new ‘Eat in colour’ (‘Mangez en couleurs’ and ‘Come en colores’) product concept, Unilever Bestfoods has launched colourful soups from Knorr in Canada, France and Spain. The company is offering red, green, orange, yellow and white soups in combiblocCompact 500 ml. In France the soups are also available in combiblocStandard 1,000 ml. Vividly coloured vegetables and fruits are packed with valuable nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and fibre, as well as antioxidants. Intense colours are a sign of freshness, quality, ripeness and flavour. With these new products from Knorr, Unilever offers the perfect alternative to help the health-conscious consumer create varied and nutritious meals – especially for all those who simply do not have the time to prepare suitably colourful, balanced meals using fresh ingredients. The ingredients for the individual recipes are selected and blended according to their colours. For the Canadian market, there is a red soup made from tomatoes, red peppers and chilli; peas, zucchini, spinach and chives are the main ingredients in the green soup. The basis for the orange soup is carrots, curry and pumpkin. The yellow soup delivers the best of carrots and corn. For the French market, there is a white soup that combines asparagus, cauliflower and nutmeg; an orange soup with carrots, pumpkin, curry and orange; a red soup made from tomatoes, red peppers, red onions and curry; and a green soup with spinach, peas and chives. On the Spanish market the following varieties are offered: white soup with asparagus, cauliflower and nutmeg; orange soup with carrots, squash and orange; as well as the green soup based on spinach, peas and courgette. The recipes for each country have been formulated to suit local consumer preferences. Colours keep you healthy ”Healthy eating does not require complicated guidelines. If you eat in colour, you are automatically getting a varied diet, and therefore eating better. If you eat in colour, you stay healthy“, says Andrea Hofbauer, dietologist and head of Unilever’s nutrition consultancy division. The reason for this is the phytochemicals contained in fruits and vegetables. There are around 30,000 known phytochemicals; these give fruits and vegetables their distinctive fragrance, flavour and colour and bring with them a whole array of other positive characteristics: according to studies, phytochemicals, of which human beings consume around 10,000 with their food, strengthen the immune system. They protect the cells, regulate blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar, and have a preventive effect against cardiovascular disease and cancer. Powerful pigments The pigments that give vegetables and fruits their colours are phytochemicals. Many natural pigments function as antioxidants and protect the somatic cells against aggressive free radicals. The most important plant pigments are carotinoids and flavonoids. Carotinoids are yellow, red, orange and green plant pigments including beta-carotene and lycopene. Beta-carotene protects the skin against UV rays and protects the cells from free radicals. Similarly, according to scientific studies, carotinoids are thought to have a preventive effect against cancer, heart attack and stroke. Moreover, the body uses beta-carotene to produce the important Vitamin A, which among other things is vital for the metabolism, sight and skin regeneration. And lycopene, found mainly in tomatoes is thought to bind free radicals and thus prevent cancer, vascular deposits and skin damage. Flavonoids are yellow, red, purple and blue plant pigments. Through their antioxidative effect, they protect against cancer, heart attack and stroke. Flavonoids intensify the beneficial effects of other phytochemicals and vitamins. Further, they help improve blood flow, thus protecting against cardiovascular diseases. Flavonoids and carotinoids are temperature-resistant – this means that, for instance, lycopene is particularly well absorbed from sieved tomatoes. For this reason, the colourful new soups from Knorr deliver a natural wealth of valuable nutrients such as vitamins, antioxidants and fibre. In addition, they contain Vitamins B6, C and E, which serve to boost the body’s defences. To get consumers’ creative juices flowing when it comes to eating in colour, in Canada Unilever is bringing out the ‘Eat in colour’ cookbook to accompany the market launch of the new products. Upon purchasing two Knorr products, the customer receives a free copy of the book. Knorr – a successful brand Knorr products are among the most successful consumer goods worldwide. With annual sales of three billion Euros, Knorr is the leading brand of the Unilever group of companies. Known for its consumer-friendly ideas, Knorr enjoys a reputation in more than 100 countries as a provider of premium soups. Knorr’s recipe for success: tradition and innovation. This means the company adapts its product portfolio to suit the preferences of consumers in each country. With their blends of top-quality ingredients, the chefs at Knorr make sure each dish has a distinctive flavour. The focus is on presenting a diverse assortment of products – the portfolio ranges from dishes that taste like ‘home-made’ right up to products that are clearly designed to appeal to the health-conscious consumer. Since 1988 Unilever has been relying on the filling technology and long experience of SIG Combibloc for filling its food products, including particulate foods. SIG Combibloc is a global leader in aseptic packaging and filling technology. Every carton sleeve produced in one of the SIG Combibloc packaging plants is shipped to the respective customer`s production facility. There the carton sleeves are individually shaped, sterilised, filled and sealed on-site by SIG Combibloc filling machines. The top of each carton pack is ultrasonically sealed above the product filling level, and not sealed through the product. This key engineering advancement makes it possible to fill products containing particulates, as well. In addition, due to the gentle HTST process, the vitamins, flavour and nutrients of the food are retained, making an important contribution to the success of the Knorr soup range. Today carton packs from SIG Combibloc are the predominant form of packaging for liquid soups and the preferred packaging for Knorr products in France. Consumer studies have shown that alongside flavour and product quality, packaging is also an important consideration for consumers. Unilever – represented world-wide Unilever is one of the world’s largest providers of branded products in the food, personal hygiene and body care, perfumes, cosmetics, detergents and cleaning agents sectors. Some of the group’s major brands include Knorr, Becel, Hellmann’s, Bird’s Eye, Lipton, Surf, Magnum, Dove, Lux, Sunsilk and Omo. With headquarters in Rotterdam and London, Unilever has independent subsidiaries and affiliated companies in more than 100 countries and is represented on all continents. With 175,000 employees, the company recorded turnover of over 40 billion Euros in 2007.  Download Press Release 080903 (PDF, 28kB) 
 Download Image (JPG, 1635kB) Picture caption: The more colourful the foods you eat, the more varied and thus the more nutritious your diet is: with the new ‘Eat in colour’ (‘Mangez en couleurs’; ‘Come en colores’) product concept, Unilever Bestfoods has launched colourful soups from Knorr in Canada, France and Spain. The company is offering red, green, orange, yellow and white soups in combiblocCompact 500 ml. In France the soups are also available in combiblocStandard 1,000 ml. Photo: SIG Combibloc Your contact: Heike Thevis – Press Officer SIG Combibloc GmbH Rurstrasse 58, D-52441 Linnich, Germany Tel: +49 2462 79 2608 Fax: +49 2462 79 17 2608 Email: heike.thevis@sig.biz SIG Combibloc is one of the world’s leading system suppliers of carton packaging and filling machines for beverages and food. In 2007 the company achieved a turnover of 1,235 million Euro with around 4,000 employees in 40 countries. SIG Combibloc belongs to SIG Holding AG in Switzerland, which is part of the New Zealand based Rank Group. News overview >> |
