20CENT Style Mussels are ready at Delhaize
Like every year at this time, Zeeland mussels make their appearance on the shelves. To mark the occasion, Delhaizeinvited me to visit their supplier in order to find out more about this culinary tradition and how these little crustaceans make their way onto our plates.
A trip to Zeeland
My visit to Krijn Verwijs, a family-run company based in Yerseke, showed me just how simple the chain is. The mussels go through a three-stage process before arriving on the shelves or at your restaurant.
To ensure their freshness, they are harvested from the inlet in front of the factory and, once they arrive, immediately put back into the tank to be cleaned. What really stands out for me is that this is a natural product. No cleaning with chemicals, no additives... the whole cleaning process is carried out with seawater.
Next comes the sorting process, which aims to separate the mussels according to size, and also to remove empty shells, broken mussels, etc.
Finally, the last stage consists of packing the mussels according to the different formats and volumes required before shipment.
From July 4
From July 4, mussels will be hitting the shelves. The date marks the start of the season, although mussels can actually be enjoyed all year round. In fact, there are bottom mussels and rope mussels. The former grow on the bottom, while the latter (you guessed it) are cultivated on ropes rather than at depth. Depending on the season, but all year round, you'll find either rope mussels or bottom mussels on your plates.
For the fleshiest and tastiest, mussel lovers will prefer the bottom mussel season, which starts at the beginning of July. And for this season to get underway, mussels must be at least 24% flesh for optimum quality. So it’s finally here guys!
On the shelves at Delhaize
In concrete terms, the lion-faced retailer will be offering a wide assortment and promotions for its consumers. There will be 11 references (1 and 2 kg) in the following sizes: Extra, Super, Jumbo and Goudmerk. For the first 4 weeks of the launch, Delhaize expects to sell no less than 700 tons of fresh mussels, and 2,000 tons for the entire bottom mussel season, which runs from July to February/March.
Delhaize is also offering pre-cooked mussels with sauce, easy to heat and ready in 3 minutes. Customers will be able to discover three types of pre-cooked mussels, including the classic Zeeland variant, as well as more exotic variants such as Bangkok and Napoli.
Highlight
In terms of promotion, a 10% Nutriboost promotion is planned, and there will also be four other promotions over the summer.
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