Providing hot meals in a sealed pouch for ultra-large events is now core business for EasyFood, one of Australia’s food manufacturing companies based in Dandenong Victoria.

The company has produced 800,000 Ready Meals for the Roman Catholic Church’s 23rd World Youth Day (15-20 July) in Sydney.

This involved sourcing 110 tonnes of diced meat, 160 tonnes of Sauce, 70 tonnes of diced Vegetables, cooking 20,000 meals a day for 8 weeks.  

Two hundred thousand hot meals per night will be delivered for the event’s visitors, with 18 semi trailers carrying 340 tonnes of Ready Meals to EasyFood’s Sydney warehouse before the event.

In addition, on each of the four day contract, 200,000 meals will be delivered to World youth Day restaurants at several event sites. 

The meals are contained in highly technical Retort pouches supplied by Alcan China through its Australian Agent, TCA of Sydney.

The pouches have low transmission rates and cope with high temperatures during processing, ensuring an extremely long shelf life while the process ensures sterility.

Managing director of EasyFood, Paul Grogan, says the company has a unique approach to preparing and cooking the home-style recipes.
 
He regards the sealed pouches as the new-age can.

"The cooking process that EasyFood uses retains a similar value of nutrition as you would retain in home cooking," Grogan says.

"Nutrients are affected by heat so EasyFood's gentle process  is less harsh than some home cooking."

"Each pack only needs to be cut at the top and as the food is fully cooked during the process, it only requires reheating for 3 – 4 minutes in a microwave before eating."

“The meals are delicious, very portable, need no refrigeration, are easily stored before an event, low fuss, easy to heat in the microwave and leave no mess," he says.

“The microwave option for our gourmet meals has made catering the whole event possible,” Grogan adds.

"The packs do not need refrigeration and have a shelf life of 18 months."
 
For World Youth Day, EasyFood has prepared 6 x 420gm gourmet choices - Lamb with Red Currant & Rosemary, Beef Stroganoff, Chicken Tikka Masala, Pork Goulash, and Vegetarian Tikka Masala & Chilli Bean.   

Grogan believes this type of catering meets young people’s expectations.  

"Young people today expect a range of options in the meals they eat over a number of days, so we offer a high quality and natural product," he says.

"There will be a choice of meat & vegetable meals as well as a small Vegetarian selection."
 
“The meals we are supplying for World Youth Day are the same quality as those we export, some of which are served in Hilton hotels in the UK,”  Grogan says.

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