At a time when all the major food groups are hoping to hop on the food-to-go bus and ride into the sunset of profitability, just-food.com spoke to Tony Moran, creator of a completely new product for the £1bn convenience ready meals market in the UK.
Meaning kiss in Italian (Baci), Bachi are loosely based around a traditional Sicilian dish that cost Tony Moran a kiss to receive from his grandmother when he was a child. Over 40 years later and huge investments on the product development side and essentially what remains are rice pyramids coated with a fine layer of batter-like pasta and breadcrumbs.
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The pyramids are then filled with a savoury range that includes: Chilli Con Carne, Madras Curry, Chicken Tikka, Vegetable Classico and Sicilian Pork ‘n’ Cheese.
Wholly produced at Moran’s company Alfredo’s in Cornwall from non-GM ingredients, Bachi are marketed as a healthy alternative to the traditional pies and pasties that dominate the UK market and claim to be the only product available that is covered with a layer of breadcrumbs and can be heated in the microwave (in two minutes).
The concept has already appealed to a local Spar outlet, which began stocking the Bachi towards the end of November, and Moran is in discussion with the Preston Spar, the largest in the country. Talks are also being held with a major UK supermarket group that has expressed interest.
The idea that the next food sector revolution could occur in the depths of Cornwall may seem a little unlikely, but then this is the grey-slated surfer’s haven that bought the world the inimitable pasty and, as Moran explains: “There are numerous pasty manufacturers but there’s only one of us at this moment in time that can actually make this product.”
Moran added that the Bachi was well received at the Good Food Show in Birmingham this autumn.
To visit the company’s website, click here.
