Brisbane gourmet food wholesaler and manufacturer Visco Selected Fine Foods is taking its gourmet ready meals and relishes to the masses following a move last year to new processing facilities in Brisbane.
Visco’s owner, Luca Tortora, who has run the business for the past 15 years with his wife Annalisa, has been preparing for the national retail push for the last two years.
The company has traditionally supplied quality foods to the food service industry. However, Visco recently moved to a brand new manufacturing facility in Hemmant in Brisbane and invested in new heat treatment processing equipment in preparation for the launch of its Val d’Elsa brand to the food service industry and the retail market.
The new Val d’Elsa-brand retail products, which include a new pasta sauce range, have been quietly rolling out across retail and food service outlets in Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney over the last three months, but they were only officially launched at Fine Food Australia in Sydney in September.
The sauce range, which took two years to develop, includes Barramundi Sauce, Tuscan Meatballs, and Duck and Porcini Ragu, and these are retailing at IGAs and in gourmet delis.
Visco has invested $200,000 in the installation of a batch retort system from GEA Levati Food Tech that enables it to make products without the use of stabilisers or preservatives.
According to Tortora, because the new system sterilises the food through the use of high temperatures over a long period of time, it gives its pasta sauces a 12-month shelf life in a fridge. Sterilisation takes place after packaging, and all living cells and microorganisms in each product are destroyed.
Tortora says he chose the system because of the uniformity of the temperature it provided throughout the cooking process. The sterilisation process takes place under vacuum, and the products are continuously rotated to ensure that the entire product within a container is subjected to the same treatment.
“When we do the sterilisation, we need all of the two dozen trays of product to reach the same temperature,” Tortora says. “Even a one- to two-degree difference can be a problem.”
The company chose to package its products in plastic so that they could be heated in the microwave, he says. “In five minutes you can have a restaurant quality meal for $8 a tub.”
In addition to the Val d’Elsa gourmet ready meals, Visco is launching a wide range dips, relish and antipasti. Included in the new line-up is Beetroot Relish with Aged Balsamic Vinegar, Catalano Antipasto with Manchego Cheese, Basil Pesto, and Country Carrot Relish.
The new Val d’Elsa range was inspired by the traditional cuisine that has been enjoyed for centuries in Europe, and reflects the international heritage of he and his team, Tortora says.
He grew up in a fishing village in Tuscany and food was important in his upbringing. One of his grandfathers was a farmer, the other a fisherman, so the family ate very well without high expense, a philosophy Tortora has applied to the launch of the new range.
He believes that fine food should be accessible to all. Even though the products are based on the best fresh ingredients, the new Val d’Elsa range is reasonably priced, nutritious and easy to prepare, he says.
“The Barramundi Sauce is tomato-based and full of this wonderful Australian fish. Simply combine one 300g container of the sauce with 300-400g of pasta and you have a healthy dinner for four for under $10.
“Not only that, but in that one simple dish you have your carbohydrates and your protein for a well rounded, healthy meal that’s all natural with no preservatives.”
Tortora says he and his chefs will continue to develop new Val d’Elsa products that will roll out in Australia and to overseas markets such as Hong Kong, where the product range is already on sale.
“I see great potential in Australian ingredients; the quality available opens up exciting possibilities for different methods of preparation,” he says.
“Visco aims to create, develop and adapt diverse ingredients and ultimately manufacture quality foods that will not only sell well in Australia but also in overseas markets.”
Visco’s new batch retort system enables it to make products without the use of stabilisers or preservatives.
