Popular in the Asian market for as long as anyone can remember, edamame has become one of the 'rising stars' on the vegetable market in the West as well, especially for frozen. The popularity of sushi has brought it to the Western tables, but the health benefits has made the soybean a firm favourite in the Western diet.
"Edamame (or soybean) is the only vegetable which has almost all the nutritious qualities and health benefits you can get from eating meat, and right now it is seen as the new super-food on the food market." said Carmen Strandqvist from OctoFrost Group.
Consumers use the young soybean as an appetizer, a snack or as a great addition to salads. As the popularity for frozen edamame grows, producers have been scrambling to keep up with demand.
Due to having a hard and thick pod, Carmen shared that Edamame requires a longer blanching time, which can bring challenges and needs specific preparations and procedures in order to ensure the best quality product. She said that, "choosing the right high technology freezing equipment makes it possible not only to obtain premium IQF edamame but also to increase production yield. With our OctoFrost IQF tunnel freezer, the production yield is higher due to minimum internal dehydration, while the energy consumption is lower by 30%."
"The consumption boom of edamame we are experiencing on the frozen food market seems to be never ending. Right now the IQF edamame success on the Asian market is inspiring many other markets to produce and process this wonder bean. We are curious to see how big this success will become and how fast it will grow. Processors might encounter some challenges on the way since consumers are becoming more aware of what they eat, the quality they expect, as well as being overall more knowledgeable and informed about their choices." concluded Strandqvist.
