Photo: Jason Grolnick, Kyla Oberman, Diana Garcia, Elizabeth Annis and Zach Taylor show off some of the latest products for Tanimura & Antle, including its brand-new baby iceberg. Video: Oberman talks about some of the attributes of the product.
MONTEREY, Calif. — Tanimura & Antle debuted its baby iceberg lettuce July 29 at the PMA Foodservice Conference and Expo.
The product will eventually be available for foodservice and retail customers, but the company is bringing the item to its foodservice lineup first.
“Being a whole head grower-shipper (and) not a processor, this is our answer to the value-added items,” said director of marketing Kyla Oberman. “It’s petite, it requires very little handling — one chop and you have 100% usable product.”
Since the product is smaller than a normal head of iceberg lettuce, the flavor is a bit different.
“We do feel that it has a more mild, butteryness to it,” Oberman said. “The potential of getting bigger is you get more of a diluted flavor profile, where this is more (concentrated) in that sense.”
The smaller size also allows for tighter cupping of the leaves. Early response to the item has been very positive, Oberman said.