Ingredient format

IQF Ready to Eat

Cooked, individually quick frozen and ready to eat: no kill step or further processing needed.

What it is

What IQF Ready to Eat means

IQF Ready to Eat product is fully cooked and then individually quick frozen. Rice, grains, pasta such as orzo, and beans are cooked to a finished texture, cooled, and frozen with the pieces kept separate, so they pour free instead of setting into a block.

Ready to eat means the product meets the microbiological requirements to need no kill step or further processing: it is ready to be eaten by the consumer as it is.

That takes a long, water-heavy step out of production. There is no soaking, boiling or draining of dry grains and beans on the line.

Frozen in separate grains and pieces, it can be weighed out straight from the freezer and the rest returned, just like other IQF product.

How it compares

IQF Ready to Eat versus similar formats

The formats buyers most often weigh it against, and what actually differs.

IQF Ready to Eat vs.
IQF
Standard IQF vegetables are frozen raw or briefly blanched and still need cooking. IQF Ready to Eat needs no kill step or further processing.
About IQF →
IQF Ready to Eat vs.
Canned
Canned beans are cooked in the can and packed in water, which has to be drained, and they are stored at room temperature. IQF Ready to Eat beans are frozen without liquid and stored frozen, and individual pieces can be portioned by weight.
About Canned →
IQF Ready to Eat vs.
Dry grains and beans
Dry rice, grains and beans are the cheapest to ship and store, but have to be soaked or cooked on site, which takes time, water, equipment and labor, and the cooked yield varies. IQF Ready to Eat arrives cooked and ready to eat.
Not a format we currently list.