The height of convenience, bagged salads are unquestionably one of the quickest and easiest ways of getting greens onto your plate. After all, what could be simpler than popping open a bag, grabbing a handful of leaves and being on your way? But sadly, it’s not quite as easy as that. The majority of bagged salads have an incredibly short shelf life and don’t survive much beyond the first serving, leading to 40% of them being thrown away (according to figures from government waste advisory body WRAP). However, since 2010 fresh & naked have been demonstrating that, by following a careful growing process and minimising the washing of the leaves, it’s possible to create a top-quality bagged baby leaf salad that stays fresh for longer whilst also tasting amazing.
Launched in 2010 by the family-owned G’s Growers, fresh & naked do away with the harsh washing processes that most bagged salads go through, to preserve both quality and shelf life, as MD Henry Shropshire explains: ‘The reason it’s called fresh & naked is because it hasn’t really been touched, as such,’ explains Henry, who is the grandson of G’s founder Guy Shropshire, ‘most bagged salads have been washed in chlorine and gas flushed but as soon as you do that it damages the leaves; the natural protective layer gets stripped and they break down in the bag. That’s why we don’t fiddle with ours. The leaves do need a quick rinse in a colander before eating, but you can have a handful a day for a week from the fridge without it breaking down.’
The long-lasting, high-quality nature of fresh & naked’s salads isn’t purely down to the fact they’re unwashed though, it’s also the result of a carefully monitored growing process and rigorous food safety standards throughout the supply chain. Grown almost exclusively on the East coast of the UK (apart from lamb’s lettuce, which can’t be grown here), the baby leaves used in fresh & naked’s salads benefit from a cool sea breeze, which gives them a thicker leaf structure. The leaves used are also chosen specifically for their flavour and robustness. The East coast’s dry climate meanwhile, allows the growers to have total control over irrigation, which is tested and monitored closely.