Good news for seafood lovers! mezzemarinbrings the richness and freshness of the Mediterranean to your table with its Marinated Seafood Salad prepared with a unique marinating method.

This special salad brings together the most special flavors of the sea such as calamari, cuttlefish, octopus, shrimp, mussels and bonito. mezzemarinIt's prepared with all-natural marinade methods unique to Turkey. Flavored with garlic, vinegar, dried parsley, and black pepper, the salad stands out with its additive-free formula, balanced spice mix, and ready-to-eat presentation.

A variety of seafood flavors meets carefully selected natural ingredients. Its practical use makes it easy to serve without any preparation. It is marinated using completely natural methods and contains no artificial preservatives or additives. This salad, prepared by expert hands, mezzemarin's years of seafood experience to the table.

mezzemarin Marinated Seafood Salad leaves an unforgettable impression on the palate, whether as a gourmet appetizer alongside a main course or as a light snack. It's an ideal choice for chefs who want to serve gourmet flavors in minutes.

It is packaged in a cold chain, ready for consumption, and delivered to the address while preserving its freshness. 

Try this chef-style salad that brings together the most special flavors of the sea and feel the difference.

Source: HORECA TREND and mezzeMarin

What is a Pesticide and Why is It a Concern?

Pesticides are chemical substances used to protect agricultural products from harmful insects, fungi, and weeds. These substances, frequently used to increase food production efficiency and prevent crop losses, can pose serious risks to human health when used inadvertently or excessively. Pesticides, which can remain as residue on fruits and vegetables, have been linked to health problems ranging from immune system problems to hormonal imbalances and, in the long term, cancer. Therefore, pesticide inspections are critical to food safety. Consumers are now paying attention not only to product freshness but also to product reliability and control processes.

Pesticide Concerns Drive Consumers to Frozen Food

Feast Gıda practices controlled farming to minimize pesticide risk in its products. From the field onward, we adhere to the fertilizer and pesticide usage rates set by the authorities. Before harvest, raw materials are analyzed for pesticide residue in accredited laboratories. If suitable, they are harvested and delivered to the factory immediately. After packaging, pesticide residue tests are repeated at intervals. Only products that meet compliance are packaged and sold.

Transparency and Traceability Are Now Indispensable

Consumers are no longer just focusing on the taste of a product; they're also focusing on its origins, how it's produced, and the inspections it undergoes. Feast Gıda increases trust in frozen food with digital systems and certification processes that ensure traceability at every stage of production. Every step, from harvest to packaging, is recorded, and this data is monitored simultaneously with quality inspections.

Feast Food: Offering Not Only Taste But Also Trust

Feast Gıda, a pioneer in technology investments not only in taste but also in transparency, traceability, and pesticide control, sets itself apart in the industry with products that reach tables in a healthy way. The future of frozen food is being built with transparent and auditable systems. Feast Gıda is positioned as a trusted representative of this future.

Source: HORECA TREND and Feast Food

Ülker, which develops sustainable agriculture projects specifically focusing on wheat, hazelnuts, and cocoa, has signed a significant collaboration with Sabancı University. This collaboration involves wheat enriched with zinc and selenium in the field, first turning it into flour and then into a product.  

The Biofortification Project, which has been carried out in the field for two years, has resulted in significant increases in zinc and selenium levels in wheat grains and the flour derived from them. For example, in whole wheat flour produced from fortified wheat at Ülker's production facilities,  It was determined that the amount of zinc increased by 46% compared to flour without the treatment. Selenium, which is found at very low levels in wheat grown in our country, increased 18-fold to reach the desired levels. Laboratory analyses conducted in the field showed that the mineral richness provided in the wheat grain can be effectively transferred and preserved into the flour and subsequently into the final products.

Ülker's limited number of Saklıköy Field Enriched Cereal, Milk Chocolate, Rice Crisp, Orange and Coconut biscuits, produced with flour obtained from mineral-enriched wheat through field application, were offered to consumers.

Ülker CEO Özgür Kölükfakı, He stated that the sustainability of wheat, which ranks first among the raw materials they use at 39%, is of great importance to Ülker. Kölükfakı, noting that they adopt an inclusive approach to wheat, continued: 

We focus on a variety of topics, from wheat breeding for biscuits to regenerative agriculture to improve soil health. When developing projects, we place great importance on collaborating with experts and contributing to society and our stakeholders. The Biofortification Project was a valuable opportunity to draw attention to zinc and selenium, minerals whose benefits are also highlighted in the Turkish Nutrition Guide by the Ministry of Health, and to provide social benefits. As part of the two-year project, the zinc and selenium content of wheat was fortified in the field. This wheat was then ground into flour at our factory. Immediately afterward, we introduced a limited number of Saklıköy Field Fortified Grain Biscuits to our consumers, thus embodying the project with all its processes, from farm to shelf.

Kölükfakı stated that they continue to work on new wheat varieties with the Bahri Dağdaş International Agricultural Research Institute, with whom we previously produced the Aliağa Biscuit Wheat, and also reminded that they produced the Saklıköy Kavılca Wheat Chocolate Cream biscuit in 2023 to raise awareness of Kavılca, one of Türkiye's most valuable ancestral wheat varieties with a 13-year history. 

Emphasizing the importance of maintaining soil health for Ülker, Kölükfakı continued: “With the regenerative agriculture we implement in wheat production, we are placing domestic agriculture, local development, and farmer welfare at the center. We aim to implement regenerative agriculture on 2030 decares of land by 10. We are continuing our work in this area with 2025 farmers by 101.” 

Prof. Dr. İsmail Çakmak: “The Story of Saklıköy is an Example That Can Be Adapted to Different Products”

Prof. Dr. İsmail Çakmak, director of the Biofortification Project and faculty member at Sabancı University's Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, noted that plant production removes tons of micronutrients from soils each year. Çakmak pointed out that this problem is exacerbated by the use of high-yielding varieties in agriculture. He explained that these mineral losses in soils also manifest in the food we consume, playing a decisive role in the emergence of hidden hunger, which is so prevalent in people today (especially in children).

Çakmak continued: “If the soil is poor in minerals, so is the food, and so is the human being… With this in mind, we sought to find a rapid and effective solution to this mineral deficiency problem through this collaboration with Ülker. While still in the field, the wheat was nourished with zinc and selenium applied to its leaves, and then it transferred these valuable minerals into its grain. Thus, the wheat regained the mineral richness it had gradually lost over the years. In other words, nothing new was added externally; it simply replenished the minerals it had lost over time.

The Saklıköy biscuit, produced with this fortified wheat flour, will be a fine example of the "farm-to-table" approach. Furthermore, the Saklıköy story will serve as an example that can be applied to many other staple foods, from bread and pasta to milk and tea. This will not only provide new income opportunities for our farmers but also pave the way for more nutritious food for our people. Çakmak also stated that this fortification study conducted with Ülker was carried out in light of the knowledge and experience gained from an international project led by Sabancı University, which ran for 15 years in 12 countries. 

What is Hidden Hunger?

According to FAO, hidden hunger is the situation where people cannot get enough of the essential vitamins and minerals needed for growth and development due to the inadequate nutritional quality of the food they consume. https://www.fao.org/about/meetings/icn2/news-archive/news-detail/en/c/265240/

Note: Saklıköy Field Enriched Grain Biscuits are only available at Migros

Source: HORECA TREND and Ulker