To GNHQ

^ I wish they made one with just a little cinnamon added.^

What's to stop you buying a tub of cinnamon or some cinnamon sticks and adding your own, EP?

Early

No one is grumbing away your opportunites but it’s all very niche, isn’t it? If it was a viable business opportunity for a pureed food manufacturer they would already be making it in industrial quantities. Why would they want to spend tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds on GN to see if there is a market?

In fact, the food you suggest already exists in many ethnic brands. Ashoka, for example, make microwavable food which comes in pouches. The contents could easily be run through the blend if a finer consistency is required. Available widely in Indian supermarkets and online.

They might not realise it is a good idea. The egg of Columbus and all that.

I was asked for an example, so I gave one example, and I was thanked.

I do not know how much GN charges a business for a sponsored discussion but I would be very suprised if it were tens of thousands of pounds let alone hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Information is an important management tool. It depends how much GN charges and if the business thinks that paying that amount of money for a sponsored discussion is worth the risk of getting no good information as against getting lots of good information worth a lot of money to it in the longer term.

Well lots of things can be puréed if put through a blender. That is not the product I am suggesting. Some mothers choose to make their own purée usually, but often have a few sachets in the cupboard as backup and to carry in their handbag when travelling.

MaizieD

^ I wish they made one with just a little cinnamon added.^

What's to stop you buying a tub of cinnamon or some cinnamon sticks and adding your own, EP?

Because I think it needs to be in the sachet when the rice is cooked in the manufacturing process, the processing being needed to sterilise the contents of the sachet.

Elegran

There you are, EP By mentioning it on a thread about something else entirely you have two replies with suggestions for where to obtain what you asked about. By starting a completely new thread with that in the title so that the subject was obvious, you would get a lot more replies, and perhaps a discussion on different brands, and of different liquidisers and blenders too

I bought a blender some time ago using some Tesco vouchers from the points but I have not used it yet as it is so much more convenient to just use a couple of sachets when I want a meal.

Also I need to get a sieve so that I can ensure there are no odd lumps in the result and I have not found one yet which is strong and with holes about the size of the diameter of a grain of rice.

It is not as easy for me as is being made out.

Is there anybody out there who likes my idea for GNHQ to start such a thread or is all going to be rejection by only considering first order effects?

Early

Exactly, Elegran. Freely offered peer-to-peer support.

But that is nothing to do with this thread. It is a separate issue. The two ideas are not mutually exclusive.

Early

Why do you not just cook and puree your own fresh vegetables adding herbs and spices to taste? If you are a vegan and care about the environment, all that packaging is causing a lot of environmental damage. Why buy Tilda rice sachets, more plastic packaging, when you could buy a bag of, say, basmatmi rice and add cinnamon to taste?

Early
My thoughts exactly. It’s not rocket science, is it ?

Hello again EP
To answer your opening post.

No, I don’t really like the idea.

Moreover, it’s irrelevant what I or others think about it, as it’s not going to happen, I can assure you.
Gransnet recently started a thread themselves inviting members to make suggestions to how the site could be improved.
It had well over one hundred responses.
Not one was even ‘looked into’, to use one of their favourite phrases.
Not a single one.
It was a box ticking exercise pure and simple.
They aren’t interested in our ideas or feedback.
I’m sure that they have their reasons.

And regarding the ‘Sponsored Discussions’ - they are a sham anyway.
The private health care one was an absolute disgrace, as I’m sure Elegran will agree.

EP you are wasting a lot of time and energy trying to get help, support and advice about the various things that concern you in this circuitous way.

Further to my previous answer, HQ don’t even try to rectify actual problems with their site.
For example, the Search Function not working, and the fact that the Active List doesn’t work properly, meaning that some threads are invisible.

That’s just off the top of my head.
The people who you talk to at HQ don’t seem to actually know much about how the site operates

How about people reporting this thread and requesting a reply from GNHQ rather than requesting deleting it.

I will not prejudge whether GNHQ will reply, nor will I prejudge what any reply may state.

Fri 24-Sep-21 09:36:33
If the thread exists, one thing I would suggest, is for a food manufacturer to ask if people would be interested in sachets of purée food of the same quality and lack of lumps as for 4 month old babies, yet not intended for babies and labelled as for adults, but of recipes that adults may appreciate but which would not be suitable for babies. For example, containing onion, tomato, maybe spices, and so on.

One way of tackling your question would be to start a thread in the 'Food' forum asking if people had any suggestions for grown up puréed food suppliers (or googling same).
You then stand the chance of getting a direct answer to a direct plea for help.

Likewise for anything else you need - simple, direct, efficient and, I am sure, helpful.
I think everyone on GN responds to questions posed wherever they can.
That's what we do!

I was asked for an example of what I would suggest. I provided an example. I was thanked.

Your suggestion is fine for what it does but it does not get new sponsored discussions onto GN.

Yes people on GN respond to questions posed. That is not in doubt.

Is there nobody who can find any benefit in the idea that I have put forward?

I suppose EP I trust GN to manage their own advertising needs, Justine Roberts has a net worth of millions, she is in the list of the world's most influential CEOs, she probably doesnt need my advice on how to run the site. It's fine to ask for things you want obviously but my guess is they know more about advertising/sponsored discussions than any of us.

EP - Returning to Wiltshire Farm Foods pureed foods for a moment. I have just returned home to find in my letterbox a catalogue from them (I am "looking into" delivered meals for an aged relative, though they look very nice so I may be tempted to get some for myself)

As you have tried them, I immediately turned to the pureed meals section to see their Petite and Classic ranges. They have 21 petite meals (275 g) and 18 classic ones (480g) plus 3 pureed sandwiches and a variety of pureed desserts. This is their latest catalogue, so you may find that the choice is greater than you have experienced.

Elegran
Isn’t ^pureed sandwich* a contradiction in terms ?

Apparently it is pureed filling on pureed white bread.
www.wiltshirefarmfoods.com/wff/media/Products/031_Pur%C3%A9ed_Hot_Tuna_Sandwich_plated.jpg

^"A delicious open sandwich made with puréed white bread and tuna. Suitable for a Level 4 diet. 200g
£3.25 "^ 30 mins in oven @ 150 or 7 to 9 mins in microwave.

They do not have a filter option for vegan.

Searching the purée section for vegetarian and no gluten gives seven items.

Adding in no milk goes down to one item.

The one I had.

Looking at their range in total, vegetarian and no gluten gives 41 items.

Adding in no milk gives 3 ittems.

These days more generally vegan ready meals often have wheat in them.

Gluten-free vegan is just marginalised.

Add in purée and one is, as far as I know, mostly down to 4 month baby food. That kind of purée is often runny so not the self-supporting purée that some people need. Apparently there are, in relation to special diets for adults, various dietician-standardised consistency levels (that is, the rheological propertis of the food).

Needing puréed food is often seen as for people with inability to chew and issues to do with swallowing, but that is not always the case.

You still haven’t said why you don’t purée your own EP - you would have much more control over flavour, seasoning, organic and /or vegan ingredients , consistency and it would be a fraction of the price.

Have you thought of asking for a referral to a dietician, EP and allergy testing?
Do you not feel that out there somewhere there is the answer to your conundrum which will get you off, inter al., a diet of
baby food and rice?

MayBeMaw

You still haven’t said why you don’t purée your own EP - you would have much more control over flavour, seasoning, organic and /or vegan ingredients , consistency and it would be a fraction of the price.

I thought I had explained in my post of Friday 24-September 2021 10:32:36, which is on this page.

Yet even so, doing that for a special meal now and then is one thing, doing it for three meals each day every day is quite another.

It is just convenient to use the baby food and it results in delicious meals that I enjoy.

I had a look at some websites ElderlyPerson. I’m somewhat interested as I occasionally have to follow a soft, no chew diet. There are plenty of Level 4 puréed ready meals out there, but while vegetarians are being catered for the only vegan one I could find was a peach pudding!

I’m a Tilda rice fan too (dreadful, I know!) as one handed cooking is easier with a sachet rather than a pan of boiling water, and I have the scars to prove it.

However, I really don’t think you’ll get a food company interested in this. Having worked with quite a few, they have product testers, taste panels, customer participation groups and food scientists involved in product development already.

I don’t think this is the way sponsored discussions work.

Blooming heck EP and you want us to report this thread to HQ (whatever that is)
Why don’t you just talk to us, not them? I’ve said that exact thing to you before.
It’s as if you think that the management are some higher being.
Just use the forum and it’s wonderful members as intended, please

EP do you have a medical reason for puréed meals or is it that you mentally can’t manage anything not puréed
As you don’t go out and seem to have no family would it not be beneficial to you to actually learn to cook these very specialised meals especially as you say you have bought a mixer/blender that you ve never used
It could be a wonderful hobby and you don’t have to cook three times a day you could cook a batch and freeze some then it would be gluten-free, meat free, dairy free, and lump free

Have you considered a rice cooker Blossoming? The Cookworks one costs about £20. You add dry rice, flavouring and cold water to a marked level and just switch it on. It stops boiling when the rice is cooked and switches to a keep warm mode. Perfect results every time.

Tilda offer a good range of flavoured rice but it's a lot of plastic packaging and you have to check the ingredients very carefully especially if vegan. Some flavours are sweetened with honey. Some have added sugar which may have been filtered through bone charcoal.

I’m an avid reader of ingredients on anything we buy. I’m pleased to read in the trade press that Tilda, along with other manufacturers, are moving towards fully recyclable packaging with collection points in supermarkets as well as kerbside collection where possible.

My only reservation with an electric rice cooker is that it would take up counter space and might only be used once a week. I could see it ending up on a garage shelf along with the soup maker and bread maker.

EP, surely all this processed food is bad for you as well as the environment? It may be vegan but what about the preservatives that are added to ensure shelf life? If you were to buy a small rice cooker as Early suggested and experiment with adding some herbs and spices to your liking, and use your blender to purée your choice of seasoned/spiced vegetables, which you can first cook in your microwave or steam (or boil but that destroys a lot of the nutrients) on the hob, you could end up with a delicious and nutritious meal of your choosing, good for you and for the environment? Any lumps in the vegetables after blending can easily be broken down with a wooden spoon. As has been suggested, for convenience you could always cook extra and put in the fridge or freezer for another day. And have you considered soup? I have a very easy to use soup maker (Lakeland, amongst others, sell them) which cooks the vegetables with water or vegetable stock or milk (you could use soya) and then blends, as lump-free as you could wish, in minutes. Very nutritious. With a little planning and experimentation you could have quite a repertoire of suitable dishes and you would know exactly what went into them. One of my favourite easy, tasty (and definitely lump-free) home made soups is mushroom, made with chestnut mushrooms and a few pre-soaked dried porcini. It freezes very well, as do most vegetable soups. Have I got your tastebuds going? Something warm and comforting in the colder months, and nothing beats home cooked!