Canned Goods Revisited

De Tostifabriek – the urban farming project that cheerfully showed how much goes into producing a grilled cheese sandwich – goes canned goods. Coco Conserven makes old-school cans with modern contents. Standing up to the wasteful fresh-food culture.

For Dutch foodies, fresh is the absolute hallelujah. And canned goods are something to turn your nose up at. At most, they are useful in emergencies. In many other countries, people think very differently and canned goods are not valued any less than fresh produce.

Sardines

On the contrary. Who doesn’t bring back canned asparagus from Spain, sardines from Portugal and confit de canard from France after a holiday? Canned goods go much further than our Dutch peas or corn kernels.

Canned goods disgusting? Not Coco Conserven’s cans.

The advantage of canned goods is that there is no waste. While fresh produce keeps for only a few days, canned goods last for generations. Just like the can itself. It also does not need to be refrigerated and remains just as valuable after use, because it is indestructible and recyclable without any loss of quality. And because the contents of the cans have a long shelf life, nothing needs to be thrown away in shops, supermarkets or at home.

Fresh-food culture

To work towards a ‘sustainable’ food system and provide a counterweight to the wasteful fresh-food culture, the people behind the urban farming project De Tostifabriek started the canning factory Coco Conserven in an old shell-pressing plant in Zaandam.

With a series of delicious, artisanal products, Coco simultaneously dispels our notion that cans, quality and fine dining do not go together. Coco also follows the seasons in its production, which is preferably based on residual streams, surpluses and less commonly used parts of well-raised animals.

Rillettes

Already available in cans are rillettes made from Schiphol goose, ribollita (Tuscan meal soup with stale bread and vegetables) made with stale bread from Bakkerij MAMA, and ragu classico made from unwanted cuts of beef such as brisket.

Coco Conserven products are available, among others, at Meeuwig & zn., Abraham Kef and De Pasteibakkerij, and appear on the menus at Cannibale Royale and restaurant As, among others – all in Amsterdam.