It’s easy

By Shaun Inguanzo
A DANDENONG long-life food company plans to feed millions of Muslims who make the pilgrimage to Mecca with the aid of a plastic pouch.
EasyFood in Greens Road, Dandenong, last week received a nomination for a premier business award after feeding hundreds of thousands of Christian pilgrims who flocked to Sydney for World Youth Day celebrations.
EasyFood, which was nominated for the Greater Dandenong Chamber of Commerce’s Premier Regional Business Awards, plans to go beyond the Sydney feed.
Managing director Paul Grogan told the audience the company would now turn its attention to feeding the millions of Muslims who take part in Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Mr Grogan told those who attended the premier Regional Business Awards nomination breakfast last week that the company was Halal accredited, making it the perfect option for Muslims making the trek to Mecca.
EasyFood prepares gourmet meals and seals them in long-life pouches.
In the case of World Youth Day in Sydney, the company prepared 800,000 meals including Chicken Tikka Masala, Beef Stroganoff and lamb shanks with rosemary and red currant for four days.
The meals were then heated in 3000 microwaves situated at pilgrim campsites, with 200,000 meals consumed per night.
The monstrous effort required 18 semi trailers carrying 340 tonnes of ready-made meals to Sydney.
While sealed pouches could well be the cans of the 21st century, the company had to prove that the concept would work.
Mr Grogan worked closely with the Chisholm Institute’s Moorabbin campus to perfect the technology and in 2002 the company launched the Shelf Stable Lamb Shanks product which today it exports one million products to pubs in the United Kingdom each year.