This Christmas you can
taste the Scrambled Fruit Cake

This Christmas you can try the Medronho Escangalhado King Cake

At the beginning of December 2023, Medronho & Canela’s third product went on sale: Bolo Rei Escangalhado de Medronho, a novelty that you can’t miss this Christmas.

The product is available in several stores, and on December 2 we marked this new milestone with a tasting at Intermarché in Proença-a-Nova, the municipality where our company has its head office.

Bolo Rei Escangalhado de Medronho is made from the traditional Bolo Rei dough, to which we add the dried fruits characteristic of Bolo Rainha and a delicious filling of the medronho fruit. This innovative medronho product is mashed and fermented traditionally for several hours, then baked in a stone ballast oven. It is then finished and decorated with medronhos.

 

December 2nd, 2023

“It’s from Leiria” in
National Gastronomy Festivals of Santarém and Chícharo da Serra

“É de Leiria” at the Santarém and Chícharo da Serra National Gastronomy Festivals

In November 2023, as part of the consultancy that our company provides to the Municipality of Leiria to promote the “É de Leiria” brand, we attended two fairs to promote the products of this brand of regional products from Leiria.

On November 5, we were promoting Leiria’s regional products at the National Gastronomy Festival in Santarém, an event that took place between October 27 and November 5.

On November 19, we were in Santa Catarina da Serra, in the municipality of Leiria, where, as part of the O Chícharo da Serra Festival, Rui Lopes held a showcooking session with products from “É de Leiria”.

 

November 20th, 2023

Production potential
Arbutus in Portugal presented at congress

Medronho production potential in Portugal presented at congress

The CEO of Medronho & Canela, Rui Lopes, was one of the guest speakers at the “Farm To Fork – Our Food, Our Health, Our Future” conference, at the invitation of CATAA – Centro de Apoio Tecnológico Agro-Alimentar, to talk about the nutritional, economic and social potential of Medronho production in Portugal.

The event took place in Castelo Branco on November 17, 2023, and Rui Lopes addressed various topics related to agroforestry and the incorporation of Medronho into the food industry.

He began his presentation by giving an overview of the chemical potential that the fruit offers when consumed in its natural state, but also of the interest in using it in the food industry, namely due to the presence of large quantities of components with antioxidant activity, minerals, organic acids, short-chain fatty acids, fibers, carbohydrates, phenolic compounds, among others.

In the second part of his speech, he referred to the potential of arbutus farms as firebreaks and in contributing to greater resilience and diversity in the ecosystems in which they are integrated. He also presented the production potential of a pilot farm, with very enthusiastic results, and made a comparison between a eucalyptus farm and a medronho farm, showing that the annual profitability of a medronho farm per hectare could be higher than the lifetime profitability of a eucalyptus plantation.

In his presentation, he also referred to the work that the company Medronho & Canela has been doing over the last 12 years, particularly in researching and developing raw materials and products from the Medronho fruit, focusing on the products that are already on the market: Medronho Bread and Bonbons and Truffles.

 

November 17th, 2023

ASPEA event launches
introduce participants to Medronho Bread

ASPEA event introduces participants to Medronho Bread

In September 2023, Medronho & Canela collaborated with ASPEA (Portuguese Association for Environmental Education) by providing Medronho Bread for tasting, as part of a training course for forestry technicians and educators from the partner organizations of the Erasmus+Meet Your Forest international project, led by ASPEA.

In the press release after the event, ASPEA said that “Thanks to Medronho & Canela, a spin-off from the Polytechnic of Leiria, we had the pleasure of getting to know and tasting an innovative product from the Portuguese forest – Medronho Bread – which revealed a surprising taste and texture!”.

The Association also points out that “by joining forces and strengthening partnerships, such as those that took place during this event, we can progressively make the forest more resilient, innovative and closer to every citizen”, an objective that is also on the radar of all the activities carried out by Medronho & Canela.

 

September 27th, 2023

Launch of the edition
revised and expanded book “BioAromas à Mesa”

Launch of the revised and expanded edition of the book “BioAromas à Mesa”

After the first edition of the book “BioAromas à Mesa” saw the light of day in 2016, the second edition, revised and expanded, will appear in July 2023.

This book arose from the desire to compile and make available to the interested public innovative recipes that include the aromatic plants produced as part of the BioAromas project, which Rui Lopes has presented every year since October 2010 in his cooking workshops.

BioAromas is a project to promote the transition to post-school life for students with special educational needs at the Pedro da Fonseca Primary and Secondary School in Proença-a-Nova. The project is anchored in the production of aromatic and medicinal plants and one of the activities it promotes, in partnership with Rui Lopes, from Medronho & Canela, are cooking workshops to mark World Food Day.

 

July 21st, 2023

Products from
Medronho & Canela presented at Encontros de Economia in Leiria

Medronho & Canela products presented at Leiria Economy Meetings

At the invitation of the Municipality of Leiria, we were present with our Medronho Bread and Medronho Truffles and Bonbons products at the 2nd edition of Encontros da Economia, dedicated to Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Capacity Building, which took place on July 12, 2023, in Leiria.

The Economy Meetings are an initiative of the General Secretariat of the Ministry of the Economy and the Sea and the National Innovation Agency, with the support of Leiria City Council, which was attended by the Minister of the Economy and the Sea, António Costa Silva.

 

July 12th, 2023

Bonbons prize
and Truffles

Medronho Bonbons and Truffles receive “Market Potential” award

The Medronho Bonbons and Truffles, products created in a partnership between Medronho & Canela and SIM Chocolate, were awarded in the Market Potential category in the 5th edition of the FOOD FAB LAB 2022 Awards.

The ‘FOOD FAB LAB’ award is organized by TAGUSVALLEY, through INOV.LINEA – Food Technologies, and is aimed at anyone who has an innovative food product and wants to test it, or who wants to create a food business.

The Medronho Bonbons and Truffles were the second product developed using Medronho raw materials, developed by Medronho & Canela.

 

May 24, 2022

Arbutus Bread
arrives on the national market by the hand of SONAE MC

Pão de Medronho arrives on the national market by the hand of SONAE MC

Medronho Bread, a product developed by Medronho & Canela – Inovação Alimentar e Nutricional, Unip, Lda, a spin-off from the Polytechnic of Leiria, has just arrived on the national market, the result of a partnership between the company and Sonae MC.

“The efforts to leverage the commercialization of Pão de Medronho for the national market began in 2020, through contacts with Sonae MC. The process was long, but fruitful, allowing us to mature and deepen our knowledge of both entities and build, in a solid way, the relationship that we want to project for the future, not only with Pão de Medronho, but also with other products that incorporate the fruit, on which we are already working,” says Rui Lopes, managing partner of Medronho & Canela.

“At Continente we are always looking for new products that surprise consumers. In the case of this Medronho Bread, not only is the novelty factor very important, but the fact that it is national and has interesting nutritional characteristics makes it even more appealing to the customer,” says Nuno Vital, MC’s Commercial Director.

Arbutus Bread is a rustic and innovative bread with all the components of medronho. The product began to be developed in 2010 and for five years dozens of technical data sheets were formulated until a formula with market viability was found.

After five more years of tests, formulations and trials, with different technologies and food processing industries, Medronho Bread guarantees around 19% antioxidant activity, two nutritional claims, namely source of protein and source of fiber, the presence of various vitamin complexes, all the minerals in medronho, volatile organic compounds, among others, with various nutritional advantages.

Rui Lopes studied Tourism and Hotel Management at the Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar (ESTM), Nutrition and Dietetics at the Escola Superior de Saúde (ESSLei) and the master’s degree in Quality Management and Food Safety at ESTM, both schools of the Polytechnic of Leiria. He is currently a lecturer at ESSLei, on the Higher Professional Technical Course (TeSP) in Healthy Eating, and a researcher at CiTechCare (Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology), also at the Polytechnic of Leiria.

At the beginning of 2021, he created the company Medronho & Canela – Inovação Alimentar e Nutricional, Unip., Lda, a spin off from the Polytechnic of Leiria, to leverage the Pão de Medronho project, and to embody other food and nutritional innovation projects that are underway with research centers and companies.

“This is another hugely successful case that perfectly reflects the strategic identity of the Polytechnic of Leiria, a public higher education institution without walls, which puts knowledge at the service of society.

We have a graduate of ours who was resilient, invested in knowledge, was supported by our professors, researchers, two research centers and two universities, and now sees this investment recognized by the success of the Polytechnic of Leiria spin-off Medronho & Canela – Inovação Alimentar e Nutricional, Unip. Lda, taking Pão de Medronho from the north to the south of the country,” says Rui Pedrosa, president of the Polytechnic of Leiria.

 

May 24, 2022

Arbutus Bread
will be on sale to the public from July 10th

Medronho Bread will be on sale to the public from July 10th

 

Starting on Friday, July 10, what will probably be the world’s first red fruit bread – Pão de Medronho – will be available for sale to the public in Leiria.

In this start-up phase, Pão de Medronho will be available in Coviran supermarkets in the following towns: Telheiro, Planalto, Monte Redondo, Amor, Arrabalde and Reguengo do Fetal.

In the coming weeks, it is also expected to be on sale in the municipalities of Proença-a-Nova, Sertã, Cernache do Bonjardim and in the city of Castelo Branco, at various locations.

This bread has a distinctive nutritional profile, including: low sodium content (‘10%); various minerals from the fruit; volatile organic acids; flavonoids; 14% antioxidant capacity; around 20% of the recommended VDR of fiber per 100 grams of bread. These compounds are of nutritional interest due to their anti-inflammatory action and protection of cardiovascular function, as well as their effect on reducing the risk of cancer and cell oxidation (reduction of free radicals).

It is a rustic-looking bread, made from uncorrected flours, with superior longevity, maintaining its freshness and internal softness until the sixth day of its shelf life. Aromatic and very pleasant, it becomes even more delicious when toasted.

It is a product developed over the last 10 years by Rui Lopes. A chef and nutritionist, he is a collaborating member of the Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology (ciTechCare) and a Master’s student in Quality Management and Food Safety at ESTM, leading institutions in the Polytechnic of Leiria.

In recent years, collaboration with the Ritus do Pão bakery in Monte Redondo, Leiria, has made it possible to optimize this formula which, in July 2019, was awarded 3rd place in the 4th Agriempreende Ideas Competition, which distinguishes innovative ideas in the agri-food sector.

 

July 09, 2020