Canada’s Favourite Ready-to-Heat Brand Gets a Supercharged Glow-Up So Your Meals Can, Too

From July 3 to Nov. 12, purchase BEN’S ORIGINAL™ products and help Food Banks Canada provide 200,000 meals to families in need

BOLTON, Ont., Aug. 9, 2023 /CNW/ – Today, Ben’s Original™ is announcing the Canadian launch of BEN’S ORIGINAL™ 10 Medley, a new range of grain and vegetable medleys to supercharge Canada’s favourite ready-to-heat products with even more nutrition, taste and value. The trusted household brand introduces its latest super-convenient innovation to satisfy Canadians’ growing appetite for balanced options that are good for their gut and wallet.

“For more than 70 years, Ben’s Original™ rice varieties have been the cornerstone of meals around the table,” said Eric Huston, General Manager of Mars Food and Nutrition Canada. “The launch of Ben’s Original™ 10 Medley provides a wholesome selection of vegetables, grains, legumes, and herbs in each meal without compromise on taste, nutrition, value or convenience.”

New Ben’s Original™ 10 Medley gets its name from the hearty mix of 10 different grains, vegetables, legumes and herbs that come together with the convenience of Ben’s Original™ ready-to-heat products for a nourishing, high-fibre dish. Each pouch has enough flavour and variety to be enjoyed on its own, easily round out a meal, or put a new spin on leftovers to help save on groceries and food waste. Every pouch of Ben’s Original™ 10 Medley has at least 10 grams of fibre from diversified sources and 10 grams of protein to help maintain a balanced diet while supporting good gut health.

Ben’s Original™ 10 Medley is now available in Canada in four internationally inspired flavours and combinations:

1. Chinese Style Five Spice: A mixture of brown rice, barley, carrots, sweet corn, green peas, French beans, ginger, red bell pepper, onion, garlic, and green chili.Stir-fry up some sesame chicken, add Ben’s Original™ 10 Medley Chinese Style Five Spice and enjoy your one-pan vitamin-, fibre- and protein-packed rice bowl.
2. Caribbean Style with a mélange of barley, brown rice, carrots, bell pepper, tomatoes, red kidney beans, black beans, onion, garlic, parsley, thyme, and oregano.Paired with an authentic jerk spice recipe and protein of your choice, Ben’s Original™10 Medley Caribbean Style transforms into a quick and delicious classic Caribbean style meal.
3. Smoky Southwest with a blend of barley, brown rice, sweet corn, red kidney beans, jalapenos, black beans, tomatoes, red bell pepper, onion, garlic, and coriander.Add Ben’s Original™10 Medley Smoky Southwest to a wrap with your protein of choice for an instant burrito or enjoy it cowboy-style: on the go, straight from the pouch (after heating for 90 seconds).
4. Tomato & Herbs with a medley of barley, brown rice, French beans, green peas, tomato, red and green bell peppers, onion, basil, garlic, oregano, and chickpeas.Just add your choice of the week’s leftovers to Ben’s Original™10 Medley Tomato & Herbs for a vibrant and balanced dish in an instant.

Ben’s Original™ 10 Medley products are free of artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. The four delicious flavours are available now in 240-gram, BPA-free pouches at major grocery retailers across Canada.

Ben’s Original™ Favourites Fueling Family Dinner

For Ben’s Original™, ensuring families in Canada can stay fueled with wholesome food goes beyond innovative, delicious new products. From July 3 to Nov. 12, 2023, the Ben’s Original™ Be An After-School Hero initiative will donate $1 to Food Banks Canada for every purchase of Ben’s Original™ products, including new Ben’s Original™ 10 Medley, to support Canadians facing food insecurity up to $100,000, which can provide 200,000 meals.

“No one should have to choose between providing their family a nutritious meal and making ends meet,” said Huston. “By supporting Food Banks Canada, we are working towards a more equitable future where every table has dinner on it.”

As Food Banks Canada’s latest HungerCount report shows food bank visits at their highest level on record (almost 1.5 million in March 2022), Ben’s Original™ is bringing back its Be An After-School Hero initiative, launched last summer to help Canadian families who are vulnerable to hunger.

“As the cost of living continues to outpace wages, food banks across Canada are breaking records for historically high demand,” said Kirstin Beardsley, Chief Executive Officer of Food Banks Canada. “We are grateful for the Be An After-School Hero initiative from Ben’s Original™ that will help us feed families from coast to coast to coast at such a critical time.”

For more information about Ben’s Original™, visit: https://ca.bensoriginal.com/en-ca.

About Mars, Incorporated

For more than a century, Mars, Incorporated has been driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. This common purpose unites our 140,000+ Associates. It is at the center of who we are as a global, family-owned business, and it fuels how we are transforming, innovating, and evolving to make a positive impact on the world.

Every year, our diverse and expanding portfolio of quality confectionery, food, and pet-care products and services delight millions of people and supports millions of pets. With around $48 billion in annual sales, we produce some of the world’s best-loved brands, including Ben’s Original™, Masterfoods®, DOLMIO®, CESAR®, CocoaVia®, DOVE®, EXTRA®, KIND®, M&M’s®, SNICKERS®, PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, and WHISKAS®. We are creating a better world for pets through nutrition, breakthrough programs in diagnostics, wearable health monitoring, DNA testing, pet welfare, and comprehensive veterinary care with AniCura, BANFIELD™, BLUEPEARL™, Linnaeus, and VCA™.

We know we can only be truly successful if our partners and the communities in which we operate prosper. The Mars Five Principles – Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency, and Freedom – inspire our Associates to act every day to help create a better world tomorrow in which the planet, its people, and pets can thrive.

Mars Food & Nutrition is a segment of Mars, Incorporated with 2,000 Associates across 30 countries. It has some of the world’s leading food brands: Ben’s Original™, Masterfoods®, SEEDS OF CHANGE®, Tasty Bite®, foodspring™, and DOLMIO®. For more information about Mars, please visit www.mars.com.  Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

About Food Banks Canada

Food Banks Canada provides national leadership to relieve hunger today and prevent hunger tomorrow in collaboration with the food-bank network from coast-to-coast-to-coast. For 40 years, food banks have been dedicated to helping Canadians living with food insecurity. Over 4,750 food banks and community organizations come together to serve our most vulnerable neighbours who, in March of last year, made nearly 1.5 million visits to these organizations, according to our 2022 HungerCount Report. Over the past 10 years as a system, we’ve sourced and shared over 1.4 billion pounds of food, and Food Banks Canada shared nearly $168 million in funding to help maximize collective impact and strengthen local capacity – while advocating for reducing the need for food banks. Our vision is clear: create a Canada where no one goes hungry. Visit foodbankscanada.ca to learn more.