There’s some logic to the ongoing culinary movement. Like most things, it’s a sector prone to evolution, just ask the rise of boxed wine options in the wake of traditional glass or the rise or meal delivery services, especially during the post-pandemic. Lately, we’ve witnessed the rise of tinned seafood, which in turn has paved the way for a sibling option that’s just breaking through.
Tinned vegetables have arrived. Now, preserved produce has been a staple for ages, but this peel-and-eat version is fit for online deliveries and select stores. And it’s being spearheaded with some genuine seriousness, in the form of a Michelin-Starred chef named Dan Barber.
Barber runs the kitchen at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, an award-winning eatery in the rural terrain north of New York City. The place holds a pair of Michelin Stars and features a bona fide farm-to-table menu. Recently, Barber started Row 7, a line of premium tinned veggies.
We spoke with the chef about the impetus for the project, challenges, the future, and more.
Going the way of tin
“When you open most pantries today, vegetables are the afterthought,” the chef says. “We wanted to make the vegetable the hero. The question was: What kind of process can preserve the quality of these vegetables that have been selected for deliciousness? How do we make those flavors more accessible, more convenient? For us, the answer was canning. But only if we could rethink it entirely.”
In that sense, there’s nothing altogether new about the approach. We’ve been putting things like baked beans and SPAM to tin for generations. The idea here, however, is ready-to-eat produce that’s been given the chef treatment. Crack one of these tins open, and you’ve got plate-ready baked beets, preserved in EVOO and balsamic vinegar, or a garlic-leek hybrid packed in Dijon mustard and white balsamic vinegar.
“Preservation is actually the ultimate expression of seasonal eating. It captures a vegetable at its absolute peak—which is why half my current menu at Blue Hill relies on it,” Barber says. “I’ve been canning for years at the restaurant, but to scale that we had to totally imagine the process. The key was treating canning like cooking, not just industrial processing. We rethought every step, using gentler heat and precise timing. The texture holds, and you can really taste the vegetable.”
That’s where this project is somewhat revolutionary, in that it harnesses the powers of prime seasonality. Anybody who’s tasted a farm-fresh strawberry in June or a cherry tomato from the vine early fall knows exactly what we mean. As a society, we’ve grown to expect everything all the time and, in the process, sacrificed a lot of flavor. Barber’s project is trying to erase some of that by elongating peak flavor via preservation. You know, like your grandma did with all those cucumbers.
Farming, ingredients, pairings
As you might expect with a tinned veggie operation, a lot comes down to the farmers involved. Barber likes to stay close with his growers, as it’s at least half of the enterprise. That, in itself, is its own kind of sustainability.
“Our growers are partners from the very beginning. It’s not just about breeding for great taste—it’s about whether a vegetable can truly perform for organic farmers in the real world,” Barber says. “We work on the ground with our farmer partners to dial in how varieties perform across different soils and climates. Ultimately, what you taste is the result of a constant feedback loop between the field and the kitchen.”
But he admits he’s still stuck on one thing. The chef can’t seem to perfect the tinned version of a certain edible plant type. “All the brassicas—broccoli, kale, cabbage—I don’t know how to keep them bright green,” he says.
As for pairings, Barber goes with a classic beverage. “I like a cold beer with Sweet Garleek,” he says, adding that he likes a cold beer with just about anything. This writer has tried the entire Row 7 lineup and suggests a crispy white wine to match just about anything. Or, go with a classic option like Chianti (or a Rose of Sangiovese) to pair up with the Row 7 Sweet Prince Tomatoes.
Tinning at home is not exactly an option for many but there are ways people have been preserving their produce for ages. Barber says start with jarring to get a feel for the practice. It’s essentially like canning but a bit easier and more forgiving at home. Try a few ingredients one season, and double it up the next. Play around with herb and spice additions until you find something your palate adores. And make extra, as you can hold on to them for quite some time and even barter with friends.
Row 7 has already made some serious waves, showing up in stores like Whole Foods. The market is ripe for veggies ready to eat right out of the can, as it eliminates any kind of prep work, locks in the seasonality element, and offers a cool format that’s fun to experience (so many of the cool wine bars these days feature tinned goods on their menus).
Which brings up another intriguing element about the brand. As we both covet fast casual and also healthy foods, tinned veggies are poised to do well. We expect to see some similar brands pop up soon, just as we did with the many American brands that followed the significant wave of European tinned fish options over the last decade.
What’s next for the brand? “We’re focused on what we’ve always been focused on: the seed,” he says. “Innovation at Row 7 starts there. We want to be an incubator for new flavors, new ingredients. And now we’re thinking in new ways about how those vegetables get introduced to the world, whether it’s in fresh produce, tinned vegetables, or other formats. The tinned space is one of the most exciting opportunities to do that at scale.”
