LiDestri adds HPP processing capacity
LiDestri Food and Beverage, Rochester, N.Y., said it is adding high-pressure processing (HPP) capacity to its Lee Road facility in Greece, N.Y. The HPP line will be available for use in the first quarter of 2016, and the Hiperbaric 525L HPP tolling station will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary under the name Finger Lakes Fresh Press.
HPP processing effectively kills microbes without the application of heat. Instead, it uses some 80,000 pounds of water pressure on products sealed in flexible packaging. Retailers that use HPP processing could remove chemical preservatives from product formulas and achieve the same shelf life for a range of wet food products, including juices, deli meats, wet salads, seafood, hummus, guacamole and cold soups, the company said.
“HPP has been described as the closest possible processing to fresh squeezed,” said Alan Davis, vice president, business development and contract manufacturing. “Demand is clearly rising for technologies that make it possible to safely process products with natural ingredients and cleaner labels.”
If retailers choose to use preservatives in conjunction with HPP, products will have a shelf-life that is two to three times longer, allowing for less-frequent deliveries and helping to cut back on costly spoilage, LiDestri said.
Though LiDestri’s HPP line will start as a tolling station for products packaged elsewhere, the idea is to eventually establish a filling line alongside it, creating convenience and transportation savings for customers who prefer a one-stop shop, Davis said.
In addition to the HPP launch, LiDestri said it is installing another aseptic bottling line at its Pennsauken, N.J., plant, and plans capacity upgrades for its lines that currently run 24/7. Aseptic technology pasteurizes with heat, but because the product and package are sterilized separately, the cook and hold times are shortened, leading to less degradation of fresh ingredients and nutrients than that associated with traditional hot fill pasteurization.