‘Exploding population growth’ threat to food industry: Avure

It was previously offered 24 x 7 in North America, and only standard business hours in Europe and Asia but has now been extended globally.

Tim Hunter, marketing manager, Avure Technologies, believes ’exploding global population growth’ is the common threat in most of the challenges facing the food industry today.

He said whether it’s availability of food supply, transportation and storage of food, or preparing and packaging food for human consumption, supply has to keep up with demand, which is why the company has extended its hotline operation.

Distribution deadlines​

“Large production goals and distribution deadlines are often the cause of compromised food safety and quality​,” added Hunter.

He claims HPP production of beverages, such as wholesome juices, coconut water, and juice cleanses and purees, have seen a dramatic increase in Europe and Asia, and the application as a safety measure, or final kill step in packaged meats, has spawned a surge in HPP demand.

“In addition, nutrients that were once available naturally in foods have been sacrificed in the name of safety (for high-volume production)​,” said Hunter.

“Vitamins and healthy enzymes are often cooked out. Also, unnatural chemicals have been added to foods to preserve them​.”

HPP is a non-thermal, all-natural pasteurization process, used to increase safety, extend shelf life, improve the nutritional value of food and beverages, and process seafood such as oysters, lobster, and crab.

‘Volume is the challenge’​

As well as the phone hotline the firm has introduced an email system for less urgent requests for service assistance.

Hunter went on to explain as more and more food producers around the world adopt HPP as their means of increasing product safety, extending shelf life, processing (shucking) seafood such as oysters, lobster, and crab, as well as other innovative applications, the number of its systems increases with that demand.

“With such high standards for productivity in the fast-paced food production environment, it is critical to keep the HPP system operating at optimum performance​.

“The down side is HPP is still a batch process. Foods processed with HPP are often sold at a premium price. Volume is the challenge, and HPP system manufacturers, which are few, need to continually look for ways of increasing capacity and efficiency​.”