© Fresh Produce Alliance
A Western Australia-based company is preparing to launch a range of baby food made using high-pressure processing (HPP), allowing it to retain a greater proportion of the nutritional value of the fruits and vegetables used.
Fresh Produce Alliance said that the move would make it the only firm in Australia using HPP for baby food products.
The range of products will combine cooked ingredients like sweet potato with raw fruit and vegetables, and, as baby food offers farmers a higher margin on unwanted produce than the juice category, Fresh Produce Alliance hopes that the range will help to reduce fruit and vegetable waste.
“We wanted to do something for Australian farmers,” managing director Jenny Franceschi told Australian broadcaster ABC.
“[On average,] 30% of products that are grown in Australia don’t leave the farm gate. That’s usually because they’re either too big, too small, [have] too much colour, not enough colour or for whatever reason.”
But by processing the waste into a value-added and premium product such as nutritious baby food, the company is expecting to be able to pay farmers a slight premium over juicers.
While HPP processing results in a shorter shelf-life than conventional baby food products, Franceschi is hoping that the higher nutritional content will appeal to consumers; HPP kills bacteria as effectively as other methods while preserving the content of vitamins B and C.
“We’ve got a lot of interest in Australia and also a lot of interest in Asia – Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan,” Franceschi said.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024