We know that high pressure processing can be used to produce foods and beverages with an extended shelf life that meets consumer demand for natural, fresh-tasting foods with no preservatives (See Food Engineering, “Novel No More,” October 2020, page 46). These advantages leave food and beverage processors with two choices to achieve an end product that has been HPP’d—use a toller or buy the equipment.
“Both options are economically viable,” says Roberto Peregrina, chief scientific technologist at Hiperbaric. “It all comes down to the mid-long term strategy of each company.” Tolling gives the ability of focusing resources to other areas of the business without necessarily having to tie up capital to buy an HPP unit. He says that this way, companies are able to focus more on the front-end of the business (i.e., marketing/sales) rather than the nitty-gritty of operations.