Inventure Foods, Inc., Phoenix, Ariz., announced plans to install two state-of-the-art individually quick frozen (IQF) freezing tunnels for an estimated total purchase price of $3.9 million.
"We continue to look for opportunities to meet growing demand for our frozen fruit products, while also improving margins in our frozen fruit segment by increasing our internal freezing capabilities," says Terry McDaniel, chief executive officer. "This intended investment is our latest move in that operational strategy. When this equipment is coupled with the freezing assets we acquired this year at Willamette Valley Fruit Co. and Fresh Frozen Foods, we will have made significant progress toward meeting our frozen fruit processing requirements internally."
The company expects to install the new tunnels in the second quarter 2014, prior to the harvest season, at its berry processing facilities in Lynden, Wash., and Salem, Ore.