Stay Fresh Foods, Meriden, Conn., added beverage co-packing services to its high-pressure processing (HPP) tolling center in Pennsauken, N.J. The new co-packing line duplicates the configuration of the company’s Meriden facility, which includes drum chipping equipment, blending tanks, large-scale cold brew capacity, rotary filling and labeling.
“HPP is a key enabler behind the growing consumer demand for healthful, preservative-free, all-natural products,” says Amy Lawless, chief executive officer. “As food manufacturing veterans, co-packing is a natural fit for us, and our ‘everything-under-one-roof’ approach presents an attractive value proposition for beverage innovators across the country. With redundant production and HPP facilities strategically located in the northeast, we are able to offer our customers more convenience at a lower cost.”
The new line effectively doubles Stay Fresh Foods beverage co-packing capacity for a combined total exceeding 50,000,000 bottles a year. Together, at both locations, the company’s HPP capacity is 100,000,000 pounds per year.
“Our customers choose HPP as a post-packaging technology to enhance safety, extend shelf life and support the move to ‘better-for-you’ products in a host of categories—from RTE meals and deli meats to soups and dips to juice and other beverages,” Lawless adds. “Our SQF 3 certification assures we follow the highest recognized standards of both safety and quality.”