Advanced Food Preservation and Processing Method Using Energy Efficient Heat Recovery

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This project builds upon an innovative, fruit/vegetable juice extraction technique developed by Rosehip Farms Limited to create the Broadway Press range of Ice Cyder and Apple Juice. With 96,000 tonnes of apples wasted every year in the UK at the farm/processing stages, the process was created from a desire to reduce food waste and its detrimental environmental impacts.The current process uses freezing technology to preserve the freshness of rejected apples at a commercial orchard, which creates a unique flavour profile and simultaneously crushes the fruit as ice forms and breaks down its cellular structure. We then allow the fruit to thaw prior to pressing, which eliminates the need for the traditional mill/crusher and prevents further damage and oxidation of the fruit and its adverse impact on flavour.The apples are subsequently pressed into apple juice, which is either bottled or converted to cider, to make a value-added product portfolio. As the first company to commercialise fruit juice manufacture in this way, we have found the process to be viable and manageable on a small to medium scale, but in order to scale up to industrial levels and make a significant impact of food waste, innovation is required.As a result, we have developed a draft patent for our vision of a scaled-up version of our process, which allows us to increase the energy efficiency of the processing stage and reduce current bottlenecks. We are applying for this grant so that we can install a pilot-scale, demonstration unit on site to confirm the claims of our patent and develop further claims as a result of the experiment.Once completed, we will submit a robust patent application and seek funding to scale-up to an industrial scale. We then intend to licence the patented process to other farms and food processing facilities across the UK and globally to maximise the reduction in food waste and its adverse environmental impacts.