Demand for fresh, healthy and easy to use products is still rising in The Netherlands and other European countries. With conventional conservation technologies like heat pasteurization, products lose healthy nutrients and also lose taste. Several new conservation technologies have been developed on a small scale, but have not been applied on an industrial scale in many cases.

How does the project help?
The goal of this project is to further develop mild conservation methods and make them available for a larger group of end users in order to increase quality, shelf life, sustainability and safety of foodstuffs.

What has the project achieved?

• Development and demonstration of mild conservation technologies, in which the emphasis is placed on quality, shelf life and safety of foodstuffs combined with industrial applicability.
• Design of sustainable production chains based on these mild conservation technologies, where reducing food waste is the specific main focus.
• Increased understanding and insight into the operation and safety of mild conservation technologies.

Project information
Project title: Long shelf life and still fresh
Project number: AF-12148
Duration: 2013 – 2016
Public budget: € 3,194,000
Private budget: € 3,746,000
Project partners: Hoogesteger Fresh Specialist, Struik Foods Europe, Natural Drinks, FrieslandCampina, Foodcase, Stork Food & Dairy Drinks, OMVE Netherlands BV, IXL, Netherlands BV, Aerox, Multivac, Uhde, NVWA, Wageningen Research