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Ultima signs with EnWave for dehydrated yogurt

29 May 2015

Industrial-scale dehydration technology company EnWave has signed a Technology Evaluation and License Option Agreement with Canadian yogurt processor Ultima Foods, a joint venture of Canadian dairy cooperatives Agropur and Agrifoods. The agreement grants Ultima the exclusive right to develop dehydrated yogurt applications using EnWave’s Radiant Energy Vacuum (REV) technology for an undisclosed period of time […]

Industrial-scale dehydration technology company EnWave has signed a Technology Evaluation and License Option Agreement with Canadian yogurt processor Ultima Foods, a joint venture of Canadian dairy cooperatives Agropur and Agrifoods.

The agreement grants Ultima the exclusive right to develop dehydrated yogurt applications using EnWave’s Radiant Energy Vacuum (REV) technology for an undisclosed period of time during which EnWave will work closely with Ultima to optimise several formulations.  Ultima may exercise its exclusive option to license REV technology for the commercial production of yogurt products in Canada.

Since 1971, Enwave notes that Canadian yogurt consumption has increased from 471g to 8.7 kg per person each year.

EnWave’s technology dates back to 1996 with the development of the first prototype REV machine at the University of British Columbia for dehydrating food and nutraceuticals. Since that time, the company has developed, produced and sold commercial-scale, continuous machines for food dehydration and developed a number of pilot-scale units for drying bulk biological materials and pharmaceuticals in vials. Current licensees of EnWave’s REV technology include Bonduelle, a global leader in the production of vegetables,  for the processing of dehydrofrozen vegetables; Hormel Foods, for the production of dried meat products; Gay Lea Foods, a Canadian dairy company, for the production of dried cheese products; Milne Fruit Product, for the production of several dehydrated fruit and vegetable products in the whole, fragmented and powdered form; Napa Mountain Spice Company, to dry California bay leaves;  CAL-SAN Enterprises, a blueberry producer in British Columbia; and NutraDried to develop, manufacture, market and sell all-natural cheese snack products in the United States under the Moon Cheese brand.

Additionally, EnWave has signed a number of research agreements with companies that include Nestlé SA, Kellogg Company, Sun-Maid Growers of California, Campofrio Food Group, R.J. Reynolds and Ocean Spray Cranberries to evaluate the merits of REV technology.

The company now has three commercial REV platforms: nutraREV for food dehydration; powderREV for the dehydration of bulk food cultures, probiotics and fine biochemicals such as enzymes; and quantaREV for food and industrial product production companies that require high-volume, low-temperature dehydration of solids, liquids, granular or encapsulated products. EnWave also has two platforms in the developmental stage, bioREV and freezeREV for live or active biomaterial dehydration in vials that are dehydrated above and below the freezing point respectively.