Food hydration innovation: Royal FrieslandCampina inks commercial agreements with EnWave

24 Jan 2019 --- EnWave Corporation has signed a Commercial License and Equipment Purchase Agreements with Milkubator, an incubator for innovation program within dairy company Royal FrieslandCampina. The agreements enable the innovation subsidiary to explore and pilot EnWave’s Radiant Energy Vacuum (REV) food dehydration technology.

The Milkubator innovation program aims to develop new products that fit the evolving consumer needs and taste preferences, and the use of REV technology can help deliver dehydrated food products which a high nutritional retention level. This is a key consumer preference, according to the company.

“REV technology is currently being used on a commercial basis to dry fruit, vegetables, meat, seafood, dairy products and cannabis/industrial hemp. More specifically in the Dairy industry, REV can be used to dry yogurt and cheese snacks, dairy-based ingredients, powders and derivatives,” Brent Charleton, President & CEO of EnWave, tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

EnWave’s REV technology uses a combination of vacuum pressure and microwave energy to deliver a high-speed, low-temperature drying process. It removes water from organic materials in a way that preserves flavor and texture as well as its nutritive value. 

“We’ve observed that consumer trends continue to place a high level of value on healthy and portable snacking options. Shelf stability is often advantageous for products that are portable, but due to the use of inferior drying technologies, nutritional retention is not always possible. REV’s low-temperature, gentle drying process allows for both shelf-stability and high nutritional retention,” he says.

EnWave has signed 25 commercial licenses with companies operating throughout the world and is active in Europe, Australia, Japan, as well as North and South America.

“REV technology is the only continuous, reliable and scalable vacuum-microwave technology available to manufacturers,” Charleton concludes.