Five years ago, the company has also entered into a North American distribution arrangement with NC Hyperbaric of Burgos, Spain, leading supplier of HPP systems to the meat industry with 2008 sales of over $11 million.
Early Start
Although the first trials utilizing application of high pressure to destroy bacteria trace back as early as 1897, Marshall relates, the prohibitive equipment costs—$2,800 per pound in today’s currency—and poor equipment reliability held back the technology’s progress.
The big breakthrough finally came about in the 1990s, according to Marshall, with the U.S. Army initiating renewed research into making better-tasting MREs (meal ready-to-eat) field rations for the troops.
Although not perfect—with the two- and five-liter vessels used in the process often breaking down—the HPP technology was finally showing real commercial promise, according to Marshall.
“Even 12 years ago I was convinced that if HPP was ever going to become a more mainstream process, it was going to have to be elevated to a more continuous process,” says Marshall.
“And that’s where Gridpath excels, with our ability to manufacture the surrounding secondary equipment and software to make the HPP work in traditional food manufacturing,” adds Marshall, while also praising the technological superiority of NC Hyperbaric’s faster and more durable horizontal machine design, compared to the older-generation vertical models.
“Once I saw these presses, I knew that NC was the true technology leader and all of the problems with the vertical design had been addressed, with the remaining factors to be taken care of by Gridpath,” says Marshall.
“That first year of us working together with NC Hyperbaric, there were a total of 19 HPP presses sold worldwide, with 16 of them coming from NC Hyperbaric,” reveals Marshall. “So even though it still seemed to be a niche market, it was one that I knew could be broadened.”
The current HPP machines available today are capable of using up to 111 gallons (420 liters) to create 87,000-pounds-per-square-inch of pressurized water, which can be used to process about 5,000 pounds (2,268 kg) of product per hour, depending on the type of product and package.
Up until 2003, Marshall relates, “the market for HPP consisted of using the presses for high-value products like prosciutto, avocado and shellfish, as the machines were manually loaded and unloaded, lacking traceability or a data acquisition system.
Advertisement
