Automated grape de-bunching, one of the three nominees for the 2014 Food Valley Award

Food Valley awards an annual prize to the most distinctive project or initiative in the agrifood business. The criteria on which potential winners are judged are the innovative character of the project, the degree of (innovative) cooperation, the economic viability and the overall attention to Corporate Social Responsibility. The Food Valley Award is presented at the Food Valley Expo. The three nominees for the 2014?Food Valley Award are: portable and isothermal champagne bottle packaging by PaperFoam and Veuve Clicquot, fresh baby food from Pit-Foodconcepts, and an automated grape de-buncher from JFPT/ Foodlife. The three nominees were selected by an independent panel of experts led by Jan Maat, managing director of TI Food and Nutrition. The nominees outscored all other entries in terms of innovativeness and economic viability. The ultimate winner will be announced at the Food Valley Expo on Thursday, October 23, 2014 in Papendal Conference Center, Arnhem. Plant-based, isothermal gift packaging for champagneOne of the innovations nominated is a lightweight, portable gift pack for champagne bottles. It was created by PaperFoam, a company based in Barneveld, The Netherlands, in collaboration with the French champagne house Veuve Clicquot. The eco-friendly pack is made from potato starch foam and combines attractive design with the ability to keep fluids cold for two hours. The design is simple: two parts held together by paper wrapping. Several parties contributed expertise to help develop this product. One hurdle, for instance, was to prevent the starch foam packaging from sticking to cold bottles when condensation formed on the bottle?s outer surface. The packaging is now in production and is being sold in countries the world over. PaperFoam CEO Mark Geerts welcomed the news from Food Valley. ?The nomination for the Food Valley Award will help us show even more people how agricultural products like starch and fibers can be used in stylish, eco-friendly packaging,? said Geerts. ? Fresh baby food with the best possible taste and longer shelf lifeWith its range of fresh, pascalized baby food, Pit-Foodconcepts is capitalizing on several important trends, such as freshness, convenience and health. Pienter, as the new baby food is called, enables parents to offer infants a healthy meal that familiarizes them with pure and natural flavors, colors and textures. Unlike most other baby foods, the ingredients are not mixed together into a puree, but packaged as separate, recognizable ingredients. Pienter is a convenience product that gives busy parents a fresh, ready-to-eat choice. Pit-Foodconcepts, which is based in the Dutch town of Sint Oedenrode, has developed a range of Pienter products aimed at infants in different age groups: 6, 8, 10 and 12 months. Pienter is pascalized, so the foods are produced under very high pressure, which prevents contamination by bacteria and fungi. At the same time, flavor, color and texture are preserved and vitamins and minerals remain intact. The product contains no added preservatives. ?The Pienter concept is just the beginning,? said Rik de Hek and Dries Habraken, the owners of Pit-Foodconcepts. ?We hope the nomination for the Food Valley Award will enable us to find partners who can help us develop the concept further. The goal is to offer a healthy product that gives young children a good start. Besides, this nomination shows how well creativity and applicability mix.? ? Automated grape de-bunchingThe Pluckr, the picture shows it, is a fully automated de-buncher that separates grapes from stalks. The machine, developed by Dutch companies?JFPT/foodlife from Zwolle, and TOP Wageningen, combines several technologies. The Pluckr uses ultrasound vibrations to remove grapes without damaging the fruit, and then allows them to fall from a minimal height onto a conveyor belt. The grapes can then be packaged using a new method. This innovative process extends the shelf life of grapes to four weeks. The Pluckr processes up to 600 kg of grapes per hour, depending on the variety. By comparison, it takes 24 man hours to manually de-bunch this amount of grapes. The Pluckr is made from patented technology and a prototype is now in use and proving its value on site at a large fruit processing plant in The Netherlands. Patrick Jansen, CEO of JFPT/foodlife is pleased. ?It would be amazing if TOP and us won the Award,? he said. ?But the nomination alone is reason for JFPT/foodlife to be very proud. This will be an enormous boost for our company, encouraging us to continue developing innovative solutions for the fruit and vegetable processing industry.? ? ?Key wordsUva?? ??? ?grape?? ?druiwe?? ?????? ????? ?vinbero?? ?raisin?? ?????????? ???????? ?druif?? ??? ?winogrono?? ??? ??????????? ??z?m?? ???????? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ????