Beverage processing takes a ‘sound’ leap forward into 4IR

from Food Manufacturing Africa Q4 2021

The intersection of beverage processing technology and innovation

Getting the most out of our planet’s available harvest is essential. Particularly with a growing population and a shrinking agricultural footprint also challenged by climate change and environmental pressures. In cavalierly tossing aside overripe or blemished produce or failing to use the entire fruit, vegetable or plant, we have also created a mountain of waste and reduced the level of meaningful nutrition we consume accordingly.

MANUFACTURING METHODS HAVE not changed much since the initial industrial revolution. “For the main part, the boxes have just got shinier, the conveyor belts faster, a new computer and several zeroes have been added to the price, reducing the bottom line – the industry has not really changed,” comments Roy Henderson, CEO and co-founder of technology company Green Cell Technologies (GCT).

Manufacturers are, however, quickly realising that it’s time for a new approach, one that not necessarily replaces everything they already have, but one that certainly complements and advances their need to achieve net-zero, while retaining and even increasing profitability and product nutrition and efficacy.

Bringing food and beverage processing firmly into the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), GCT has developed a process – Dynamic Cellular Disruption – and a solid piece of disruptor technology that processes organic and inorganic matter faster than the speed of sound.

Stopping the process in a nanosecond, cell structures are snapped, releasing all the available active molecule components. Whole fruits and vegetables are utilised in the process. There is no need for harmful heat or chemicals, therefore there is little to no denaturing of the original resource.

While more automation can make processes in our industry faster and reduce expensive labour, we must not forget the human element

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

In trials conducted at GCT’s centre of excellence in Cape Town, South Africa, and in commercial facilities such as Citrosuco in Brazil (one of the world’s largest orange juice manufacturers), DCD and disruptor technology have been shown to dramatically increase yield, while reducing/eradicating waste, enhancing bioavailability of active ingredients and reducing pathogens. Commenting on the technology, Alex Scheurmans, product development and applications general manager at Citrosuco, remarks that, “It took some time for our mindsets to fully embrace the opportunities that disruptor technology can provide us, but four years down the line, we have not looked back. Our previous ‘waste’ is now an integral part of some of our product lines and DCD has opened up several new avenues for product enhancement and development for us.”

At a recent international technology conference, Henderson was asked to contribute to a panel on the Internet of Things (IoT). Now what, you may well ask, does the F&B manufacturing sector have to do with IoT? Henderson explains, “The world around us is fast becoming an interconnected, homogenous singularity. This will have implications as to how we grow, manufacture and consume our sustenance in the future. While more automation can make processes in our industry faster and reduce expensive labour, we must not forget the human element – we need to remember that 4IR should be about working for humans and not about replacing us. The need for food remains, and even more so, foods and beverages that can deliver better quality nutrition and more intelligently.”

Henderson shares that disruptor technology can deliver emulsions at a molecular level as they are heavily concentrated. Thus, he says, they pack a concentrated punch of goodness too. Less is needed for better nourishment while there’s more to go round to those who need it. While this may sound like pie in the sky, there has been a rapid development of “smart” products across the industry. Smart products, however, need equally smart tools to optimise them.

The F&B sector could well lead the charge on delivering the opportunity for ultimate health – we are, after all, the products of what we eat and drink – and with a ‘sound’ strategy at its fingertips, it might well do this. •