The fruit preparations research activities in the 2009|10 financial year had the goal of market diversification. With the creation of a New Business Development department, it is planned to develop fruit preparations for the non-dairy food industry. A new technology developed by AGRANA is an innovation in the area of fruit fillings for chocolate and dairy products. Next to their use in chocolates, the fruit preparations also work well in chocolate particles within yoghurt. The big challenge in fruit fillings for use in chocolate products is to achieve a fruit preparation that is aseptic and has a long shelf life, yet preserves the flavour and consistency of the fresh fruit – something that until now was possible only through a high alcohol or sugar content in the fruit product.
To promote the systematic improvement of processes and recipes, AGRANA set up a cross-divisional system for the management of ideas and knowledge. The growing European consumer preference for freshness and naturalness was the key area of study. In the use of the new technologies for the stabilisation of fruit preparations, certification was achieved as a “clean label” product without additives. In North America, tests are under way on the process stability and storage stability of functional substances in the end products for health concepts.
As well, a comprehensive, systematic reference handbook was prepared of the twelve most important fruits, compiling the sensory, technological and commercial information on the individual varieties of each fruit.
In the fruit juice concentrates business, through the development of better production processes for berry juice concentrates, AGRANA added value by achieving a significant improvement in colour yield and colour quality of concentrates. In the context of the utilisation of by-products such as pomace and fruit seeds, AGRANA conducted research on the production of various seed oils and the use of apple fibres as a natural thickening agent in food manufacturing. In cooperation with university facilities, AGRANA studied the health benefits and applications of apple polyphenols separated from the juice during the production process.