Given the pear surplus, growers were faced with the decision to leave the fruits on the tree. However, many felt that destroying pears or any other fruit for that matter is a step too far. That's why they choose another option: processing into juice.
The PUR'sap company from St-Katelijne-Waver offers the opportunity to turn pears or other fruits into juice, and many growers have already signed up. "Requests are pouring in", says manager Jurgen Hendrix. "Demand has been increasing ever since the Russian ban. This option enables fruit growers to actually make a profit on their pear harvest."
The PUR'sap company from St-Katelijne-Waver offers the opportunity to turn pears or other fruits into juice, and many growers have already signed up. "Requests are pouring in", says manager Jurgen Hendrix. "Demand has been increasing ever since the Russian ban. This option enables fruit growers to actually make a profit on their pear harvest."
Special technique
He indicates they're using a special technique to press the pears. "We're the only company in Belgium to press completely air-free with this vacuum technique. We make use of a spiral press vacuum system. Because no air is introduced, the pears can't oxidise." He says that making cloudy pear juice is a difficult job. "If air is introduced during the production process, the juice goes cardboard-brown. So that can't happen. Many companies add vitamin C to prevent that. You can taste these artificial vitamins in the juice. We don't use that, we press 100% pure juice, without additives. We are the only ones in Belgium to make it this way."
Mobile as well
Every day, Jurgen gets calls from growers in Limburg and Flanders wanting to turn their harvest into juice. "We have been operating for nearly two years now, but recently we've seen a huge increase. Starting tomorrow, we will also have a mobile vacuum installation, to press on location at the growers. We can press 25 tonnes a day with this. The large installation, in Germany, goes up to 15 tonnes per hour."
Growing demand
He expects demand to grow further in the near future. "We're just waiting for the permit, which we will receive next week, if all goes well. The production of 100% pure pear juice is subject to customs duties. If we don't receive a certificate, we will export everything to Germany and have it pressed there." There are various packaging options. "In the litre bottles, the juice can be kept for over a year. It's also possible to store the juice in bag in box packages, in which case shelf life is more than 20 months. In Germany, shelf life even goes up to two years in 1,000-litre vacuum tanks. We also make wines and ciders in addition to juice."
For more information:
Jurgen Hendrix
PUR'sap
Tel: +32(0)476/23.57.12
hevad@telenet.be
facebook.com/pursap