Ross Beaton, Director of Apollo Apples was at Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong to test the water for a new direction for the company. He explains, "As a company we produce 13,000 tonnes of waste apple s a year, currently we send this to a processor who turns it into concentrate. What we want to do is develop this waste into high quality food such as baby food and elder care formulations for the developing countries such as India, China and Asia, Middle east."
"Apples are historically a feel good fruit, when you bite into an apple it sets off endorphins making you feel happy and it is the original aphrodisiac. We are working with universities, have our own food technologist and are investing in a lot of research and development."
One of the first products to be tested was a range of single pressed fruit juices. Beaton took the range of HoneyGlo juices to Hong Kong to evaluate the Asian response, "We had to be sure the Asian consumer would accept the taste and they seemed to like it, we had Apple, Apple and Pear and Apple and Feijoa. We also had to determine the preferred size of bottle, taking into consideration smaller living space and limited refrigeration possibilities means that they tend to shop everyday in Asia."
Beaton goes on to say that the trials in Hong Kong were a success, but there is still a lot of work to do. The HoneyGlo Juice will also be launched on the New Zealand market through the Foodstuffs cooperative, discussions are in place for this development.
For more information:
Ross Beaton
Apollo Apples
Tel: +64 873 0404
Mob: +64 21 460 475
www.apolloapples.co.nz