La Union Corp. and the Asociación de Organizaciones de Productores de Plátano de Canarias (ASPROCAN) have announced the start of tests to freeze the Canary bananas damaged by the ash of the volcano of La Palma, using a new technology that makes it possible to preserve the fruit for as long as necessary, allowing it to retain its flavor and nutrients until thawed.
The aim of this initiative is to prevent the waste of a product that, although in perfect condition for consumption, is not suitable to be marketed based on European regulations because of external damage. All the fruit, once treated, cut and packaged, will be donated to food banks; therefore, this initiative will make it possible, on the one hand, to make up for the inevitable losses suffered by banana producers in La Palma and, on the other hand, to give the product a second chance and help the neediest people with it.
The damaged fruit will be collected in La Palma and then transported to the new freezing and processing plant in Almería, where it will be processed, packaged and sent to different food banks across Spain.
Domingo Martín Ortega, president of ASPROCAN, said that "at the association, we are working on different alternatives to maximize the viability of the fruit from the island of La Palma. This new preservation technology could be one of them and may become an interesting complement for the longer term."
In the words of Jesús Barranco, general manager of La Unión Corp, "this initiative is showing that new technologies and innovation in the agro-food sector can also be a tool to improve people's lives, especially when tragic events like the one in La Palma occur."
Barranco also said that "agreements between producers as Asprocan and innovative companies like La Union serve to strengthen new working models based on quality and sustainability, with innovation as a means of improving the competitiveness of the national production sector."
The new fruit and vegetable freezing technology implemented by La Unión is protected by a worldwide patent and is expected to revolutionize the frozen fruit and vegetable sector. A processing plant of more than 10,000 m² was inaugurated last May, with a current processing capacity of more than 12 million kilos.
For more information:
Gabinete de Prensa de La Unión Corp.
Laura Esteban
Tel.: 649 06 96 84
laura.esteban@influencesuite.com