Founded in 2009, Forager Food Co. uses state-of-the-art equipment to process, dry, and package a wide variety of food products to provide a long shelf life while protecting the most valuable and essential ingredients, including vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, color, and taste, etc.
According to John Ranicar, director of Forager Foods, the biggest drivers are the health benefits and the opportunity for growers of Grade B products that are not suitable for fresh supply to the market.
John said, “We can see that there are many wasted Grade B products, especially apples and cherries. Ten years ago, there was very little market for Grade B fruit, but the fruit itself was completely fine. The opportunity to process these fruits and vegetables without preservatives. We can take them and process them into chips or powder.”
"Our products are marked with a two-year shelf life, but 20 years is fine," John said. "There is no moisture inside, and the product is sealed in an aluminum foil bag, which won't break down."
Forager Foods has supplied freeze-dried products to a Chinese hotel chain and has just shipped its first container of freeze-dried fruit to the Chinese retail market. John says his product has also been successful in the Malaysian market.