Keeping Sliced Apples Fresh

Apples are easily America’s favorite fruit, and in this short article we are going to find out how one of our customers has dramatically changed the way many Americans eat apples. 

Apples have been around for millennia. Adam and Eve loved them, the ancient Greeks and Romans were quite fond of them (they continually pop up in their myths and fables), and the early American settlers loved them so much they brought apple seeds with them from Europe.

While apples grow all over North America, 60 percent of all the apples in America are grown in Washington State, which is the home of one of our favorite customers, Crunch Pak.

Sliced Apples are Still Just Apples, Right? Not Quite.

What does Crunch Pak do? It’s simple, they core, slice, and package apples to sell in grocery stores all over the country.

While their business model looks amazingly simple at first glance, it’s not.

The founders of Crunch Pak had two key goals that propelled their business forward. Having realized that there was a huge amount of waste in the produce industry, one of their first goals was to create a company that focused on reducing produce waste. In America alone, 40% of fresh produce is wasted, and a large portion of this percentage happens in our homes. Produce is purchased with the best of intentions and then life gets in the way and the next thing you know you are throwing your once perfectly ripe and nutritious produce in the garbage.

Crunch Pak knew that something had to be done about this problem of produce waste. Asking themselves why customers wasted so much produce after purchasing it lead them to the insight that has made them a leader in the fresh-cut produce industry. Customers were letting their fruit spoil simply because it was not sliced and prepared to eat. After doing extensive market research, Crunch Pak realized that customers were much more likely to eat the fruit they purchased and not waste it if it was pre-sliced and ready-to-eat. Specifically, they realized that children are twice as likely to eat fruit if it is already sliced. Crunch Pak realized that they could reduce produce waste by preparing it and packaging it in a way that made it easier and more convenient for the consumer to eat. This simple yet meaningful insight is at the core of their business.

Tony Freytag, Executive VP of Crunch Pak, has commented on this insight saying,

Crunch Pak’s efforts are a simple, yet effective, way to take control of your grocery efficiency. Value-added produce items take the work out of produce prep. Crunch Pak’s goal is to help you incorporate more healthy snacks into your family’s diet as easily as possible.

So, they had their business model: reduce produce waste by making it easier for consumers to eat the fruit they bought. Great, but there was still a technical roadblock they had to get past. If they could figure out how to get past this roadblock they knew they could achieve their goal of reducing produce waste as well as being able to grow into a very profitable business. What was this roadblock? The age old problem of having your sliced apples turn brown. This is not a big deal when you are only dealing with one sliced apple, but when you are processing millions of apple slices, it is a huge problem. It was clear to Crunch Pak that no one will buy brown apple slices. Suffice it to say, they had a big problem to solve.

The question: How do we keep sliced apples looking like they have just been cut after they have been sitting in a package for up to twenty days?

The answer came through collaborating with a company called Nature Seal. Together, Nature Seal and Crunch Pak developed a calcium and vitamin C solution that could keep sliced apples looking fresh for up to twenty-one days. This calcium and vitamin C solution, when combined with modified atmosphere packaging and breathable bags specifically designed for the respiration rates of the apple varietals that Crunch Pak processes, has made Crunch Pak very successful. Before Crunch Pak, packaged and sliced apples were not even a part of the value-added produce segment, but since solving their business and technical roadblocks in the early 2000s they have grown sliced and packaged apples into a business that generates $700 million in retail sales per year,  and produces over 250,000 cases of packaged apple products per week.

Modified Atmosphere Packaging: Keeping Value-Added Produce Valuable

A vitamin C and calcium solution, highly engineered breathable bags designed for the specific respiration rates of apples, and modified atmosphere packaging. While it seems like this would be enough to deliver high quality apples to consumers throughout North America, there is one thing missing from the conversation so far, and that is the importance of having a high quality Modified Atmosphere Packaging Gas Analyzer to ensure that your processing and packaging is up to the highest standards.

Crunch Pak has been using our Bridge Analyzers Model 9001 – CO2/O2 Gas Analyzer  as the last check in their quality control process for years. Our MAP CO2/O2 Gas Analyzer was designed for the specific needs of our fresh-cut produce packagers and is our bestselling Gas Analyzer for our fresh fruit and vegetable customers.

Bridge Analyzers Model 9001 – CO2/O2 Gas Analyzer

  • CO2 process gas fill and MAP Residual O2 measurement.
  • CO2/O2 balance for natural respiration process evaluation.
  • Sealed for Harsh Environments – Industrial NEMA-4 Design.
  • Cordless Operation – Single or Double Shift Internal Battery.
  • Simple and fast – Single button CO2 and O2 in 15 Seconds.
  • Stable, Trouble-free Infrared CO2.
  • Customer Changeable Self-Calibrating E-C O2 sensor.
  • Small (6″x3″x3″), lightweight (2.5 Lbs), and rugged.

Let us know how we can help you improve your MAP gas analysis for respiring fruits and vegetables by contacting us at sales@bridgeanalyzers.com