Food & Beverage Asia February/March 2020

44
PROCESSING AND PACKAGING
HRS Heat Exchangers helps
Nutripeople combat global
hunger and food waste crises
It’s an uncomfortable truth that while a third of the world’s food is wasted, one in
nine people do not have enough to eat. In a bid to redress this balance, a sociallyconscious
Spanish food producer has been turning Europe’s surplus fruits and
vegetables into a nutritionally enriched, easy-to-digest and 100% natural foodstuff
for people in need. With equipment and support from HRS Heat Exchangers,
Nutripeople can now produce 42 million pouches of its products each year, helping
those in developing countries to avoid hunger and malnutrition.
An alternative approach to food waste
Anyone associated with the food industry is
aware of the global food waste crisis. Latest
figures from the Food and Agriculture
Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)
show that approximately 1.3 billion
tonnes of food are lost or wasted every
year – roughly one-third of all the food
produced for human consumption. At the
same time, 795 million people across the
world do not have enough to eat, with
those in developing countries being the
most vulnerable.
Established in 2015 as a social enterprise,
Nutripeople has formed alliances with
some of Spain’s fruit and vegetable
producers to turn their surplus produce
into a new foodstuff with a high nutritional
value, thanks to the addition of natural
additives such as vegetable proteins and
vitamins. Its target customers are global
organisations fighting hunger such as
UNICEF and Oxfam, as well as food banks
closer to home. A percentage of each sale
also goes directly to social projects or NGOs
dedicated to feeding those most in need.
In addition to the social benefits, the
project also aids the circular economy.
It takes an average 963 litres of water to
produce one kilogram of fruit, alongside
HRS’ production line comprises of mixing, homogenising,
pasteurising and filling capabilities
associated labour and transport costs and
carbon emissions. Recovering this produce
and reusing it elsewhere helps to preserve
vital resources and reduce the carbon
footprint involved in food production.
A turnkey solution
In order to turn the surplus fruits and
vegetables it receives into finished food
pouches, Nutripeople commissioned HRS
Heat Exchangers to install a simple, costeffective
production line at its factory in
Murcia. After evaluating HRS’ experience
in fruit processing and visiting a number of
its reference sites across Europe, as well as
comparing it with other suppliers, HRS was
the choice for Nutripeople; particularly as
they were able to supply all the necessary
equipment and technical expertise.
Nutripeople turns Europe’s surplus fruit and vegetables into nutritious food pouches for people most in need
The first stage in the production
process is the mixing line, where the
fruit and vegetables are pre-heated and
blended with proteins and vitamins to
enrich their nutritional value.
FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA FEBRUARY / MARCH 2020