TOP bv from Wageningen will outsource the sales and marketing of food processing equipment to Like Fresh. All equipment that is produced in series by TOP will be marketed by Like Fresh, starting this week. This will allow TOP to continue to focus on the development of new technologies.
TOP is the innovation organization behind successful introductions such as the Cold Press, Pluckr, PurePulse, Hygienisator and Compact Food Dryer. The demand from the food industry for these technologies is high, as a result of which the equipment is now produced in series. To maintain its unique innovation capabilities, TOP has decided to outsource the marketing of this equipment to Like Fresh.
TOP will continue to focus on the development of highly innovative food processing technologies. In addition, TOP will continue to offer consultancy projects for customers, and provide Like Fresh with the necessary engineering support.
Like Fresh – a sister company of TOP – is a new organization in which years of experience in the food industry has come together. “We offer extensive knowledge of the latest developments in mild preservation and storage of fruit and vegetables”, says Rob Veltman, director. “Like Fresh provides high-quality solutions for producers around the world, such as new process lines or innovative applications within existing processes. In this we work together with the engineers from TOP and other innovation partners.”
TOP BV in Wageningen has now fully equipped her new FoodLab and makes the facility available to third parties. Customers of TOP can use the space free of charge, along with all present machinery and facilities for tomorrow’s food industry.
In the TOP FoodLab all necessities are present to conduct small scale trial productions for a broad variety of products. Machines like a filling line, a packaging line and a metal detector are available. Also TOP’s own innovations like PurePulse PEF2.0, Coldpresses and the AMAP packaging technology can be used. In a recently built trial installation practically all pasteurization and sterilization processes can be simulated under various process conditions.
The investment needed to open a new production line or to obtain a new process technique is often very high. This usually makes the risk insurmountable large. This phenomena – called “the valley of death” – is a negative factor which holds back innovation or even nips it in the bud. By making these facilities available in the FoodLab, TOP wants to build a bridge for innovative companies to overcome this valley of death. The lab is open for all customers of TOP, startups as well as multinationals in the food industry.
TOP BV, service supplier in food design, process development and innovation management, was the founding father of advanced food innovations over the past twelve years. TOP is strongly focused on open innovation, for which she cooperates with companies from all over the food chain, from farm to fork.
