Alpine Wurst & Meat House Begins HPP Tolling Operation

• By: admin
• On: 12/19/2023 15:37:03
• In: Member News

Alpine Wurst & Meat House, an award-winning processor located in Honesdale, PA, has announced the installation of an HPP (high-pressure processing) machine. The addition of HPP will greatly improve the food safety and the shelf life of its products. Additionally, Alpine is now available to work as a third-party toller for other food processors in the area.

High pressure processing subjects packaged products to high isostatic pressure transmitted by water, and that high pressure deactivates any pathogen that may be in a product. Since the process uses pressure instead of heat, many types of food products can be treated without affecting the product.

Alpine, owned and operated by Mark and Gretchen Eifert, has been using HPP on its products since 2015. “We don't want to put in the preservatives and chemicals because it changes the flavor of our product, and consumers nowadays are looking at ingredients; they're more health conscientious,” Gretchen says. The Eifert's had been taking product to the closest toller, which happened to be located in Connecticut. “Then I said to him one day, ‘What we pay to go to Connecticut would be a loan payment for our own machine,'” she says.

Alpine bought and installed a Hiberbaric 135 HPP Machine and built a new facility dedicated to it. The company uses the machine for its sausages and smoked products like bacon, cold cuts, pork chops and hams. Gretchen says that the company has enjoyed the benefits that HPP offers. “When we did use some preservatives, we only got a two- to three-week shelf life. But now we get a three- to four-month shelf life,” she says. She adds that consumers can read Alpine's product labels and see only easy-to-read ingredients like spices and seasonings instead of preservatives with complex, chemical names.

The addition of HPP has helped expand Alpine's wholesale business. Since the Eifert's took over the business from Mark's parents in 2009, the company has expanded its presence to more than 400 grocery stores. Thanks to the extended shelf life that HPP offers, Gretchen says, “We're able to stock the shelves at the grocery stores now with much more before having to go back again. It frees up our three drivers to go to other stores and get other business.”

Food companies that are interested in utilizing Alpine as a third-party toller could enjoy the benefits of long shelf life and clean labels, too. The HPP process can be used on a wide variety of food products, including salad mixes, vegetable dips, RTE meals, seafood, juices, pet food, soups, bone broth, craft beer, wine and more.

For more information about Alpine Wurst & Meat House's HPP tolling capabilities, visit https://thealpineonline.com/ or contact the company at (570) 253-5899.

Alpine Wurst & Meat House is a second-generation meat processor founded in 1977. European-style sausages, like bockwurst and weisswurst, are a company specialty, but Alpine offers a wide range of products that includes bacon, franks, deli meats and fresh chops and steaks. Along with a wholesale business, it also co-packs and private labels a variety of products. Alpine was recently named the “Independent Processor of the Year” by The National Provisioner magazine, and its use of HPP technology earned the company the title of “Innovator of the Year” by the local Wayne Economic Development Corporation.