July 23, 2017

Grant to support high pressure processing in Michigan

The Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development voted to award a Food and Agriculture Investment Program grant to Great Lakes HPP in Taylor, Michigan.

Great Lakes HPP is developing a high-pressure processing (HPP) tolling center and food innovation center in Taylor, Michigan. HPP is a method of cold pasteurization that protects and defends foods by subjecting sealed products to incredibly high pressure. It is an all-natural process that uses purified cold water to neutralize food-borne pathogens without preservatives or chemicals. The process allows food products to retain nutrients, while increasing shelf life and preserving taste and quality.

Great Lakes HPP will use its $150,000 performance-based grant to create an HPP tolling center that will include a HPP machine and a Super Lab that can be used for testing products and other ancillary services, such as packaging, labeling and distribution. The project will also include a food innovation center that will be available to Michigan food entrepreneurs who need space and resources for product testing, recipe development, flavor profiling and other food and agriculture business development training, such as selling to retail and product costing.

Initially, the project will include one HPP machine, but future growth could lead to a total of four machines with the ability to process up to 280 million pounds of food per year. The company plans to invest $5.5 million in the project and will create approximately 20-30 new jobs for the first phase of the project and ultimately 75-100 new jobs when all phases are developed. The project has the potential to have a major impact in Michigan as there are only 21 tolling centers worldwide and 12 in the United States, with no tolling centers currently located in Michigan.

The Food and Agriculture Investment Program provides financial support for food and agriculture projects that help expand food and agriculture processing to enable growth in the industry and Michigan’s economy. Projects are selected based on their impact to the overall agriculture industry and their impact to food and agriculture growth and investment in Michigan.





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