The Swiss technology company Bühler Group has integrated NapaRoast's pasteurisation and roasting technology into its broad portfolio. With the addition of NapaRoast's steam vacuum pasteurisation technology, Bühler is strengthening its market position in the nut processing industry to better serve trends such as healthy snacks, stricter production regulations and sustainable production. "The integration of NapaRoast puts us in the unique position of being able to offer our customers everything from a single source. The world-class pasteurisation process guarantees food safety and traceability and, in combination with our proven nut processing technologies, increases process efficiency. With the integration of the NapaRoast solution into our portfolio, we look forward to passing on the benefits of this technology not only for nuts, but also for many other Bühler food processing solutions," says Cathrin Flühler, Head of Market Segment Nuts at Bühler.

The global nut market is growing by up to 7% annually. The popularity and reputation of walnuts and peanuts as healthy snacks is steadily increasing due to their high protein, fibre and antioxidant content. As global demand increases, so does the focus on food safety.

NapaRoast's steam vacuum pasteurisation process is the answer to the stringent microbial contamination requirements facing processors today. "Our pasteurisation process offers a high microbial reduction of > 5 log for nuts, seeds and all foods with a low moisture content. Our process uses steam to increase the surface temperature of the product to effectively kill pathogens," explains Dr Cameon Ivarsson, co-founder of NapaRoast. By pasteurising with saturated steam, products can be effectively treated at lower temperatures in a partial vacuum. The high efficiency of saturated steam eliminates the need for a drying step, protecting the quality, texture, colour and taste of the product.

"We already covered the most important steps such as transport, sorting, storage, roasting and grinding in our portfolio. For pasteurisation, however, we had to rely on solutions from suppliers. Now our customers can source all key technologies along the value chain from Bühler, which creates valuable synergies for everyone involved. This collaboration is a perfect match between two companies with the same values of quality, engineering and creating added value for customers and consumers," says Cathrin Flühler.

NapaRoast's pasteurisation technology is installed in over 40 processing plants around the world, mainly in the United States, Europe and Africa.

Cameon Ivarsson adds, "With Bühler, we have a great opportunity to multiply the impact of our pasteurisation technologies worldwide. Their large customer base, coupled with decades of experience in plant and process engineering, will bring out the best in the technology. We are very excited about the future of nut processing."

To showcase its position in nut processing and give customers the unique opportunity to test and train the entire value chain, Bühler has upgraded its Flavour Creation Research and Training Centre in Uzwil, Switzerland.