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Co-manufacturer help sambazon forge ahead in low-acid aseptics

California acai marketer taps Aseptic Solutions, which is poised to become a rare U.S. company capable of aseptically filling, low-acid products on a high-speed rotary filler.

As the leading global marketer of Amazon fruit acai (pronounced ah-sigh-EE), Sambazon Inc. faces the challenge of products that are susceptible to flavor degradation if bacteria are allowed to remain in the caps or containers. This is just one area where contract filling and packaging are proving invaluable to product marketers today. Sambazon is a case in point.

The San Clemente, CA-based marketer turned to Aseptic Solutions (www.asepticusa.com) of Corona, CA, for help. Aseptic Solutions is convinced that the U.S. marketplace is ready for much broader acceptance of rigid plastic containers filled aseptically, and it built a contract manufacturing and packaging facility to meet this anticipated demand. Why contract, as opposed to own-brand, manufacturing?

“Because we've heard from enough well-known brand owners who want an alternative to the brick pack for aseptic packaging of low-acid products,” says director of quality J. Scott Murrin. What these brand owners don't want, however, is the hassle of getting from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the letter of non-objection they need before they can market low-acid beverages packed aseptically in rigid plastic containers sterilized by paracetic acid.

Aseptic Solutions plans to work with customers from recipe to lab-scale tests to small market-test batches right on up to large-scale commercial production. To meet its objectives, Aseptic Solutions has installed a complete aseptic line, the Unibloc 2, from Procomac (www.procomac.com). Container sterilization, rinsing, filling, and induction sealing of aluminum foil to the filled containers are all done in a microbiological isolator chamber at rated speed of about 450 bottles/min. Anything from 6- to 32-oz containers can be filled.

 

Sterilization's benefits

These are the solutions that Sambazon was looking for in filling its smoothies bottles.

“Because Aseptic Solutions flash pasteurizes the product and sterilizes the bottles and caps, there's no microbiological load from the process or packaging to worry about,” says Richard Aust, Sambazon's vice president of technology. “Filling on this system lets us ship refrigerated product nationwide and guarantee that stores will have 40 days to sell it.”

Sambazon distributes its Sambazon Organic Açaí line primarily through health food stores and the produce section of supermarkets. Individual bottles retail for about $2.50 each.

The company formulates its own products. These are organic products made from the fruit of the Brazilian palmberry, acai, a fruit that is high in omega fatty acids and contains more anthocyanins than blueberries and pomegranate juice. Since 1999, Sambazon's products have included extended-shelf-life smoothie beverages, frozen grocery packs, frozen sorbets, powdered acai, and acai capsules. The company also makes frozen acai puree and dried acai powder that are sold as industrial ingredients and used to make Sambazon-branded products.

Aust adds that Sambazon purchases and ships all of the beverage raw materials to Aseptic Solutions. Aseptic purchases stock packaging materials such as corrugate, caps, and bottles, while Sambazon purchases custom packaging materials such as labels.

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