March 30, 2023
Energiefonds Overijssel, together with Oost NL and Icos Capital, is making a follow-up investment of €1.5 million in PEF Technologies. This company is developing an innovative technology that can preserve liquids at lower temperatures—and therefore using up to 50% less energy—without loss of flavor, color, or nutritional value.
Searching for a better method
Pasteurization makes it possible to prevent liquids such as dairy and fruit juice from spoiling quickly. To achieve this, the liquids must be briefly heated to high temperatures, which kills harmful bacteria. A disadvantage of this process is that heating changes the flavor and causes the product to lose nutritional value. This heating process consumes a significant amount of costly energy. The current preservation method is therefore not optimal, and many food producers are looking for an alternative.
NanoPEF
PEF Technologies has found an alternative in the form of ‘nano-PEF’ (nanosecond Pulsed Electric Fields). With this solution, month-old milk remains just as tasty and healthy as the day the cow was milked.
Yulia Mitko, Director of Operations at PEF Technologies, explains: “We have developed a machine that can send an electric pulse of very high intensity for an extremely short duration—nanoseconds—through products. This kills the bacteria in products like milk. The processing temperature does not exceed 65 degrees.”
First results and the future
In the summer of 2022, Energiefonds Overijssel, Icos Capital, and Oost NL invested in PEF Technologies for the first time. This has now been followed up with this investment round. PEF Technologies will use the investment to further develop and market this energy-efficient and non-thermal technology. This will also create approximately 15 full-time jobs in the province.
Radboud Dood, Investment Manager at Energiefonds Overijssel, says: “With this investment, we emphasize our confidence in nanoPEF preservation as a ‘game-changing’ sustainable technology for the food industry. The PEF Technologies team is fully committed to executing the plan to make nanoPEF the next pasteurization standard, resulting in food with better taste, better quality, and a better environment.”
