PW: What is your goal with these products?
Dale: To produce chef-quality products made by a chef for chefs without using preservatives or additives. Most of what is available today is food science, and real chefs shy away from those products because they are not up to the highest standards.
PW: What do you mean by food science?
Dale: I mean the use of sodium, MSG, or MSG-type additives. Aseptic technology eliminates the need for those ingredients, which impart flavor by attacking the taste buds, but don’t add substance.
PW: Your packaging has a ‘secret ingredient,’ correct?
Dale: Yes, a patented one-way dispensing valve that permits my shelf-stable products to be shipped all over the world and remain unrefrigerated including during use even weeks after opening.
PW: What packaging element comes from your chef’s point of view?
Dale: Although the packaging is still being finalized, I’d like the bag to be clear because a chef wants to see exactly what’s inside.
PW: What is the biggest challenge with your new venture?
Dale: There are only about a dozen firms in the United States capable of processing and packaging low-acid aseptic products. Finding companies willing to take on a start-up project with a small company like ours is a major challenge.
PW: What have you learned about packaging technology thus far?
Dale: That it is a very fascinating science and that there are myriad options that increase daily with new technology, new materials, and new inventions. We’re just scratching the surface of the possibilities available in lightweight, safe, and efficient packaging for liquid products. —Rick Lingle
