EnWave Receives Purchase Order for 120kW REV Machine from Orto Al Sole to Scale Production of Better-for-You Snacks in Italy
16/02/2022
to scale-up the commercial production of fruit and vegetable snack products in Italy using EnWave’s proprietary technology. In July 2020, EnWave signed a royalty-bearing commercial license agreement with Orto Al Sole and sold a 10kW REV™ machine for product development and initial commercial production. Orto Al Sole developed a line of healthy, better-for-you fruit and vegetable snacks that received positive market feedback, leading to scale-up of its manufacturing capacity in preparation for distribution across Italy and potentially Europe.
Orto Al Sole has the exclusive right to produce a variety of fruit and vegetable snack products using REV™ technology in Italy and pays a royalty to EnWave. These REV™-dried products can be sold both domestically and internationally without restriction. Orto Al Sole has the capabilities to achieve large-scale distribution quickly as the owners, the Gandini family, have been successfully operating Ortaggia Val Trebbia (“Val Trebbia”), a premium fresh produce company, for 32 years and have deep relationships in the marketplace. Val Trebbia uses modern cultivation techniques and attention to detail to achieve exceptional results in cultivation of its produce.
According to IRI, the health-conscious consumer is driving growth of products that are organic, vegetarian, and gluten free. European consumers are opting for healthier or lighter products, such as individually portioned fruit, nuts, popcorn, baked and vegetable crisps/chips as their snack of choice. Double-digit growth of vegetable chips, for example, is being fueled by new product development, including root vegetable, pea, rice, and lentil variants from niche and mainstream brands.
