Apple agreement

NZ company Enza Foods will produce apple ingredient for soft drinks and smoothies under licence from fruit juice company Beckers Bester.

New Zealand manufacturer of fruit concentrates Enza Foods has reached a licensing agreement with German fruit juice company Beckers Bester, providing Beckers with the rights to manufacture, on behalf of Enza, its 'Universal Fruit Base' (UFB) product.

According to Enza, UFB is a type of apple puree, made by a proprietary patent-protected process, which provides beverages with a "superior soft, velvet-like texture and mouthfeel". The company acquired the global marketing rights from the inventor of UFB, Canadian company Sunblush Technologies.

UFB, writes Enza, is suitable for smoothie-type fruit beverages, and in fruit and soy, and fruit and dairy beverage applications. In addition, the company claims that in beverage systems UFB remains fully stable, even after being frozen or pasteurised.

In order to develop its business in Europe, Enza foods also announced that it has appointed a new European representative, Gerard Post.