business
Food
Industry
Game
Changer
High-pressure
processing
leads to fewer
preservatives and
a longer shelf life.
Annette and Jack Aronson
TOP RIGHT: Product is
readied for the high-
pressure process.
BOTTOM RIGHT: The
machine at the Great
Lakes HPP facility.
116
May 24 • 2018
jn
MARY MELDRUM SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
J
ack and Annette Aronson have been
making news for the past several
years with their many business
and charitable ventures. As founders of
Garden Fresh Gourmet in Ferndale, the
Aronsons sold this business and con-
tinue to work for the new owners, the
Campbell Soup Company.
They have recently started Clean
Planet Cuisine and, in 2015, they were
honorary chairs for the 18th annual
networking and awards luncheon ben-
efiting Jewish Vocational Services. Since
chairing the JVS luncheon, they have
been busy creating literacy opportuni-
ties for children in Ferndale and Hazel
Park as well as other Detroit areas.
The latest Aronson endeavor is the
much-anticipated Great Lakes HPP
(high-pressure pasteurization) facility in
Taylor. The grand opening celebration
was held in March and featured chefs
and foods from all over the Detroit area
and tours of the new high-pressure pro-
cessing plant.
Together, with the assistance of Carol
Jackson of Ferndale and consultant help
of friend Sid Rubin, formerly of Circus
World Toy chain and KB Toys, the state-
of-the-art food processing facility was
introduced to a curious crowd.
Great Lakes HPP houses high-pres-
sure processing technology that is revo-
lutionary in the food industry. Using
only cold water and intense pressure,
food producers can make fresh products
with longer shelf lives without adding
any preservatives. This increased shelf
life gives retailers the ability to expand
their distribution regionally, nationally
and even globally without any loss of
quality to the food products.
Formerly a distribution site for
Aronson’s Garden Fresh products,
the 35,000-square-foot space now
houses the new Great Lakes HPP line.
Aronson’s ambition is to purchase the
entire 250,000-square-foot building
owned by Palmer Moving and Storage
with the help of Paul Ross of Ross and
Associates. Aronson hopes to turn it
into a major food center in Michigan.
The site currently has enough space
for four HPP lines, but initially Aronson
has installed a single line with a maxi-
mum capacity of 70 million pounds of
food a year. According to Aronson, this
is the biggest machine of its type in the
world. With four loading docks and an
enormous walk-in cooler for storing
food, Great Lakes HPP line can do small
and large runs.
Only five of the 125 big machines
worldwide exist in the U.S., with only
two in Michigan, but Great Lakes is the
only one available to service other food
distributors.
Foods that are a good fit for HPP
include soups, prepared food, juices,
dips, guacamole and lunch meats.
Aronson reports that it is not good for
bread.
The Aronsons have their sights set on
the bigger picture they see developing
in the food industry. With clean, all-nat-
ural, artisan foods growing in popular-
ity, consumer demand is on the rise for
fresh produce, deli and dairy products.
Small food companies creating this type
of product will lead Michigan’s food
processing ability in the next five years,
they say.
While Garden Fresh Gourmet has its
own HPP processing machine, Great
Lakes HPP now handles its overflow.
Drought Juice company is another cus-
tomer. Founded and operated by four
sisters in Detroit, Drought is the lead-
ing certified USDA organic juice brand
in the Midwest. It is the first to market
in Metro Detroit and has its sights set
on national expansion. Originally hav-
ing only a three-day shelf life, with HPP,
Drought now enjoys a 45-day shelf life.
Not only do its juices remain fresh lon-
ger, but they are also now selling the saf-
est unpasteurized juice.
The Aronson’s new meal company,
Clean Planet Cuisine, is also using the
high-pressure processing. Their first
customer is Costco. Specifically, they
are working with Costco’s chicken pad
Thai ready-meal plate. This is the first
and will likely lead to more ready meals
from Costco.
“This is a game-changer for food com-
panies that need a longer shelf life to
distribute their products without fear of
spoilage and pathogens,” Aronson says.
“This will really help many companies
in our region to become national play-
ers. They can sell all over the country.”
Great Lakes HPP is testimony to
Aronson’s prediction that demand for
HPP will grow.
“We want people to know what we are
doing,” Aronson says. “Companies really
want to keep their label clean — no pre-
servatives — and they need a way to do
that. People want to know about their
food, what exactly they are eating, and
we think HPP is a real advantage. There
is no downside.” •