Diversifying Western Australia's apple industry with juicy new products

Juicy new products are being developed as part of a new government initiative to help Western Australia’s Bravo apple growers add value and diversify — with the first two products developed being an apple juice and a long-life apple slice. 

These new product developments, which will be sold under the trademark Soluna, are the result of development at the WA Government’s $12.2m Sustainable Innovative Food Technologies (SIFT) Centre, located in the Food Innovation Precinct Western Australia.

Agriculture and Food Minister Jackie Jarvis said the apple juice has hit shelves at greengrocers throughout WA and will be joined by the long-life apple slices by the end of the year.

“These products are the result of an innovative research project backed by the Cook Labor government and developed at the Sustainable Innovative Food Technologies (SIFT) Centre — a state-of-art facility we are proud is supporting our local food and beverage manufacturing sector,” Jarvis said.

“Value-added products create an additional avenue for our growers and improve the long-term value of the fruit, helping the industry to grow and diversify.”

The Soluna Apple Juice was cold-pressed locally by experienced beverage processor Pressed Earth. High-pressure processing was then used to extend the life of the juice to 90 days at the SIFT Centre.

The trials of the long-life apple slices, which stay fresh for up to 21 days, are currently in the final stages at the SIFT Centre.

The new offerings stem from a pilot project between the Fruit West Co-operative, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), Murdoch University, German machinery manufacturer Bruker BioSpin and the Future Food Systems Cooperative Research Centre.

Fruit West is also exploring export opportunities for the Soluna juice and slices in Asia and the Middle East.

Image credit: iStock.com/gerenme