Products with clean labels are occupying more and more shelf space in grocery stores as consumers demand food with fewer chemicals and preservatives. If you’re on the East Coast, chances are you have Stay Fresh Foods to thank, at least in part, for those products. Many of the HPP foods found in the East have passed through the doors of Stay Fresh Foods; so many, in fact, that the Pennsauken, New Jersey-based company is expanding again, adding a third facility in as many years. Opening this fall, Stay Fresh Foods new facility in Richmond, Virginia, will feature Avure high-capacity HPP machines.

“Our newest center will be equipped with the industry’s most advanced HPP system, the Avure AV-60, which delivers the highest HPP output available,” said Amy Lawless, Managing Director at Stay Fresh Foods. “And like our other facilities, the Richmond area location will provide full service for our customers including packaging, labeling, cold storage, and distribution. With more locations we’ll cut down on our customers transportation costs and time, adding to their bottom line.”

The new Stay Fresh Foods facility will work closely with Stay Fresh Foods’ other facilities in Meriden, Connecticut and Pennsauken, New Jersey, to ensure customers always have access to HPP services from anywhere they manufacture or distribute on the East Coast.

“We’re excited to add this third facility to keep pace with demand as our customers continue to grow thanks to the popularity of foods with fewer preservatives and cleaner labels,” added Lawless. “We’re happy to help our customers provide the marketplace with nutritious foods that meet the clean label, food safety and refrigerated shelf life requirements of today’s retailers and food service chains.”

“It’s been extremely gratifying to see Stay Fresh continue to grow and include Avure HPP machines as part of their strategy,” said Jeff Williams, CEO of Avure Technologies. “And the AV-60 with its newly-designed intensifiers, easier to maintain parts and large-diameter vessel built to accommodate larger, bulky or odd shaped packages will be a great addition to Stay Fresh’s new tolling center.”

It is estimated that the Stay Fresh Richmond, Virginia location will create at least 40 new jobs.