Sonic wave technology hits Americas' shores

By Ahmed ElAmin

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags United kingdom Pursuit dynamics

A UK-based company has made inroads in the Americas with its sonic
wave propulsion system that can mix, cook, pump, emulsify and
homogenize liquid foods and drinks.

Pursuit Dynamics claims its PDX Sonic System can result in substantial cost and energy savings for processors. The system works by accelerating steam to three times the speed of sound. Theacceleration transfers heat and moving energy to soups, sauces, jellies, drinks and other liquids.

The company announced this month that its US distributor, A & B Process Systems, has achieved its second order from a food manufacturer for the PDX Sonic System. The customer, Mexico-basedGrupo Jumex, makes juices, nectars and bottled drinks.

Grupo Jumex is acquiring Pursuit's fluid processing product at list price. The order follows a similar order for the machine from a US manufacturer after the launch of PDX Sonic in that country inOctober 2005.

This is the first year of Pursuit Dynamics commercialization of the system. The company has built a distribution network and has also received its first orders in the UK and continental Europe. Theorders added up to about £405,000 ($698,000) worth of business as at the start of November.

Licensees of the PDX Sonic fluid processing units now include Premier Foods, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Campbells Grocery Products and Geest Foods.

"At a time of high oil prices, we have been assisted in this process by the ability of the PDX technology to deliver significant energy savings,"​ company chairman Andrew Quinnstated in an earnings release.

In November 2004, before the formal product launch in January 2005, the company concluded its first sale in the soft drinks industry to Coca-Cola's subsidiary in the UK. In May, Campbell Grocery inthe UK became the first food-processing licensee and in the summer, Geest Foods and Premier Foods also took licences.

In October, received its first repeat order from an unnamed customer, and an order from Verstegen Spices and Sauces in continental Europe.

Shortly after the appointment of a US distributor, gained its first customer in North America in September. Pursuit Dynamics says the licensee was a major US food manufacturer with global,multi-billion dollar revenues, which did not want its name disclosed for commercial reasons.

He said the company direction was now based on building a sustainable business based on the food-manufacturing sector alone.

"Our focus for the current year is to increase penetration of the food industry internationally and to progress the commercialisation of the other applications we have developed,"​he stated.

The other markets the company hopes to work includes the brewing sector. The company has been running trials with Greene King in the UK since May of this year.

In an interview with a reporter from BeverageDaily.com, a FoodProductionDaily.com sister publication, a representative from Brewing Research International said the PDX Sonic technology enabledbrewers to combine heating, mixing and pumping as well as save cleaning time and energy by switching to continuous processing.

Related topics Processing & Packaging

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