Extensive quantities of frozen foods are being consumed all over the world.
In the Food Processing Industry, IQF stands for Individual Quick Freezing, indicating to each individual piece of food frozen separately from each other. This makes it easy to individually freeze and store products like Fruits and vegetables, corn, peas, fish, shrimp and poultry products.
So why is this important?
The prolonging of the shelf life and maintenance of the high quality of the products frozen with IQF technology, means a substantial decrease of waste and thus the end consumer is offered a better product.
Another advantage of IQF technology is its ability to separate units of the products during freezing, which produces a higher quality product compared to block freezing. This is important for food sustainability, as the consumer can defrost and use the exact quantity needed.
With the advancement in freezing technology, IQF has evolved as a most promising technology for preserving food and vegetables for longer time in same farm-fresh condition without bringing much alteration in its sensory and physio-chemical attributes.
The major market segments for IQF are:
Retail outlets for direct consumption
Hotels, restaurants, caterers and eateries
Food industries which use fruits and vegetables as raw material and want to process during the lean season.
So what besides the above are some of the key advantages of investing in the right IQF Technology?
a) Frozen Products maintain their natural appearance
b) Provides reliable Food Safety
c) Helps in preserving the fruits natural flavours
d) Energy efficiency contributing to Environmental protection.
