Freeze Drying How it Works & Benefits	Experience and Applications	Capabilities & Freeze Dryers
R&D and Product Development Center	Company Quality	Custom Drying & Packaging

Oregon Freeze Dry was incorporated in 1963, when the company began drying fruit for breakfast cereals. Later, Oregon Freeze Dry worked with the Department of Defense to develop and produce military rations that tasted better, weighed less, and were easier to prepare than canned rations.

By the early 1970's, the company was marketing its own Mountain House® line of freeze-dried foods for outdoor recreational use. In the 1980's, the Company grew rapidly as it began to manufacture private label packaged food products, and expanding its ingredient line.

In the 1990's Oregon Freeze Dry moved aggressively into the drying of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and biological materials.

Today, Oregon Freeze Dry is the world's technological leader in freeze-drying. Our freeze-dried ingredients are key components in the products of some of America's largest food companies. Our private label lines include such products as lunch and dinner entrees for the Nutri/System weight-loss program. We're still a major supplier to the military, and our Mountain House® brand continues to be the favorite of backpackers and campers. Oregon Freeze Dry's Advanced & Specialty Products division processes pharmaceutical and specialty chemicals, medical devices, cultured microorganisms, enzymes, and other sensitive biological materials. For these products, freeze drying creates functional properties unattainable by other drying methods.

Oregon Freeze Dry's world headquarters is located in Albany, Oregon, and employs over 300 people. There are three manufacturing facilities on a 35-acre industrial site. Oregon Freeze Dry operates under USDA (meat and poultry), APHIS, FDA (drug and medical device), and/or EPA regulations, according to product. Kosher and Halal certifications are also available. Today Oregon Freeze Dry is the world's largest custom processor of freeze dried products. The company has over 20 million kilograms of drying capacity at its three Oregon plants, representing about 70% of North American Capacity. Oregon Freeze Dry's subsidiary in Europe, European Freeze Dry (United Kingdom and Denmark), is the UK's largest freeze dryer, and is both ISO 9002 and HACCP certified.

Oregon Freeze Dry has internal R&D and engineering support available to assist in the development and scale-up of commercial products. Our modern research and development center is equipped with basic research facilities, development kitchens, and pilot processing and packaging equipment. Product and processing development - from prototyping new concepts to developing full-scale manufacturing systems - is one of our strengths.

We're proud of our reputation as a progressive, quality-conscious company. Through innovative research and product development, Oregon Freeze Dry will continue to lead the world in freeze-drying technology.


Freeze-drying has several advantages over other food preservation methods.

Frozen foods retain fresh flavor and nutritional value, but require uniform, low temperature storage conditions. Dehydrated and canned foods are shelf-stable, but high-temperature processing can degrade flavor, texture and nutritional content. Freeze-drying combines the best of these processing methods. It preserves freshness, color and aroma similar to frozen food, while providing the shelf-stable convenience of canned or dehydrated food. Freeze-dried foods:

Taste fresh. Freeze-dried foods, like frozen, retain virtually all their fresh-food taste and nutritional content. Freeze-drying removes the water, not the flavor.

Look fresh. Freeze-dried foods maintain their original shape and texture, unlike dehydrated foods, which shrink and shrivel due to high-temperature processing. Freeze-drying removes water under low temperatures (typically a maximum of 100 to 130 degrees F), which keeps intact the moisture channels and food fibers. Just add water, and in minutes every fresh food detail returns.

Weigh less than fresh. Freeze-dried foods have 98% of their water removed. This reduces the food's weight by approximately 90%, making it easier to handle and less costly to ship. For example, twenty-five pounds of celery weigh only one pound after freeze-drying.

Stay fresh. Freeze-dried foods can be stored at room temperature, without deterioration or spoilage. This is because freeze-drying and packaging remove both water and oxygen - the two primary causes of food deterioration.

Almost any food, from apples to zucchini, can be freeze-dried. So can entire meals, such as omelettes, hamburgers, or Chicken a la King. In fact, Oregon Freeze Dry has produced over 400 different foods and beverages.

The purpose of freeze drying is to remove a solvent (usually water) from dissolved or dispersed solids.

The principles of freeze drying are simple.

Graphical Diagram
The fundamental process steps are:

1. Freezing: The product is frozen. This provides a necessary condition for low temperature drying.
2. Vacuum: After freezing, the product is placed under vacuum. This enables the frozen solvent in the product to vaporize without passing through the liquid phase, a process known as sublimation.
3. Heat: Heat is applied to the frozen product to accelerate sublimation.
4. Condensation: Low-temperature condenser plates remove the vaporized solvent from the vacuum chamber by converting it back to a solid. This completes the separation process.

While simple in principle, freeze drying can be complex in practice due to the specific processing requirements for different products. We are expert's in defining these processing parameters, which include:

Suspending solvent(s).
Rate of freezing.
Vacuum control.
Rate of drying/product temperature.
Residual moisture content.
Storage temperature and atmosphere after drying.
Rehydration procedures.

Freeze drying is an excellent method for preserving materials which are unstable in solution. In addition, freeze drying can be used to separate and recover volatile substances and to purify materials.

Key benefits of freeze drying include:

Retention of morphological, biochemical, and immunological properties.
High viability/activity levels.
Lower temperature, oxygen, and shear conditions versus other drying methods
High recovery of volatiles.
Retention of structure, surface area, and stoichiometric ratios.
High yield.
Long shelf life.
Reduced weight for storage, shipping, and handling.

Oregon Freeze Dry is a leader in applying state of the art freeze drying technology to new applications. We have successfully freeze dried more than 400 different items on a production basis:

Foods and flavors.
Cultured microorganisms.
Bulk pharmaceutical, medical devices, and cosmetics.
Specialty chemicals and pigments.
Enzymes.
Ceramic powders.

In addition to freeze drying, we can provide other manufacturing operations, either internally or through cooperative agreements with nearby processors. Oregon Freeze Dry can coordinate the complete production process for a variety on consumer and industrial products.

Oregon Freeze Dry's commitment to research and development of new products and improved freeze drying techniques is the key to our leadership in the freeze drying industry.

Our R&D and Engineering staffs collectively have over 100 years experience in freeze drying and packaging.

Through the use of experimental design methods, we optimize process parameters to meet specified requirements at the lowest possible cost.

We can provide product development support from prototype development to full-scale manufacturing. Oregon Freeze Dry's modern R&D facility is equipped to test and scale up new products.

Our Product Development Center features:

• One 18 sq. ft. research dryer for optimizing cycle protocols.
  
  
• One 18 sq. ft. research dry with a proprietary control and data
• acquisition system for developing new freeze-drying techniques.
  
  
• One 84 sq. ft. pilot freeze dryer for production scale-up.
  
  
• Three laboratories for small-scale bench-top development.
  
  
• One laboratory equipped to optimize fermentation parameters, cryoprotectants, freezing rates and water activity as they relate to retention of activity/viability in freeze drying. Dehumidified packaging lab.
• Two temperature-controlled rooms for storage studies.

Our experienced research staff uses state of the art equipment to improve freeze drying techniques and solve customers' drying problems. Research is conducted in our 12,000 sq. ft. Product Development Center.

Oregon Freeze Dry is committed to strict quality control. Our Quality Assurance staff is available to design product and process validation to meet customer needs. We use statistical quality control to monitor all processing operations, from receiving raw materials to packaging finished product.

Oregon Freeze Dry's fully-equipped QA lab includes:

Complete bacteriological testing equipment.

Computerized moisture analyzers, Karl Fischer titrators, vacuum ovens, and a toluene extraction unit for moisture analysis.

Computerized gas chromatograph and multi-column extraction units.

Oxygen analyzers.

A computerized gas chromatograph is one of the instruments used to measure purity of finished products.

Oregon Freeze Dry has a proven track record of applying both conventional and cryogenic freezing techniques to a broad range of products. Based on this experience, we can help customers determine the best freezing method for their products.

We have fourteen coldrooms available for product storage and/or product processing at temperatures as low as -40°C.

For many applications, shorter, lower-cost drying cycles are realized through the use of our proprietary freezing equipment.

If necessary, temperature-sensitive materials can be loaded on pre-chilled drying trays in coldrooms, preventing meltback prior to freeze drying.Oregon Freeze Dry's chambers are efficient and versatile. Improvements are made on an ongoing basis, incorporating continuous research and input from experienced chamber operators.

Our thirty-two drying chambers provide over 32,000 sq. ft. of freeze drying capacity. We are the largest multi-product freeze dryer in the world.

Microprocessor controls keep each chamber running at peak efficiency. Batch-to-batch consistency is ensured by continuously monitoring heating, cooling, vacuum, and product temperature.

A central computer collects chamber operating data for each batch. Data is stored on hard-disk during the drying cycle and dumped to tape after cycle completion to provide permanent validation.

Request Custom Drying Information

Oregon Freeze Dry has many different packaging capabilities to combine with our Freeze Dried products. We can meet all of your needs; from large bulk to small individual serving packages. Packaging Capabilities Include

Large to Small Bulk Cases Single Poly Bags Double Poly Bags With or with out dedesiccant Long Term Storage, Multi-Serving Cans 401/411 603/411 603/700 With or without atmosphere control Single to Double Serve Foil Packaging Bartelt, VFFS, HFFS (3"x4" to 6"x10") Preformed Pouches (4"x5" to 20"x20") All with or without atmosphere control Cartoning All of our single serve pouches can be cartoned for added protection or graphic displays Cups Single serve Paper and Barrier cup With or without atmosphere control

Custom Drying Name: Company: Phone: Fax: Email: Product Desired: Oregon Freeze Dry has manufactured private label products since 1982, developing custom products and formulations, and manufacturing over 200 million units. Products are formulated to meet our customers' specific nutritional requirements. Our emphasis on new applications makes Oregon Freeze Dry an excellent partner for companies wanting to commercialize novel concepts for the marketplace. Of course each project is unique, so costs and timeframes are always variable. If you'd like more information please fill out the brief form on your left and click on the Request Information button. We'll get right back to you.