BCFoods is excited to be headed to Anaheim next week for the Southern California IFT Suppiers’ Night and Natural Products Expo West. Are you going? If so, we look forward to connecting with you!
SCIFT Suppliers’ Night – March 9, Booth #2112
NP Expo West – March 9-11, Booth #1761
BCFoods’ strategic partner in Germany has embarked on an exciting journey toward carbon neutrality and energy independence. They are building an agrophotovoltaic power plant, a groundbreaking technology that allows solar energy production and crops to occupy the same space.
The project, which has already been planned, approved, and received funding, will install a field of solar panels six meters above the ground with enough space for a tractor and harvesting machine to work beneath them. These unique solar panels also allow crops to receive the sunlight they need for healthy growth.
Once completed, the 1.3M Euro, 10K square meter environmental project will be one of the largest of its kind in the world. The solar panels will be built over chive fields located next to the supplier’s BCFoods-approved drying facility used for dehydrating that particular crop.
When complete, the agrophotovoltaic field will add another 750kWp to the 750kWp already produced from the panels that currently exist on the roofs of the dehydration plant and warehouses. By 2023, they will produce 80% of the electricity used throughout the supplier’s company operations.
With planning, approval, and financing already complete, building the power plant is expected to begin this coming June and complete in just four months by October.
A solar farm that can coexist with agriculture where farmers can produce food and energy from the same field is a fairly new concept and a big deal. The advanced technology used in this agrophotovoltaic project, along with its scope, makes this project an important step in the nationwide energy transition away from coal-fired energy.
Learn more about the technology used in agrophotovoltaic power plants for supplying solar power.
Follow BCFoods on LinkedIn to stay up-to-date with new and ongoing projects benefiting environmental sustainability.
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To begin, we at BCFoods welcome you into the new year and wish you a very happy and prosperous 2021.
2020 has been a challenge for all of us. As some of the difficulties of the past year continue into 2021, we remain committed to our customers and the people they serve.
Here are our top five commitments for 2021 (click the links to learn more or just read on):
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect our nation and the world into 2021, we know the need is now more than ever to protect our employees’ health while reliably supplying our customers with high-quality industrial food ingredients.
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, we added new company-wide sanitation and safety measures early in 2020, and are limiting person-to-person contact as much as possible while continuing to produce and ship the ingredients our customers need. In addition, we diversified our inbound shipments in case of any location-specific freight interruption.
Our customers can feel confident that BCFoods will continue to provide them with the quality ingredients they need to keep up with demand. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your sales rep.
Learn more about the actions we’re taking to Keep America Fed.
In 2021, BCFoods is committed to offering our customers innovative products and services that will improve their own product lines and bottom lines.
Citrus fiber is a natural, vegan, gluten-free product to improve product texture and nutrition. Made from natural citrus peel, CitraFiber can be used as a replacement for eggs, gums, and other thickeners, stabilizers, or emulsifiers. CitraFiber is odorless and colorless, and contains 82% total dietary fiber and over 30% total pectin. It’s high in vitamins, minerals, and protein, along with Citrus Bioflavonoids. Bakery trials using citrus fiber in gluten-free bread found that it increased moisture in the final product, increased product size (volume), and improved the loaf shape. CitraFiber also works well for moisture absorption in meat applications.
We recently expanded our herbs and spices line to include Szechuan pepper. A natural flavor enhancer for low sodium food that causes a pleasurable tingling sensation in the mouth, a little Szechuan pepper goes a long way.
The Infrared Device (IRD) is a cutting-edge technology that is natural, gentle on products, and meets FSMA “Ready to Eat” (RTE) guidelines. For those customers looking to eliminate irradiation and EtO in favor of a natural validated pathogen control option, we welcome the opportunity to provide IRD treated material.
It can be used for:
Learn more about the Infrared Device (IRD).
Consumers often look to store brands for value. In 2021, BCFoods will offer private labeling of our products and blends in a variety of packaging options.
Follow us on LinkedIn to know when Private Label Services become available.
Quality has always been a defining characteristic of BCFoods products, and we commit to continuing this in 2021.
As a vertically-integrated dehydrated ingredient supplier, BCFoods has boots on the ground and is hands-on involved with our products from field to fork to ensure food quality and safety for you and your customers. In 2021, we will continue to maintain the highest standards for all the dried vegetable, fruit, spice, and seasoning ingredients we offer.
BCFoods is committed to quality. Visit our Accreditations page to see our current accreditations and certifications.
As a commercial agricultural producer, BCFoods requires thousands of acres of farm land to grow tens of thousands of tons of produce. According to the World Resources Institute, only about a quarter of commercial agricultural producers measure and manage their greenhouse gas emissions. We have instituted key projects to not only measure our emissions but also our effects on soil and ground water in many areas throughout our supply chain. We’re proud of the actions we take to reduce our environmental impact.
With partial funding from the Knorr Sustainability Partnership Fund, BCFoods increased our efforts in 2020 to tackle the challenges of water waste, land erosion, pesticide overuse, soil and groundwater contamination, and loss of biodiversity. BCFoods is committed to a continued focus on environmental and social sustainability in 2021, and we are excited about our upcoming projects and those of our suppliers.
Learn more about BCFoods’ sustainability efforts.
BCFoods has always been involved in philanthropic activities and organizations. Each BCFoods location has local charities with whom we volunteer or otherwise give back to the community. We are committed to continuing these efforts and more in 2021 to give back to our local communities and the world.
Follow us on LinkedIn to see a few of the ways we help out.
With these five promises, BCFoods is committed to meeting customer needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as maintaining the high quality of our products, helping local communities, and further minimizing our environmental impact in 2021.
From all of us at BCFoods and Culinary Farms, Happy New Year!
Global food ingredient supplier opens new dehydration facility in Hebei, China.
New BCFoods Dehydration Facility in Hebei, China
Fresh onion, garlic, carrots dumper and shaker,
then transfer to the isolated room for
cleaning, washing, and preliminary sorting
Washing and optical sorting
Dicing
• Washing, sorting, grading
• More uniform shape for fresh produce market
• Non-uniform shape for dehydration
Blanching, if needed
Continuous Belt Dryer from the feeder
52 meters long, 40 MT dehydrated garlic per 24 hours
Continuous Belt Dryer from the feeder
52 meters long, 40 MT dehydrated garlic per 24 hours
Cooling and further drying
Optical sorter for semi-finished flakes
BCFoods is excited to announce the completion of a new 160,000 square foot dehydration facility located in Hebei, China. This greenfield project is the culmination of three years of planning and construction that significantly adds to BCFoods’ manufacturing capability and complements BCFoods’ other China-based production facilities in both Shandong and Gansu, China.
“Currently, BCFoods supplies over 25,000 MT of dehydrated vegetable products to the world market annually,” said Adam Lee, President and COO of BCFoods. “This expansion within China will help build a more sustainable supply chain of key ingredients while maintaining high quality standards for the products supplied by BCFoods to our customers worldwide.”
The new facility is wholly owned by BCFoods. It includes production workshops, cold storage, office buildings, and other supporting infrastructure. Production activities will include raw material processing for onion, garlic, carrot, green and red bell peppers, tomatoes, and more. The annual production capacity will reach 15,000 MTs within 5 years with expected annual sales revenue to be RMB 200 million.
BCFoods Hebei will immediately begin processing vegetables as they continue providing the highest quality of dehydrated ingredients to their customers worldwide.
For any questions, please contact your local sales representative or visit www.bcfoods.com.
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On November 1, 2020, the China Spice Industry Conference was held in Yangling, Shaanxi Province of China, with more than 140 representatives from the Chinese spice industry attending. The conference was organized by the China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products（CFNA）spice branch, Northwest A&F University, the Management Committee of Yangling Demonstration Zone, and co-organized by BCFoods.
The conference was held for three days. The discussion and speeches were divided into six sections: Chinese seasoning market, world seasoning market, quality standards and testing, international association reports, industry research, and industry development. Representatives and senior experts from many leading companies in the Chinese and global spice industry presented more than twenty in-depth reports, covering a series of spice products, including pepper, star anise, cinnamon, ginger, chili, garlic, onion, and more. In addition, representatives from countries and regions around the world, such as Spain, India, the Netherlands, Egypt, and the United States, made detailed market analyses of spices, herbs, and other products in their respective regions and countries in the form of video reports.
As a co-organizer of the conference, BCFoods actively participated in discussions and exchanges on various topics. The company presented a number of in-depth reports from different sides: 2020 Garlic and Onion Crop Report, Introduction to the Indian Spice Industry, Analysis on the US Quality Standard for Spice Products and Status and Progress of the Universal Standard for Chinese Spice Industry.
Chairman of BCFoods, Mike Liu, who is also the President of the China Spice Association (CSA), made a summary report: Challenges and Opportunities for the Spice Industry under the New Normal.
In recent years, dehydrated vegetables have become increasingly popular with consumers. In China, the consumption market of dehydrated vegetables is constantly expanding. In foreign trade, dehydrated vegetables are also the main products of China’s vegetable export.
Recently, Gao Zhuhua, president of the National Fruit and Vegetable Dehydration Processing Industry Federation, said in an interview with the media that the dehydrated vegetable processing industry has great development potential and is a “sunshine industry.” At the same time, industrial upgrading also faces bottlenecks that need to be broken.
China is a big country producing dehydrated vegetables. Statistics show that China’s annual output of dehydrated vegetables is about 800,000 tons, accounting for about 60% of the world’s total output.
China is a large agricultural country with a vast territory and diverse climates. China has rich vegetable resources and a wide variety of vegetables and has advantages in vegetable production. Provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities have promoted the development of the industry by virtue of their own production advantages and formed their own characteristics. For example, goji berries and tomatoes in Ningxia, onions and potatoes in Gansu, green peppers, red peppers and carrots in Shanxi, chives in Xinghua in Jiangsu, garlic and cabbage in Shandong.
Compared with ordinary vegetables, processed dehydrated vegetables have higher added value and are the main products of China’s vegetable export. Taking Ningxia as an example, in the first 10 months of this year, Ningxia cumulatively exported 16.646 million US dollars of dehydrated vegetables, an increase of 138.5% year-on-year.
China exports about 100,000 tons of dehydrated vegetables every year, which means that half of the dehydrated vegetables produced throughout the year are exported.
Exported vegetables need to have “record basis” and “traceability”, which is equivalent to “each product has an ID card.” In which field can vegetables be grown and which factory can be traced back. This is a mandatory requirement.
As an agricultural product export, dehydrated vegetables must strictly comply with the importing country’s requirements for pesticide residues and heavy metals. In fact, how to link the testing standards at home and abroad is the main problem that has troubled China’s fruit and vegetable exports for a long time, because different countries often have different requirements for agricultural residues and other aspects.
In 2013, China promulgated the “Maximum Residue Limits of Pesticides in Food”, which added more than 1,400 testing standards, but there was still a big gap compared with other developed countries.
In the relevant standards and specifications of dehydrated vegetables, there is no special description and regulations on pesticide residue limits. The industry pointed out that the dehydration process has a concentrated effect on the residue of dehydrated vegetables. It is unreasonable to limit the content of dehydrated vegetables based on the residual amount of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Regarding the current status of the industry standards for the dehydrated vegetable industry, industry insiders called: “Industry associations should cooperate with relevant departments to modify certain standards and issue them by authoritative departments, which is conducive to the formulation of industry standards and the development of industry standards. Formulation. Facilitate supervision. ”
In the past, low labor cost was our competitive advantage. Now, our labor costs have risen. Now, labor costs account for one-third of the cost.
Today’s labor costs are increasing, China’s dehydrated vegetable industry is still a “labor-intensive” industry. Foreign countries have a high degree of automation, and we must rely on manual operations, which can only be said to be “semi-automatic.”
Some companies have also introduced advanced foreign production lines, but foreign production lines may not be applicable to China.
The pipeline designed by foreigners is for locally produced food, such as potatoes, but some agricultural products with Chinese characteristics, such as chives, cannot be produced on imported pipelines. In this case, the production of dehydrated vegetables still requires a lot of labor.
From the perspective of production technology, most dehydrated vegetable companies in China are still using dry dehydration technology, and only a few companies have adopted freeze dehydration technology, which is also a blank abroad.
Heat-treated foods usually undergo large color changes, loss of taste, and poor taste. On the contrary, freeze-drying technology is more advanced and can better maintain the original nutrition and taste of the vegetables themselves. Correspondingly, freeze-drying technology also requires greater cost investment.
Low technical content and low equipment level are the limiting factors of current industrial development. The intensity of industrial transformation still needs to be strengthened.
There are four main types of dehydrated vegetable products, 80% of which are still traditional dehydrated vegetable products. Condiments accounted for 10% of the total, health food and convenience food accounted for 5%. The entire dehydrated vegetable industry has still failed to extend its tentacles to the downstream of the industrial chain, and efforts should be intensified to develop and promote new products.
Reduce labor costs, advance the industry from labor-intensive industries to automation and semi-automation industries, improve the technical content of products, and extend the industrial chain to downstream products. This is the direction in which future industrial development requires effort.
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March has passed, which means we’re at the tail end of the harvest season for most citrus fruits.
At BCFoods, we supply sustainable dehydrated citrus peels from oranges, lemons, and limes. We use the whole peel, including the colored rind (the flavedo) and the soft white inner portion (the albedo).
Read on to discover:
Sustainability
When organic material rots, it releases methane, a damaging greenhouse gas. Over 100 million tons of citrus are grown every year. There is a high demand for the pulp and juice of lemons, oranges, and limes; however, millions of tons of peel are discarded each year and left to rot in landfills.
Using dried citrus peel in products provides citrus flavor without adding to resources used for growing produce. It also reduces landfill mass and methane release.
All dehydrated lemon, orange, and lime peel sold by BCFoods is upcycled from juicing fruit. We only use peel discarded after the juice has been extracted. BCFoods ’ citrus peel products include the entire peel – not only the outermost zest. This method further eliminates food waste. Including the soft white albedo also adds to potential health benefits.
Health Benefits
Citrus peel is full of food compounds that provide health benefits; some of which are not found in the juice or pulp.
Oral Health1
Peel from lemons, limes, oranges, and other citrus fruits contain antibacterial properties that may support a healthy oral environment.
High in Antioxidants1,2,3
Citrus peel is high in antioxidants, including D-limonene and vitamin C. In fact, the peel contains more vitamin C per ounce than the fruit. Studies show the ingestion of antioxidants supports your immune system.
In addition, D-limonene and vitamin C are linked to the support of healthy:
May Support Heart Health1,2
In addition to antioxidants linked to heart health, citrus peel is rich in flavonoids, hesperidin, and polymethoxylflavones, which may support healthy blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart function.
Cellular Communication2
Citrus peels contain calcium and potassium, which are both needed for the cells in the body to communicate properly. In addition, calcium is important for building and maintaining strong bones.
Digestion2,3
Lemon, orange, and lime citrus peels are high in fiber, which supports healthy digestion.
Fiber also helps lower inflammation and improves metabolism.
Cellular Health1,2,3
Research shows that D-limonene found in citrus peel helps support healthy cellular function, particularly in the the mouth, pharynx, larynx, and stomach.
Blood Sugar3
Lemon peel, in particular, may help to support healthy blood glucose levels and contains polyphenols that help support healthy insulin resistance.
Flavor & Uses
Citrus peel holds more concentrated fruit flavor than the juice or pulp and does not add to water content in food. This makes dried peel an excellent choice for adding orange, lemon, or lime flavor to baked goods, dressings, beer, desserts, and snacks.
In addition, peel does not contain citric acid and therefore doesn’t curdle dairy, where juice and pulp do. This makes dehydrated peel perfect for cheesecake, ice cream, and other dairy-based products.
Origin
Citrus fruits are produced all over the world. The top five producers of lemons, limes, and oranges are:
Request Samples
BCFoods carries lemon, lime, and orange peel in many cuts, including “tea cut,” powder, and granules. All of our dehydrated citrus peel products are available year-round.
Visit our Dried Fruits & Citrus Peels page for more details or to order samples.
References
1Lang, Adriane, BSc, MBA 2019, 9 Benefits and Uses of Lemon Peel, Healthline Media, accessed March 23, 2020, <healthline.com/nutrition/lemon-peel >.
2Laurence, Emily 2019, If You Aren’t Using Every lemon Peel, You’re Missing Out On Some Surprising Benefits, Well+Good LLC, accessed March 23, 2020, <https://www.wellandgood.com/good-food/lemon-peel-benefits/>.
3Fresh Plaza 2019, Consuming orange peel can boost your total intake of nutrients, FreshPlaza.com, accessed March 23, 2020, <https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9116484/consuming-orange-peel-can-boost-your-total-intake-of-nutrients>.
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As our nation continues to take unprecedented actions to limit the spread of COVID-19, BCFoods and Culinary Farms know the need is now more than ever to continue to supply our customers with high quality industrial food ingredients.
The Department of Homeland Security and the Food and Drug Administration have recognized food manufacturers as “essential contributors to the food supply chain” and have therefore granted an exemption to continue to operate. Based on this exemption, BCFoods and Culinary Farms factories are open and operational.
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, we have added new company-wide sanitation and safety measures, and are limiting person-to-person contact as much as possible while continuing to produce and ship the ingredients our customers need. In addition, we are diversifying our inbound shipments in case of any location-specific freight interruption.
With the situation rapidly evolving, we wanted to share with you both an update on our efforts to maintain the health and safety of our personnel, as well as what we are doing to mitigate potential supply shortages due to the coronavirus outbreak.
First with respect to our employees we have taken the following actions.
Health and Safety:
Next, with respect to ensuring continuous supply, we are taking the following actions.
Supply Mitigation:
Our customers can feel confident that BCFoods and Culinary Farms will continue to provide them with the quality ingredients they need to keep up with demand. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your sales rep.
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To begin, we at BCFoods welcome you into the new year and wish you a very happy and prosperous 2020.
Looking back at 2019, we have taken stock of and evaluated our successes and challenges. From these, we have formulated our commitments to our customers throughout the coming year.
Here are our top five commitments for 2020 (click the links to learn more or just read on):
Customer service – particularly timely communication to our international customers – is an area that we have bench marked for improvement.
While we have farm bases, processing facilities, and operations worldwide, our customer service team has always been centralized at our headquarters in California. While this works well for our customers based in the Americas, we understand that it has, at times, been an area of frustration for customers from other continents around the world where time differences may mean delay in communication.
In 2020, we are solving this problem.
Starting in March, time differences will no longer impact timely communications in Europe.
We have expanded our customer service team based in the Netherlands office. After extensive training on the full line of BCFoods products, our enforced team will be able to hit the ground running in March of 2020. The California Customer Service team will act as backup.
BCFoods is committed to stellar customer service for all our customers. Visit our Contact Page to send a message or for direct phone numbers.
Quality has always been a defining characteristic of BCFoods products, and we commit to continuing this in 2020.
As a vertically-integrated dehydrated ingredient supplier, BCFoods has boots on the ground and is hands-on involved with our products from field to fork to ensure food quality and safety for you and your customers. In 2020, we will continue to maintain the highest standards for all the dried vegetable, fruit, spice, and seasoning ingredients we offer.
BCFoods is committed to quality. Visit our Accreditations Page to see our current accreditations and certifications.
As consumer trends change, so do the needs of our customers.
As we continue to keep track of consumer trends, we will continue to expand our line of dehydrated ingredients for our customers who must meet these trends with their packaged goods. You can look forward to further expansion in BCFoods offerings in 2020:
In 2020, BCFoods remains committed not only to expanding our offerings, but also to working together with our customers to produce custom solutions that meet evolving customer trends. If you are looking for new flavor ideas or need an ingredient you’re not sure we offer, reach out to your sales rep.
Visit our Product Page for a list of our products and to request samples.
As a commercial agricultural producer, BCFoods farms thousands of acres of land to grow tens of thousands of tons of produce. According to the World Resources Institute, only about a quarter of commercial agricultural producers measure and manage their greenhouse gas emissions. We not only measure our emissions but also our effects on soil and ground water. We’re proud of the actions we take to reduce our environmental impact.
With partial funding from the Knorr Sustainability Partnership Fund, BCFoods has increased our efforts to tackle the challenges of water waste, land erosion, pesticide overuse, soil and groundwater contamination, and loss of biodiversity.
In the coming months, BCFoods will be sharing information online about our current Sustainability Projects. Check back at bcfoods.com or follow us on LinkedIn to see what we’re up to.
BCFoods has always been involved in philanthropic activities and organizations. Each BCFoods location has local charities with whom we volunteer or otherwise give back to the community. We are committed to continuing these efforts and more in 2020 to give back to our local communities and the world.
Follow us on LinkedIn to see a few of the ways we help out.
With these five promises, BCFoods is committed to improving our product line, customer relations, local communities, and environmental impact in 2020.
From all of us at BCFoods and Culinary Farms, Happy New Year!
BCFoods and P. Visser & Zoon B.V. will have a dedicated conference room at the upcoming Food Ingredients Europe (FIE) conference.
We still have appointments available but the are filling up. Please complete the form below if you would like to meet with us at the show.
We still have appointments available but the are filling up. Please complete the form below if you would like to meet with us at the show. We will reply with available appointment times.
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