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Lovitt Farms Inc., an unusual apple juice company just starting production in Wenatchee, relies on an old name and a new technology.
The old name is William Knudsen, wellknown in food circles for building the largest organic juice label in the nation, R.W. Knudsen Family Juice.
The new technology is a high-pressure pasteurization system that kill pathogens in the juice without using heat or other approaches such as radiation or chemicals.
Knudsen, 59, has been appointed Lovitt's managing director and wilt guide the company's sales and marketing campaign for the new juice. He left Knudsen Family juice in 1999.
The result of the high-pressure process, he said, is a coldpressed cider with all the taste, enzymes and water-soluble vitamins of old-style ciders, but without the health risks of nonpasteurized products.
Knudsen said the new product's premium qualities will distinguish it from juice made from the millions of gallons of highly processed juice concentrate produced in China, Chile, and other recent entrants into the global juice market.
"The whole world is learning how to make apple juice concentrate," he said. "For Washington state growers, the big opportunity is to make juice from fresh apples."