Californian raisins – more crunch for snacks

Whether we find raisins in student snacks, on vegan product shelves or in muesli, they are naturally sweet and are always a popular snack ingredient. Now Sun-Maid, the raisin mar­ket leader in the USA, and Bolasco Import GmbH, the distribution and import agency of the tradition-rich company Bösch Boden Spies, have com­bined forces. Bolasco now offers raisins with 24 to 28 % moisture content, raisin paste, raisin juice concentrate, smaller midget raisins for the chocolate industry and larger select ­raisins for the snacks sector.

Sun-Maid’s seedless grapes ripen ­to full sweetness in California’s San Joaquin Valley with summer heat of ­up to 38° C. In September, they are traditionally dried directly in the vineyards on the vine or on paper. The hot sun gives the raisins natural protection from bacteria, yeast and mould. Californian raisins have a particularly low PH value and low water activity. In addition, they also have high sugar and soluble dry matter content.
Following the natural harvest, Sun-Maid ensures product safety and ex­cellent quality with its innovative heat treatment process, which minimises microbiological yeast and mould traces. All Sun-Maid raisins are subjected to this heat treatment process, and as a result, they can even im­prove the product life of dairy products. These raisins are especially juicy and they retain their shape and individual size and piece characteristics in the processing procedure.
The fresh raisins receive a glycerine infusion, which keeps the moisture inside the raisin and maintains their crispiness. Sun-Maid raisins can be used imme­diately in dough pro­duction without prior soaking, where they additionally retain their shape and individual size and piece characteristics. Sun-Maid has the world’s ­largest dried fruit processing facility. Originally built in 1964, this facility is regularly updated ensuring that Sun-Maid constantly com­plies with the strict criteria of international food pro­duct safety standards. For example, Sun-Maid has been BRC-certified for many years.